Bat Automata

This automata will make a bat fly up and down.

Supplies

cardboard box, 2 plastic straws, marker or a pencil, hot glue gun, scissors, ruler

Step 1: Foundation

First, cut out two 4x3 and two 3x3 inch rectangles from a cardboard box. Then hot glue them together in a three-dimensional rectangle.

Step 2: Gear and Straws

Poke one hole in the middle of one of the 3x3 squares and one hole in the middle of a 4x3 rectangle. Cut a small circular piece of cardboard, this will be the gear. put one of the straws through the 3x3 hole and using scissors, cut a small piece off and hot glue it to the end outside the box, to act as a crank. Then put another hole on the bottom of the gear and stick a small piece of straw in it (do not hot glue the small piece). Finally hot glue the other straw to the small straw in the gear and poke it through the hole on the top. My straw was a little loose and was weighted down by the gear, so I cut out a little support beam for it to rest on.

Step 3: Bat

First, you must make the bat. I used 5 pieces of cardboard cut into an oval to form the body (there should be one big piece, two medium, and one small for this to work) and hot glued them together. Then, I cut out bat wings from the cardboard and hot glued them to the body. With the bat done, then add a few cardboard rectangles around the straw facing upwards to support the bat. Finally, glue the bat the upward-facing straw.