Category Archives: 1. Paper Automata

Leonardo’s Anemometer

Within the frame of his studies about the flight, Leonardo designed an instrument for measuring the wind intensity and direction. In the so called “thin sheet anemometer”, the wind intensity is proportional to the shift of the thin sheet, measured … Continue reading

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WAP downscaled to 50%

Herbert (moderator at the German paper modellers forum KARTONBAU.de) downscaled WAP to 50%. He posted  three movies and some picture of his work to the German forum. The result is terrific! Consider that Herbert built a lot of tiny rivets to add 3D effects to … Continue reading

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WAP – WARNING! Air Pockets

[25x30x40 cm, 165 parts, about 90Mb] The Mechanism. WAP is a paper automaton whose main mechanism is Redtenbacher`s variation of the Cartwright straight-line mechanism, a twin gear driving a common slider crank. If the two gears have different but almost equal … Continue reading

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Peace Dove / Colomba della Pace

Release Year: 2004

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Santa and his favourite Reindeer (1923 LA Times animated card recolored)

In 1922-23, LA Times newspaper offered to its readers a series of animated cards by Dan Rudolph to cutout and assemble.Some years ago (maybe in 2007) I downloaded these cards from the Barnacle Press site, a web archive dedicated to … Continue reading

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Flying Santa / Babbo Natale Volante

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The Rolling Reels Circus / Il Circo dei Rocchetti Rotolanti (2005)

As Tom Mitchell said: This is the perfect thing to have at work for when I need a “mental health moment”. Thank you michael42er!

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The Incredible Anti-Gravity Double Cone / L’incredibile Doppio Cono Anti-Gravitazionale

This model (a wooden version) was used in one of the physics experiments described in the works by the French abbot Jean Antoine Nollet (1700-1770). When the double cone is placed at the lower end of the frame, it automatically starts to roll … Continue reading

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Leonardo’s Mechanical Hammer / Martello meccanico di Leonardo

This is one of the simplest machines designed by Leonardo in order to improve the human performance. A lever connected to the hammer is moved by means of an eccentric cam. At each turn of the handle, the hammer gives … Continue reading

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Wandering in the Sky / A zonzo tra le nuvole

Released on 2nd February 2006, WitS is my biggest and the most complex paper automaton I ever designed.

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