Hello, and welcome to today's design and technology lesson.

I'm Mrs. Fletcher, and I'm going to be guiding you through today's lesson, helping you with your learning.

Now, today's lesson is called Cams in a Product, and it's part of the Cams Automata unit.

It's the second lesson in this unit where we get to look at and explore how cams work inside actual products.

So let's have a look at what we'll be learning about today.

The outcome of today's lesson, then, is I can identify how cams work in automata.

So that means by the end of today's lesson we will have recapped how can mechanisms work, but we'll also have looked at how they work inside a product.

So specifically, in an automaton toy is what we're going to look at today.

This is a practical lesson.

So we're going to be making a prototype to help us see the cam mechanism at work inside the product as part of the wider unit where we will get to make an actual automaton toy.

Now, there are some key words we need to have a look at before we start to make sure we are clear on their meaning.

An automaton is a mechanical toy that uses a cam mechanism to animate a character or a scene, and we use the plural, automata, for that word.

A cam is a shaped disc, which is attached to an axle as part of a cam mechanism.

A follower is a bar that follows the movement of that cam disc as part of the cam mechanism.

And the slide is a device that holds the follower in position, allowing it to make the same movement over and over again in that cam mechanism.

There are two parts to today's lesson.

First of all, we're going to learn how the cams create the movement, and then we're gonna move on to the practical part where you get to make your own prototype automaton and see that cam mechanism at work in action.

So we'll start with how the cams create the movement in the automata.

Cams are used in a range of products.

You may already have explored this in previous lessons, and they turn a simple rotary motion, that's a motion in a circular pattern, into more complicated movement.

So you see this kind of mechanism in sewing machines, in fairground rides that go around like a carousel, and in automaton toys.

And automaton is a simple mechanical toy that uses the cam mechanism as a way to explore and observe the cams in action.

This example here, we've got a dog automaton, uses two cams to affect the movement of the dog's tail and the dog's mouth.

So you can see the cam mechanism in the bottom and the animated element at the top.

Now automata been around for hundreds of years as a toy and as a source of amusement.

They're even mentioned in Greek mythology.

That's how old they are.

An automaton usually houses a cam mechanism in its base, and it's used to animate a character, an object, or a scene on the top.

So in this example, the cam mechanism's there at the bottom, and it's animating a caterpillar character on the top.

The cam discs are fixed to an axle, which is turned by a crank, which is a handle.

So here we can see the purple highlighted part are the cam discs that we're talking about.

They are on an axle, and they rotate around.

They rotated by turning that crank or that handle.

The followers sit just above those cam discs, and they move up and down as the cams turn on the axle.

So the cams are turning around and around.

The followers, which sit above the cam, are affected by that movement, and they move up and down as the cams move round and around.

The character or the object that's connected to the followers on the top of the automaton move with the followers.

So whatever movement the followers are making is the movement that the character on top will make.

So here you can see the animated element is at the top.

That will be affected by the followers.

Quick check before we move on.

What are the cam discs fixed to? Are they fixed to the crank, to the follower, or to the axle? Pause the video.

Have a quick think.

Okay, well done if you said axle.

So just like a wheel and axle, the circular cam discs are fixed to the axle in a cam mechanism.

So a cam can be any shape, but the most common ones that we see are eccentric, ellipse, snail, and pair.

So the eccentric cam has a hole that is off centre, so that means it's not in the centre of the disc.

And this means that the follower makes a constant smooth motion.

So it's smooth motion up and down as it follows that cam disc shape.

An ellipse cam is an elongated shape with a central hole, and this creates a quicker up and down movement of the follower.

So it moves still a smooth motion, but it's a much quicker movement of that follower.

A snail cam creates a very different movement.

So the point or the lip on that spiral shape causes the follower to make a sudden drop as it falls off that edge.

So it's a smooth motion for parts and then a quick drop as it comes off that lip.

And the pear shape is an another elongated shape, but it's wider at one end this time.

And this means that the follower pause is in the lower position for a little bit longer than it does with the other cam shape.

So you get a little bit of a pause before it rises back up again.

And it falls, pauses, and rises back up again.

And that's as it makes its way around that wider base.

The number of cams as well as the size, shape, and position can all be changed.

Here we've got an automaton that has two cams, so it's affecting two parts of the animated elements at the top.

And here we have one with three cams. So there are three characters on the top.

In this example, the three cams are all different shapes, which means that the penguin characters on the top are all making different movements.

So we can see the eccentric and ellipse cams are creating a smooth up and down motion.

The ellipse one is slightly quicker than the eccentric one.

But the last one is a snail cam, and that's causing the penguin to make a sudden drop movement.

