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Awesome Kinetic

Fixing the Marble Machine Clock

Fixing the Marble Machine Clock

A little while back, maker Ivan Miranda engineered a very cool clock that tells time using marbles. But his kinetic sculpture is too slow to tell the time accurately. He’s since made numerous refinements to the design of his clock, and it’s now faster and smoother, so it can properly update its digits once per minute. It’s totally awesome but ridiculously loud.

Tentacle Kinetic Sculpture

Tentacle Kinetic Sculpture

Berlin-based artist Florian Goerlitz makes incredible mechanical artworks that have appeared in large installations and at festivals. This smaller piece is notable because it creates so much movement using just a single motor. Made almost entirely from wooden gears, it has three arms that move around its center, undulating like tentacles on an octopus.

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3D-Printed Roller Coaster Clock

3D-Printed Roller Coaster Clock

For his latest build, JBV Creative combined elements of a roller coaster with one of those rolling ball clocks. His enormous tabletop clock tells time using wooden balls that roll into multiple tracks representing hours, 10-minute increments, and minutes. It took weeks of designing, planning, and fabrication, but the finished piece is a true work of art.

Making a Kinetic PC Case

Making a Kinetic PC Case

As part of his home workstation revamp, Ideal Idea wanted a computer case like no other. The idea? Build a PC that doubles as a kinetic sculpture. He made the case from laser-cut wood panels and created two interchangeable faces. An Arduino and a stepper motor control the mechanisms. The ripple design with the hexagons is fantastic.

Mug Trap Self-Adjusting Drink Coaster

Mug Trap Self-Adjusting Drink Coaster

3D printing expert Lee David came across this cool design for a mechanical drink coaster. KrakDrag’s Mug Trap is based on the design of an animal trap, except instead of trapping bears, it traps beverages. When you place your cup, can, or mug on its center, its jaws clamp down on your drink. You can download the STL files to print your own on Cults 3D.

Round Table Kinetic Movement Sculpture

Round Table Kinetic Movement Sculpture

At first glance, we thought these were costumed dancers, but these straw men are machines. Artist U-ram Choe’s Round Table is a kinetic sculpture featuring 18 headless characters supporting table on their backs. Its mechanisms are programmed to keep a rubber band “head” from rolling off the table. The piece was displayed at the MMCA Seoul in 2022.

Best Fidget Toys 2023

Best Fidget Toys 2023

Everyday Carry shares its latest list of tactile toys to keep your frolicking fingers and bored brain occupied. Among the 15 fidget toys on this year’s list are a cool ring-shaped spinner, a three-axis gyroscope, a balisong practice rig, and a decision-maker coin that lets you decide if the devil or angel on your shoulder wins for the day.

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LEGO Kinetic Sculptures

LEGO Kinetic Sculptures

Most off-the-shelf LEGO kits offer limited amounts of motion. The Brick Experiment Channel shows how LEGO and Technic parts can be used to create action-packed kinetic sculptures. While the first design is finger-powered, all of the others are motorized. That twisty Hoberman Linkage is our favorite.

Kinetic Coasters

Kinetic Coasters

Artist Ross McSweeney created these fascinating mechanical coasters. There are four smooth-spinning patterns, including geometric shapes, gears, and a bicycle. Their outer gears touch when placed next to each other so that you can spin multiple designs simultaneously. You can purchase the SVG files for laser cutting on Etsy.

A Cool Collection of Kinetic Sculptures

A Cool Collection of Kinetic Sculptures

Artist Reuben Margolin is known for creating amazing kinetic sculptures. He recently shared this video which compiles four of his mechanical artworks including dancing rings, a crawling creature, and rippling waves. All we could think of was Sonic the Hedgehog running through that one with the golden rings.

Magnetic Kinetic Sculptures

Magnetic Kinetic Sculptures

Magnet Tricks created a few cool kinetic sculptures using small neodymium magnet spheres and rods. They start spinning using air blown through a straw, and some of the designs incorporate colorful rods to create a rainbow effect as they get up to speed. They look easy enough to replicate using Neobuildr parts.

