Instuctables Weather Robot

Having made a few weather toys that move in response to higher humidity, I wanted to try building the Instructables Robot. My last toy is a wooden Gendarme that salutes when rain is coming; but the Robot should hate rain, due to rust, so, She raises her arms and celebrates Dry Weather! No Electronics were needed, so this Robot needs no batteries!

Step 1 Bending the frame & gluing the front

I decided to steam bend a tongue depressor by soaking it in water (just to wet) then microwave 10 seconds to steam. I bent the stick over a bottle and used a rubber band to hold it. It took 3 tries to get the shape I wanted. Then cooling and drying kept the shape. Cut a 6" foam circle in half, put super glue on one edge and stick it to one half circle, trim about a 1/2" lip all around & glue this to the side of the bent frame. Any bulges can be re-glued later.

Comments

[iectyx3c]

These large pine cones must be native to your area -- nothing remotely like them in size in the Northeast as far as I know.

You could sell these petals to a science supply house.

Very cool i'ble !

[mrdovie]

I've seen some like it from California on the web, they are very tall longleaf pines.

[mrdovie]

Ms Robot has been happy for days now! We are in a hot spell here in NC :)

[SHIFT!]

Very good adaptation of the site logo! Have you told caitlinsdad yet? I think he'd be very impressed.

[mrdovie]

I just did drop him a line to check it out. I like that Robot, there are only a few girl ones, Rosie and some super models. It is raining now, so she is still sulking.

[SHIFT!]

Know what? I'm favoring this. This build is too awesome to pass up!

[mrdovie]

Thanks! I would really like to see several people try using this idea. I have one cooking for a water powered mini gondola that would inch its way along a wire overhead or a rotary motor like the sonic kind, only water powered, or at least a self winding clock. the pine scale can close a contact or sense soil moisture, too. I want to redo a bird that dips in water like the glass ones.

[SHIFT!]

Build It!

[mrdovie]

I should note that my Gendarme Pierre, was inspired by bdeakyne and his little man that knocks over an alarm clock. And this lead to the Robot toy. I will try to do a time lapse of Ms Robot.

[mrdovie]

To see a drinking bird based on this, see: http://minicasts.podomatic.com/play/1048755/2147916

It will dip slowly as long as water is in the cup. Wrap the beak with gauze tied with thread, and it will work better. with out the gauze, it will dip in the water and stay there just touching it and will follow the water as it evaporates, hey a level gauge!

[AndyGadget]

 
That is such a brilliant idea. I never realised you could get so much movement out of a pine cone scale.  I'm going to have to try something along these lines.

[mrdovie]

You can gang the scales together side by side for more lift, you have to get a bunch and pick the ones that move the same amount. I have tried to make a perpetual motion machine that runs on plain water (slow, but runs) a clock would be great.

[ChrysN]

Cool, I didn't realize pine cones did that.

[mischka]

Awesome idea to use a pine cone to sense rain.