[Scott] doesn’t have any kids, but he’s the sort of type that likes to get ahead of the game. Of course this means spending time in his garage to build a rocking cradle. Usually, these are acquired from a baby shower and are powered by batteries. Terribly uncool, considering a mechanism to keep a pendulum swinging has existed for hundreds of years now. His latest project is the escapement cradle – a cradle (or hammock) that keeps rocking with the help of falling weights.
The first video in this series goes over the inspiration and the math behind determining how much energy it will take to maintain a swinging pendulum. The second video goes over a very rough prototype for the escapement mechanism with some woodworking that looks dangerous but is kept well under control. The third video puts everything together, rocking a cradle for about 10 minutes for every time the weight is lifted to the top.
[Scott] has had a few of his projects featured on Hackaday, and he’s slowly becoming the number two mechanized woodworker, right behind [Matthais]. He recently put the finishing touches on the expanding wooden table we saw a year ago, and there are surely even cooler builds in the queue for his YouTube channel.
Somehow, I want this to be done with a grasshopper escapement.
Sleep, young grasshopper. Ssssleeeep……
Mundus transit et concupiscentia eius
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCqGtvTA36k&w=420&h=315%5D
Will the baby sleep at all with the noise/clicking from this built?
This cradle is obviously not designed for babies, but it is fun project for its creator.
Depends I guess, my kids loved the clicking of a Model-M for sleeping, but only one of them liked being lulled to sleep by a cradle.. :-)
Behold: a baby calmed by the soothing sounds of Scandinavian black metal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x01j3M3PrGk
Turns out babies are weird.
You know, the modern metal music sound derives from the traditional instruments:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkq_bs9Mj4w
It’s in the blood.
Makes me think of this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfQ-Xg_MS3k
Does it matter, I think the baby is just supposed to be the pendulum.
I’ve been casually working on making a mechanical clock, pendulum, escapements, etc give me a greater appreciation for the mechanical marvel. I have it made with hundreds of years worth of examples to copy from, but if it were me trying to invent the first escapement this is how it would have unfolded:
“F___ this… I’m done. Here ya go, two sundials!”
Matthias Wandel, not Matthais. https://www.youtube.com/user/Matthiaswandel