Love Complex Automata? Donβt Miss The Archer
[Oliver Pett] loves creating automata; pieces of art whose physicality and motion come together to deliver something unique. [Oliver] also has a mission, and that mission is to complete the most complex automata he has ever attempted: The Archer. This automaton is a fully articulated figure designed to draw arrows from a quiver, nock them in a bow, draw back, and fire β all with recognizable technique and believable motions. Shoot for the moon, we say!
Heβs documenting the process of creating The Archer in a series of videos, the latest of which dives deep into just how intricate and complex of a challenge it truly is as he designs the intricate cams required.
A digital, kinematic twin in Rhino 3D helps [Oliver] to choose key points and determine the cam profiles required to effect them smoothly.In simple automata rotational movement can be converted by linkages to create the required motions. But for more complicated automata (like the pen-wielding Maillardet Automaton), cams provide a way to turn rotational movement into something much more nuanced. While creating the automaton and designing appropriate joints and actuators is one thing, designing the cams β never mind coordinating them with one another β is quite another. Itβs a task that rapidly cascades in complexity, especially in something as intricate as this.
[Oliver] turned to modern CAD software and after making a digital twin of The Archer heβs been using it to mathematically generate the cam paths required to create the desired movements and transitions, instead of relying on trial and error. This also lets him identify potential collisions or other errors before any metal is cut. The cams are aluminum, so the fewer false starts and dead ends, the better!
Not only is The Archer itself a beautiful piece of work-in-progress, seeing an automatonβs movements planned out in this way is a pretty interesting way to tackle the problem. We canβt wait to see the final result.
Thanks [Stephen] for the tip!
hackaday.com/2026/02/21/love-cβ¦