GIFs

[glatt]

How do you go about designing one of those? Is there a CAD program that has an animation mode so you can see how gears interact as you build up a complex system?

[glatt]

Originally Posted by glatt

How do you go about designing one of those? Is there a CAD program that has an animation mode so you can see how gears interact as you build up a complex system?

However you do it, it takes 700 hours.

Make your own! Woodworking plans are available at http://www.derekhugger.com/colibri.html Colibri is a wooden kinetic sculpture that simulates the motion of a hummingbird in flight. Every element of motion has been completely mechanized, from the beating wings to the flaring tail. Intricate systems of linkages and cams bring the sculpture to life with a continuous flow of meticulously timed articulations. As each mechanism has been linked to the next, Colibri cycles through its complete range of motions by the simple turn of a crank. This project is my eighth woodworking design project and is by far the most complex project I've done so far. From start to finish, Colibri took me about 700 hours.