Wooden ramp walking robot toy

I've seen ramp walking toys of similar design before, but the robot figure created by Roberto LouMa seems particularly appropriate!

Here is a frightfully/delightfully technical look at the principles behind such toys: An Uncontrolled Walking Toy That Cannot Stand Still. Here is a more easily digestible summary of the ramp-walking tinker toy (a product of Cornell University).

Despite the academic research and how common such toys are, it is surprisingly hard to find plans that show how to make a ramp walker. I have heard that there are detailed plans for a lathe-turned penguin ramp walking toy in the book 52 Weekend Woodworking Projects by John A. Nelson. I don't have the book, though, so I am not certain of this. Does anyone out there know if there are plans for a ramp walker in this (or some other) book?

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How to make organically-shaped gears

Clayton Boyer, creator of amazing wooden clocks, has created this fantastic demonstration video showing exactly how to make gears with crazy and unconventional profiles. Coolest of all, he does it without saying a word!

Here is where you can see Clayton Boyer's wooden clocks.

[ Thanks Fabrice! ]

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BuckyBalls - clever magnetic building spheres

I wasn't entirely sure if BuckyBalls really qualified as mechanical toys, but a) they are magnets, b) they can be used to construct all kinds of crazy shapes, and c) they're just plain cool.

You can now get them in silver, gold, or black (also in 'original', but I'm not sure how that differs from silver).

They have the full selection of BuckyBalls over at Thinkgeek.com.

[ Thanks Julia! ]

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