Who moved my cheese?

Aahana is continuing to explore the Hummingbird kit, making a new project that has more engineering complexity. Opening and closing the flap involves engineering a crank mechanism, and building a reliable hinge.

Here's a close-up of the hinge mechanism:

The purple straw is attached to the flap. The pieces of white straw is attached to the base. The purple straw is able to rotate freely, while being constrained in place by the white straws.

Here is the project in action:

I learned a lot during the making of this contraption. I began by manufacturing the crank using a servo motor, a piece of cardboard, and a paperclip. However, I found that the flap did not close completely. After some deliberation, Akmal suggested using a longer paperclip. The crank worked quite well after that improvement. Nevertheless, it needed a hinge in order for the flap's functionality to be even better. This was a particularly illuminating experience. It was fascinating that two straws, some cardboard, and several splotches of hot glue could build a versatile hinge. If I were to redo this project, I would give the hinge more room to move. While my creation may not look like much, I learned about basic mechanisms, the engineering process, and the most important part: how to make a mouse out of pipe cleaners.

~ Aahana