Automata Wrap-Up!

This is my final blog post about the Puppets in Prague Automata workshop! For my final project, I wanted to incorporate several of the mechanical principles we covered throughout the series. Since I was out of town and watching asynchronously during the gears module, I especially wanted to make sure I practiced working with gears in this piece. As I am also doing some prototyping for another puppetry project, this felt like a great opportunity to experiment with Tyvek. I wanted to see whether it would work well as a surface for shadow puppets, how it would respond to applied color, and whether it could hold the kind of luminous quality I was hoping for.

Initial Concept

I started with a rough sketch: three periaktoi light boxes with birds on top. Each triangular form would rotate, revealing three distinct scenes. During our first consultation, Mirek was rightfully concerned about my ability to make the triangles accurately enough. He suggested I explore using cylinders instead, since they would be more forgiving mechanically. As I researched and prototyped each step, I decided to try both approaches. I bought some 4-inch disks and also found some laser-cut wood triangles to experiment with. I didn’t have the time or woodworking skills to make my own gears, so I purchased laser-cut gears and other components. Since I had funding available, I decided it made sense to buy those elements so I could focus my time on the design and the mechanism itself. I made the basic box and drilled the necessary holes using the interior platform method to stabilize the vertical shafts. One of the most useful parts of this whole course has been getting better at the kind of accuracy this work requires: keeping things square, pre-drilling holes, and using bracing where needed. I was really happy with how the frame and box itself came out.

Cylinder vs. Triangular Prism

I first made a cylinder prototype, but I wasn’t happy with it. The structure collapsed a little, and I couldn’t get enough tension to hold the Tyvek taut. So I also went ahead and tried making a periaktos-style triangular prism. At first, I experimented with using basswood to make a small frame for each panel, placing them side by side with one continuous piece of Tyvek. Eventually, though, I realized that what I really needed was simply better tension. I ended up using bamboo skewers to create interior posts the Tyvek could wrap around. I taped everything together just enough to test the idea, and that approach worked much better.

Building the Mechanism

I assembled everything so far to get some more feedback. At that point, we talked through the cylinder versus the triangular prism. Once Mirek saw how close the triangular forms were getting, he seemed much more confident that the periaktoi could work. It also helped that the three pieces didn’t actually need to touch; they could have a small gap between them. That gave me just enough flexibility to keep everything accurate without requiring impossible precision. After that consultation, I decided to let go of the cylinder idea- I really liked the theatrical clarity of having three distinct scenes.

Testing Tyvek and Color

Once the form was approved, I started experimenting with different media on the Tyvek. I tried alcohol markers, watercolor, and watered-down acrylic paint. In the end, the alcohol markers gave me the luminescent effect I wanted for the three scenes. I also tested whether the Tyvek was opaque enough for the bird shadow puppets. I wanted to know if I could place the birds inside without them reading too clearly through the surface when they were unlit. This stage involved a lot of small R&D tests to figure out how the material, color, shadow, and light would all work together.

Improving the Gears

Another piece of feedback I received was to use thicker gears for better stability. I had tried to beef up the first gears I bought by adding a half-round bead to each one for extra weight and structure. But what I really needed was thicker gear teeth, so they could nest more securely. I ordered a couple of different sizes and tested those. Then I stretched and finished the Tyvek triangular forms. I colored them while they were flat, then stitched small channels for the bamboo supports to run through the corners. This allowed the Tyvek to sit snugly on the frame, and I could tug it just enough to remove wrinkles. Because my construction wasn’t precise enough for every piece to be interchangeable, I had to keep careful track of orientation: up and down, which corner matched which slot, and which order the pieces needed to go in. There was only one correct way for everything to line up nicely, so I added registration marks to keep everything straight.

Lighting the Boxes

I also spent time researching lights to place inside the forms. I wanted small LEDs, ideally rechargeable and remote-controlled. I eventually found tiny bike lights that could rubber-band around the center post. I had one older bike light on hand for testing. It was a little too big, and I knew I would have to manage the hotspot, but I also discovered something encouraging: the light bounced off the white interior of the Tyvek and created a beautiful glow from within. I didn’t want the lights to add too much weight, and I knew they couldn’t be permanent. Whether they were battery-operated or rechargeable, I needed to be able to access them easily. So I decided to make the seam visible and treat it as a design feature as part of a cityscape facade. That way, I could open the piece and reach the lights without fighting the structure.

Work-in-Progress Feedback

A couple of weeks ago, we had a work-in-progress check-in. When everything aligned just right, the mechanism moved well — but it wasn’t predictable yet. At that point, I still only had one old bicycle light inside for testing. Mirek had two very helpful suggestions. First, he pointed out that I didn’t actually need the sharp corners on the top and bottom wooden triangles. I rounded them off and sanded them smooth. The difference was immediate. If the rotation wasn’t perfectly aligned, the rounded corners allowed the forms to keep moving instead of jamming. It was such a simple fix, but it improved everything. He also suggested revisiting the seam placement so that the seam would fall at a corner. I understood why that would be cleaner, but I didn’t have time to remake all of the flats. Instead, I followed another suggestion: adding a slight overlap so there wouldn’t be such an obvious gap where the edges met. Another suggestion from our first consultation was to place a disk on top of the horizontal gears. This helped keep everything level and prevented the vertical gear teeth from slipping past or jamming as they rotated through the horizontal gears. That adjustment also made the movement much smoother.

Making the Birds

After the mechanism was working more reliably, I moved on to finishing the piece and making the birds for the top. I drilled very thin holes into the vertical dowels so I could attach sculptural wire birds that would flutter slightly with the movement. I made three different bird forms. I had drawn a rough version of them in my initial proposal, and I ended up staying pretty close to that idea. At first, I wasn’t sure what material to use, but then I realized I should continue working with Tyvek. It was elegant, lightweight, easy to fold, and visually connected to the rest of the project. I used Tyvek and wire to sculpt three different bird forms: one in flight, a group in flight, and one at rest. They are not meant to be any particular species. They are simply birdlike. The idea is that they are flying around, trying to find a home. They are on a journey to find their best location — whether that is the mountains, the ocean, or a city.

Final Adjustments

The last mechanical adjustment was adding washers to correct the spacing and smooth out the rotation. I needed to make sure the periaktoi were not resting directly on the box. The form on the far right needed a little more space, so I used two washers there. The other two only needed one washer each. That was just enough for everything to drop into place. Finally, I was able to fix the axle so that it had a predictable rotation using two pins on either side, just outside the box. And now, it is ready for show and tell! Thank you Puppets in Prague for a great year!

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/972019_69ff3d48b39947daabf50656f5e068f9/1080p/mp4/file.mp4