In the Maker Shed: Karakuri Somersault Doll kit

Education

Maker Shed

The Maker Shed is brought to you by Maker Media, the makers of MAKE Magazine, the Maker Faire, and much more.

Launched originally as a source for back issues of MAKE Magazine, the Maker Shed expanded rapidly to meet the demand for 'projects in a box,' otherwise known as kits. Now we have a little bit of everything for makers, crafters, and budding scientists, from Arduinos to sock monkeys to chemistry sets .

View more articles by Maker Shed

July 13th, 2011

Old technology can be simply amazing. Centuries before Arduinos, servos, and electric motors, Japanese artisans came up with the mechanisms for the Karakuri Somersault Doll. The inner workings of the doll were reconstructed from original figurines by the kit builders at Gakken, so you can recreate one yourself! The kit includes everything you need to build the doll including the screwdriver. Once assembled you can adjust strings to control how fast the doll flips down the included platform. Interested? You might find a great deal on it in the Maker Shed by subscribing to the Deal of the Day or following us on Twitter!

Make: Projects Build

Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!