The Horse Cart

Hello Fellow Makers, In this project, a simple horse cart is made with the help of A4 white paper sheets. The Theo Jansen’s Mechanism is used for the motion of the horse driven by a DC motor.

About Theo Jansen’s Mechanism:

Jansen's linkage is a planar leg mechanism designed by the kinetic sculptor Theo Jansen to generate a smooth walking motion. Jansen has used his mechanism in a variety of kinetic sculptures which are known as Strandbeesten (Dutch for "beach beasts"). Jansen's linkage bears artistic as well as mechanical merit for its simulation of organic walking motion using a simple rotary input. These leg mechanisms have applications in mobile robotics and in gait analysis. (Source :- Wikipedia)

According to design of the walker, you can use as many pairs of legs as you want. For the purpose of this project, I am using two pair of legs.

The materials you will need for this project are:

· A4 White paper sheets (total = 5)

· One Ivory paper sheet A3 size (GSM=210)

· Glue

· Tape

· Cardboard Sheet

· DC motor

· Battery 3.6V

· Wires

· Match stick

· Iron pins (total=4)

· Printer

· Stapler

· Scissors

· Double sided foam tape

· Switch

· Metal nail clips (total=2)

Take print out of the Template_1_horse on an A4 white paper sheet using laser printer. Cut the required size shown in pictures with the help of scissors. Paste both cut outs on the cardboard sheet.

The driver part consists of DC motor with worm gear setup and Crankshaft. The Crankshaft is made with the help of a match stick and two metal nail's plastic part. By making two holes 3mm apart on the plastic part and joining these two with the ends of match stick in opposite manner i.e. 180 degrees apart helps in motion of the legs as shown in pictures. A plastic rod piece is attached to the crank to connect it to the legs. The length of these parts is measured with digital calliper as shown in pictures.

Now, take print out of Template_2_horse legs on an Ivory Sheet A3 size (cut into two equal parts of A4 size paper), which is basically Theo Jansen’s Mechanism. Cut the required size as shown in pictures and fold them on the dash line accordingly. Paste the required parts with the help of glue. These two pair of legs are attached to the horse cutout with the help of iron pins at the desired position.

Now take a test by connecting battery wires to the motor, yes, the legs are in motion.

Take print out of following templates:

Take cutouts of the required pieces. Fold them accordingly as shown in pictures. Paste the roof to the bottom of cart with the help of glue and stapler.

Take print out of following template:

This Template contains the cutouts of wheel strips. These strips are folded in zigzag manner and make a bent at the middle of it. Paste the mating ends with the help of glue.

Make two rings using a color paper strips of 10mm, which acts as tires. Total five strips are used to make tires. Also cut 3mm strips for the horse’s rope.

Make three paper rods using paper strips. Two rods are used for joining cart to the horse and one rod for joining the wheels to the Cart.

Assemble all parts together with the help of glue and tape wherever required.

To run DC motor a 3.6V battery with ON/OFF switch is used. Now connect the wires to the DC motor and switch it ON.

The horse cart is ready to move.

Thanks for watching.