The process for making this automaton was definitely not easy but it felt pretty straight forward once I understood what needed to be done to make it work: reduce friction.
The main issue I ran into with the prototypes of my cam mechanism was the follower jamming in the driver or getting stuck pivoting one of the devil kids. My strategy for dealing with this was reducing a large amount of friction using nylon bearings, a steel d-shaft, and UHMW tape. Using these tools and materials allowed the mechanism to have a well performing foundation, which went a long way in making the cam create a repeating smooth action.
My design process for the Jersey Devil automaton was mocking up everything in fusion, making sure each object has the same width as the plywood I used. This allowed me to make a 3D object and take the flat outlines to create laser cut patterns from them. I used none of the math with the cams and instead relied on how things looked in fusion. This ultimately worked and there were small tweaks I had to do with sanding but overall I am happy with the method!
If I were to change anything, it would be adding more artistic design to the piece. My initial plans were to UV print all over the pieces but I ran out of time.