So it is a smooth journey to the top, and then it suddenly drops and starts again.

The position of the followers can also be changed to allow movement in different directions.

So in this automaton, we can see that the followers are in a horizontal position.

So we've still got the crank and the axle, and the cams connected to the axle, but the followers are in that horizontal position, which means the movement they make is in that back and forth, side to side direction, which makes a different movement of the animated character.

Complicated movements like this dinosaur walking can be created with the same simple rotary input that all the can mechanisms use.

Another check, then.

Which parts are affected by changing the shape or size of a cam? So there's more than one answer here.

Which parts are affected? Is it the follower, the crank, which is the handle, or the output display? Pause the video.

Have a think.

Okay, what did you think? Which parts were affected? Well done, if you said the follower and the output display.

Those are the parts that are directly affected when the cam moves around.

It affects the follower, which affects that animated output or character at the top.

Okay, so your first task then is to use what we've just learned to label this diagram of an automaton.

So using the word bank that has axle, follower, animated element, crank and cam, can you label that diagram correctly? Pause the video.

Come back when you've had a go.

Welcome back.

How did you get on? Did you manage to place all of those words in the correct position? Let's have a look at the answers you should have had.

So the caterpillar character at the top is the animated element.

Underneath the caterpillar are the followers.

Those are sat on top of the cams, which are connected to the axle.

And then the crank is the handle that would use to turn that mechanism.

So check, you have labelled those in the correct place.

Well done, if you have.

Let's move on.

Part two.

So this is the part that I'm really excited about where we get to make our own prototype.

So this would get, help us to see how that mechanism that we've just been recapping works inside this product, inside an automaton product.

So in order to test the effect of different cams on the output display of an automaton, we will make a simple prototype.

So a prototype is a model or a mock-up to test how something works.

So we can see here in this example, it is a model to show how cams can affect an animated element on the top.

We can make our own using these materials and tools.

So you'll need to get these things ready for the next part of the lesson.

You'll need a small recycled cardboard box.

So something that might have been used for tea bags or something like that is a good size.

You need some wooden dowel or straws you could use instead.

You need one long piece.

And you need two shorter pieces.

You need a sharp pencil, some thick cardboard, like the type you get on good strong cardboard boxes, some thin card, some scissors, and some sellotape.

Quick check before we start on the steps to making our prototype.

Which of these materials do you think we are going to use to make the axle? The wooden dowel, the cardboard box, or the thick card? Which one would be used to make the axle? Have a quick think.

Well done, if you said the wooden dowel So the shape of an axle, like on a wheeled axle, is of a long stick shape that we need for that.

So the wooden dowel will work for that.

Okay, so let's have a look at the steps now.

So these are the steps we will need to follow in order to make our prototype automaton.

I will go through them one at a time, and then you can come back and pause the video or re-look at the steps as you make your own prototype automaton.

So step number one.

You need to tape the flaps of the box closed.

So we need a closed, solid box.

So any loose flaps need to be taped closed, and then you need to safely pierce a hole in the smaller ends of the box.

So using a sharp pencil, push that pencil through carefully to make a hole in each of the smaller ends of the box.

So you should have, like, it's a cuboid shape.

We should have some longer rectangular sides, and then some shorter square or rectangular sides.

It's those two square sides that we need to make those holes in.

Step number two: I want you to draw and cut out a rectangular window on one of the larger sides of the box.

So these are not the sides where we pierce the holes.

These are the larger sides.

You need to draw a rectangle, not right up to the edge.

We need to leave a bit of a frame, and we need to cut that out safely.

And you're going to pierce two holes in one of the longer sides next to the window.

So you can see in that second diagram, we're gonna pierce two holes on what will be the top of your automaton.

So we've cut out a hole in the side, and we've pierced two holes in what will be the top.

Okay, step number three: To make the slide, so that's the part that's going to support the follower, we're gonna make two small tubes out of thin card.

So we cut two rectangles out of the thin card, and just roll them up into a tube shape, and push them into the two holes that we made in the top of the box in the previous step.

You might need to use your pencil to make the holes a bit larger if you can't get the card in, but it should be a tight fit, so don't make them too big.

And you can see in the smaller image there a view from underneath that they should be part underneath and part sticking out of the top.

So they will be the slides on our automata.

Step number four: you need to cut out two circles from the very thick card that you've collected, and you're going to use tape to secure them to the two smaller pieces of dowels.

So these are going to be our followers.

We're going to make two followers in this automaton.

You can adjust that if you want to make one or more if you want to.

But you need to cut out two cardboard circles and attach them to the bottom of that piece of dowel using sellotape.

