Leonardo da Vinci's Drawmaton, at its very heart, is rooted in S.T.E.A.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) and makes for a wonderful learning tool.
From its initial assembly right through to its operation, it encourages curiosity and critical-thinking.
S is for Science: Once assembled and operating, there is a clearly observable 'cause and effect':
1) As you begin to manually rotate the smaller hand gear, it in-turn starts to spin the larger main gear.
2) This causes the edges of the Programming Petals (mounted on the larger main gear) to glide along brass follower pins encased in the upper arm.
3) Two tension springs, which are connected to the upper arm and leveraged on a stationary bolt, ensures that the brass follower pins return and reach into each recess along the Programming Petals' edges.
4) The central "elbow" joint - which connects the upper and lower portions of the arm - assists in transferring this energy to the drawing instrument.
5) All of this movement is then interpreted, via the drawing instrument, as an image onto a sheet of paper in the drawing area.
T is for Technology: da Vinci's Drawmaton is a gear, spring and pivoting joint-based simple technology. An ancestor of the programmable computer, it is capable of reading 1kb of analog memory via wooden “petalos,” or petals.
E is for Engineering: Each laser-cut piece of wood has been carefully designed and calibrated to produce a machine where all parts are precise to ensure accurate operation. As you assemble and operate da Vinci's Drawmaton, you'll observe how each part relies on and affects its neighboring parts.
A is for Art: From the design of the machine to the drawings it produces, art is in Drawmaton's DNA. Leonardo himself would be proud!
M is for Math: There are 1,000 points of information which the machine reads from each set of Programming Petals. This translates to 1kb of information. The upper programming petal controls drawing on the horizontal axis, while the lower programming petal controls drawing on the vertical axis.
From its initial assembly right through to its operation, it encourages curiosity and critical-thinking.
S is for Science: Once assembled and operating, there is a clearly observable 'cause and effect':
1) As you begin to manually rotate the smaller hand gear, it in-turn starts to spin the larger main gear.
2) This causes the edges of the Programming Petals (mounted on the larger main gear) to glide along brass follower pins encased in the upper arm.
3) Two tension springs, which are connected to the upper arm and leveraged on a stationary bolt, ensures that the brass follower pins return and reach into each recess along the Programming Petals' edges.
4) The central "elbow" joint - which connects the upper and lower portions of the arm - assists in transferring this energy to the drawing instrument.
5) All of this movement is then interpreted, via the drawing instrument, as an image onto a sheet of paper in the drawing area.
T is for Technology: da Vinci's Drawmaton is a gear, spring and pivoting joint-based simple technology. An ancestor of the programmable computer, it is capable of reading 1kb of analog memory via wooden “petalos,” or petals.
E is for Engineering: Each laser-cut piece of wood has been carefully designed and calibrated to produce a machine where all parts are precise to ensure accurate operation. As you assemble and operate da Vinci's Drawmaton, you'll observe how each part relies on and affects its neighboring parts.
A is for Art: From the design of the machine to the drawings it produces, art is in Drawmaton's DNA. Leonardo himself would be proud!
M is for Math: There are 1,000 points of information which the machine reads from each set of Programming Petals. This translates to 1kb of information. The upper programming petal controls drawing on the horizontal axis, while the lower programming petal controls drawing on the vertical axis.
Behind-the-scenes fun fact: Each Programming Petal is first hand-programmed in ink on paper. Digital files are then made from this and are used in the production of the laser-cut wood pieces.