Project Description

The paper cyclist consists of three different mechanisms built from paper in order to pedal her bicycle through beautiful scenery with one degree of freedom. These components consist of the following:

• Cam (Figure 1):
  • The cam mechanism was built using Karakuri (Saka, 2007), which transforms rotational motion into horizontal linear motion perpendicular to the axis of rotation. This is used to move the scenery.
• Gears (Figure 2):
  • The gears were build using Karakuri (Saka, 2007) and transmit rotational motion to parallel axes. Gears are used as the wheels of the bicycle.
• Four-bar Linkage (Figure 3):
  • A four-bar linkage was built in order for the legs to "pedal" the bicycle. The links consist of a lower leg segment, upper leg segment, radius of the bicycle wheel, and a grounded segment from the center of the wheel to the “hip” joint.

Figure 1: Cam mechanism in the paper model. An off-center circle rotates along an axis that pushes the larger piece and resulting rod side to side. 

Figure 2: Gears in the paper model. Input gear A spins intermediate gear B, and gear B turns the bicycle wheels (gears C and D).

Figure 3: Four-bar linkage in the paper model. Input "link" is the radius of the wheel center to the foot, which moves the rest of the links. The grounded "link" is from wheel center to hip.