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Assignment: Simple Mechanics: Cuckoo Clock
Collaborators:
Assignment: Simple Mechanics: Cuckoo Clock
Collaborators: Michael Manoochehri, criley
Project Team:
Connor, Michael
Description:
This project is an implementation of rotational motion that is transferred into a linear motion using a camshaft. The cuckoo camshaft imagines a cuckoo clock bird that pops out of a door vertically, rather than horizontally. A pair of doors is opened vertically by two similarly shaped cams. Another, more oblong cam raises a cuckoo bird vertically above the plane of the door when the doors are opened to their most open position.
Materials:
Notes/Design Challenges:
A camshaft potentially can have a simpler design, and greater durability and reliability than a gear, track or pulley system. However, there are trade-offs, as there is a more limited range of motion, and there is little tolerance for design flaws.The cams and camshaft must be able to move freely, but having too much play in the system results in movement failures.
The hardest part of building this device was in designing the shape and sizes of the cams. We also found that, during construction, that slight displacements of the camshaft or cam elements due to material tension would sometimes block the entire system from moving. Also, rough edges on the wooden materials would often cause friction that would prevent valves or cams from moving properly.