The Drone that Cannot Fly

The Drone that Cannot Fly

Making drones out of lightweight materials is a must if you want them to fly. But Motores Patelo went the opposite direction, and created a flightless drone out of metal. Sadly, he couldn’t record the whole build due to the lockdown, but the finished piece is still amazing… and could easily take off a finger.

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Gyre

Gyre

Yunchul Kim created this kinetic sculpture which looks like some sort of segmented alien robot. The work represents the infinite nature of creation and extinction, with each of its parts made from acrylic, flexible LED panels, and motors. It’s on display at the 59th International Art Exhibition in Venice, Italy through 11.27.22.

Robot Caterpillar Climbs a Pile of Wood

Robot Caterpillar Climbs a Pile of Wood

Artist Reuben Margolin creates kinetic sculptures inspired by nature and math. For his work Caterpillar and Woodpile, he created an articulated robot that moves like a caterpillar and programmed it to climb a woodpile in the shape of a polynomial spline. The machine’s slow crawl is so relaxing to watch.

Pantone’s Interactive Color Wheels

Pantone’s Interactive Color Wheels

Argentina artist Felipe Pantone is known for eye-catching artworks that play with shades of color. His Subtractive Variability series is especially fascinating with its layered gradient color discs that reveal different color schemes as they’re rotated. He’s made other variants which are similarly awesome to watch.

Strandbeest Evolution

Strandbeest Evolution

Since 1990, artist Theo Jansen has created numerous walking and moving machines. Each year, he heads to the beach with a new one of his Strandbeests and lets it able about along the, powered solely by the wind. This video compilation shows off some of the many amazing and amusing creatures as they march across the beach.

Over-engineered Candy Dispenser

Over-engineered Candy Dispenser

You could just put M&Ms in a candy dish, or you could overengineer a solution like JBV Creative did. The machine is basically a tiny candy factory that dishes out individual candies from a storage tank onto a conveyor belt and then into a tray. Money shot at 7:56. Want your own? Grab the STL files for 3D printing here.

The Corporate Ping Pong Machine

The Corporate Ping Pong Machine

JBV Creative loves to engineer kinetic sculptures and machines using 3D-printed parts. For this interactive piece, he created a wall-mounted mechanism that represents the slow, repetitive churning of the corporate machine. It launches ping pong balls into the air and catches them in a funnel to repeat the process endlessly.

Incredibly Long Marble Run

Incredibly Long Marble Run

Scott’s Marble Runs shows off a truly impressive build that start outside of his house, then winds its way inside through countless bends and turns. It takes a full six minutes for a marble to complete the entire course, which he built using Quercetti Skyrail marble tracks.

5-Axis Moving Rack Sculpture

5-Axis Moving Rack Sculpture

Inspired by the geometric star art of John and Jane Kostick, mathematical artist Henry Segerman shows off a neat bit of mechanical engineering which uses a set of five geared racks that can smoothly slide through each other. The model is available as a 3D print from Shapeways, but it’s not cheap.

Ocean Wave Kinetic Sculpture

Ocean Wave Kinetic Sculpture

Artist Ross McSweeney created this beautiful work of moving sculpture, which uses a series of cams to create a wave-like action. A tiny boat rocks back and forth as a wooden ocean moves below, and fish dive in and out of the waves. We also love his caterpillar marble machine.

Mechanical Man Kinetic Wall Art

Mechanical Man Kinetic Wall Art

Mechanical engineer Kiyoshi Adachi created this wonderful work of kinetic wall art which features a tiny metal man who turns a crank, setting into motion a ballet of spinning gears and dancing rods. Those elliptical gears are especially cool.

The Fragility of Complexity

The Fragility of Complexity

Illustrating just how interdependent the world has become, artist Neil Mendoza built The Fragility of Complexity, a motorized, kinetic art installation composed of a row of hammers that rotate perilously close to a series of moving light bulbs. Neil says only a single light bulb was broken during its construction.

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