My follow-up to the Automatypewriter is another physicalization of a classic videogame: I’m building a playable, mechanical Pac-Man cabinet, called “Pac Machina” (subscribe to my RSS feed if you want to follow my progress!). Of course, essential to a Pac-Man game is Pac-Man himself, and Pac-Man isn’t Pac-Man if he doesn’t chomp. I needed a mechanism for that and it had to be as simple as possible (i.e. no servos or stepper motors). So, after some trial, error, and trigonometry, I built a clockwork Pac-Man. I call it the Pactuator. I kind of fell in love with the little guy, but it’s going to be a (long) while before the game is ready. In the meantime I wanted a nice way to display and play with it (and keep myself inspired to finish the full project). To that end, I drew up a feeble pastiche of a Victorian frame with a Pac-Man motif, laser engraved it in some wood, and made a little display, complete with a hand-crank. (via Up, not North – Pactuator)