Awesome Automaton

Artist Uri Tuchman is an expert at building unique devices with a Steampunk aesthetic. This time, he built a pair of mechanical wooden hands that appear to type on an imaginary keyboard. It’s part of a larger installation headed to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Ironically, Uri broke his hand after he completed the project.

Expert LEGO builder JK Brickworks shows off another incredible automaton from his collection. This motorized machine features a LEGO worker whose only job is to retrieve balls from the lower bin and deliver them to the upper bin. The video shows the mechanism on the backside so you can see how it works.

Argentinian artist Daniel Bennan creates amazing sculptures which move via a mechanism of gears and bent wire. Among his works are a series of automatons inspired by The Beatles, one with the Fab Four playing their instruments, and four walking machines based on John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

Elemental_lego builds original microscale LEGO models. Among his creations is this mechanical tank that crawls along a terrain treadmill beneath its wheels. It reminds us of the lunar buggy in the game Moon Patrol. He also built a rolling vehicle inspired by The Mandalorian’s Juggernaut. Buy the build instructions on Rebrickable.

Jason of JK Brickworks shows of an amazing LEGO kinetic sculpture of Greek goddess Artemis. When a crank is turned, she draws her bow and fires an “arrow” made from a piece of flexible tubing. The mechanism’s design was inspired by a wooden automata created by Del Cat.

Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s Robot Knight – an automaton he created somewhere around 1495, Robotime’s drawing machines use a series of stackable wood cams to create different sketches as you turn their hand cranks. Available in The Gambler, The Slayer, and The Robot designs. Assembly required.

LEGO artist TonyFlow76 shows off a playful scene featuring a man taking a bath. As he turns the crank, the guy scrubs his back, colorful “water” ripples and pours from the faucets. The design was inspired by this wooden automaton by Paul Spooner. If you’d love to see an official kit, show your support for the design on LEGO Ideas.

One of the creepier and more awesome mechanised LEGO builds we’ve seen comes from Darryl Friesen aka Baronworks, who created this chomping sugar skull inspired by the Day of the Dead. The noise its 100 spinning gears only add to the effect.