And then you're going to push them up inside the box through those slides that we made in step number three.

So you can see in that image there how we push them up through those slides.

Now, they will fall out at this point because we've not got anything to keep them in, but that's the position they're going to be in for the next step.

Okay, so step number five is we're going to make our cam and axle.

So you're gonna cut two more circles from the thick card to make cams. Now, I would just use two eccentric cams to start with.

You could always change these later on and have a go at trying some different shape cams. But if we start with eccentric cams is the simplest way to start.

So make sure you pierce a hole in your two cam discs.

And because it's an eccentric cam, make sure the holes not in the centre.

Make sure it's a little bit up or to the side of where you would mark the centre of that disc.

If your cardboard is not very thick, you might need to make two and glue them together.

So that means you'll need four altogether if you're going to make two finished cam discs and you're going to thread those onto your axle, which is the longer piece of dowel from the materials you've collected.

Step number six: you're going to use the window as your entrance again to insert the axles through the holes that we made right at the beginning in each of the sides of the boxes.

And you're going to wiggle your axle and cams around until they are positioned underneath your followers.

So you might need to lift your followers back up again and position your cams in the right place so they're holding those followers up in place.

So the cams are underneath the followers.

So have a look at the picture.

Make sure you get everything in the right place.

The final step then is to use the thin card, draw and cut out any characters or objects that you want to add to the top of the followers.

So this is gonna be the animated part of your automaton, and you can secure these, you just using glue or sticky tape.

It's a good idea to make one for each side of the follower so that, as you can see in the video there, the followers can move around as well as up and down.

So if you put an image on both sides, and you can see the animated element, whichever way it's facing.

In order to make your automaton work, you need to very slowly rotate that axle that you've made so that the cams move around, and they affect the followers, which affect the animated element.

You might need to do a little bit of tweaking to get things into position.

You might need to experiment with making the discs on your follower slightly bigger in order to keep them in position or your cam slightly smaller if there's not enough room for them to move around.

You might need to tweak a few things to make this work, but this is how it should be working if you've done everything correctly.

So a quick check before you have a go yourself.

Why do you need to add the two cardboard tubes to the top of the box? So remember in the steps, we rolled up some cardboard tubes to put in the holes before we added the followers.

Why do those need to be there? Is it to hold the axle? Is it to support the followers? Or is it to be able to see the mechanism? Pause the video, have a think.

Okay, well done if you said it was to support the followers.

So the job of the slide is to support to the followers.

Okay, so we should be ready to get going on making your prototype automaton now.

So by following those six steps and the success criteria I'll show you in a minute, you should be able to make your prototype automaton yourself.

So step number one: pierce the holes in the side of that closed box.

Step number two: cut out the window and pierce the holes for the followers.

Step number three: you're gonna make those cardboard tube slides that fit in the top of your box.

Step number four: you're going to make and insert those followers.

Step number five: is to make your cam an axle.

And then step number six: is to position everything in the right place and add those animated elements to the top to make it a finished prototype automaton.

Following those steps, and checking that you've got two cams fixed to the axle, or if you've changed it, however many cams you're going for, a follower above each of the cams that you've made, a slide for each of the followers that you've made, and an animated piece attached to each of the followers that you've made.

So you can adjust it, but you need to have all those things in place.

Pause the video.

Come back when you've had a go.

How did you get on? Hopefully, you have a working prototype automaton in front of you.

Have a quick check, particularly if it's not working correctly, that you have got two cams fixed to the axle, that you've got a follower above each one of those cams, that you've got a slide holding each one, of those followers in place, and you've got an animated piece attached to each of the followers that you've made.

So you may have more or less in numbers of cams and followers, but make sure you've got a cam, a follower, and a slide, and an animated piece for each one.

So we are nearly at the end of the lesson now.

So we've learned and recapped quite a lot about cam mechanisms, and you've had a go at making your own automaton as well.

So we've learned that an automaton is a hand-operated mechanical toy that uses a simple rotary motion to animate a scene.

An automaton uses a cam and follow a mechanism to produce its movement and changes to the shape, and size, and position, and even the number of cams can create different types of movement in the output.

And you can have a go experimenting with this by changing the number, or shape, or size of the cams that you made in your prototype.

Even very simple cams can create complicated movements.

So that very simple rotary movement, can be turned into a complicated movement on the top of the automaton.

I've had fun today making our prototype cam mechanism automatons.

Hopefully, you have too.

And hopefully, you come back from more lessons on this subject in this unit where we'll be making a more detailed version of an automaton.

I hope to see you then, but bye for now.

I'll see you soon.