Flickering electronic Oil-Lamp head for a Yinka Shonibare figure exhibited in Jerusalem
March 2010
Yinka Shonibare is another 'artist' where others make 'his exhibits'.
His exhibition was of four figures representing the four elements. Fire was to have an Oil Lamp as a head, however for safety reasons it had to be electric, so I made a flickering LED array which simulated the various flickering modes of a real oil lamp. The figure itself was sculpted by Anthony Bennett of Sheffield and the clothes were made by a dressmaker from London.
Jim Whiting's Boxer Shorts Bingo at the Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) London
October 2009
Setup, electronics and control software for Jim Whiting's Boxer Shorts Bingo machine show.
The shorts, rotating on a carousel, were dropped at random onto a paddle which then catapulted them across the room while the players attempted to match the pattern of the shorts to those on their bingo-card. The Yarpies (the hanging nightdresses) got excited, bounced up and down and yelled at each throw. The Yarpies and catapult were pneumatic powered while the shorts carousel was electric.
Also the software for a pneumatic Winch game.
Control electronics for Lulu Guinness's Cuckoo Bag
March 2009
via Adam Wright
Lulu Guinness, a fashion designer, for her 20th anniversary designed a one off bag containing a captivating animatronic bird was inspired by the traditional musical birdcage curiosities that use clockwork mechanisms to allow the birds to flutter sing and nod as if magically alive. The hand-bag was constructed by Adam Wright and contained an actual Victorian mechanical bird operated by electric RCservos rather than the original clockwork. The electronics designed and built by me recorded and played back both the sound of the bird singing and the bird's accompanying movements.
Sleeping sailor for the SS Great Britain
September 2005
See an example video, above at Breathing Torso for Jersey Tunnels museum.
In partnership with Gems Display Figures.
Figure in billowing cloth for an Inhaler Advert.
August 2004
A specially sculpted mannequin for WPPs' german pharmaceutical client of a woman enjoying the benefits of a new asthma product.
The mannequin had to have the scarf billowing in a breeze, and has small electric fans fitted inside the body to blow the scarf backwards to enhance the display and copy the packaging image. The figure is the centrepiece of a major promotion at trade fairs across Europe.
The cloth was supported on an irregular frame and the four very quiet fans hidden in the figure supplied the wind.
In partnership with Gems Display Figures.
Animatronic Grasshopper caught in a web - Inatura, Museum of Natural History, Dornbirn, Austria
March 2003
The grasshoppers antennae had to move spasmodically as if it was in its death throes.
with Anthony Bennett
TecRover was a prototype mobile robot base, designed for Milford Instrument to take the TecArm or the Arm and TecGripper from Hextor. The drive was two SuperTec S04 quarter-scale servos modified for continuous rotation and the chassis had a compartment to take a standard 7.2v NiCad racing pack.
Computer controlled Pan and Tilt for Milford Instruments
The rising snake from the story The Speckled Band for the Sherlock Holmes museum, Baker St, London
March 2000
The animatronic Speckled Band is a snake, triggered by an infra-red sensor, which rises as visitors approach.
Since the man is supposed to be dead I would have thought he should have been in a high backed armchair to support his head and arms, however the museum designers have the final say in these matters.
In partnership with Gems Display Figures.
Charles Dickens, prototype silicone-skin talking animatronic head
May 1999
An animatronic talking Charles Dickens with moving eyes.
In partnership with Gems Display Figures.