Building the boot machine

We sketched out the cam design and I got dave to weld a motor attachment for the cam shaft. We then set about testing different size and shaped cams on the rod to try and get the hitters moving as we want without stressing the motor too much. After finally finding the right ones, we cut them out and attached them. We first used temporary hitters before making the real hitters with items collected over the project, one of which is really heavy but the motor seems to be able to cope.

We built the frame and tested it all out without water. It was working but working a bit fast so we've changed the voltage going into it to slow down the hitters, ideally it would be turning as slow as possible but if they get stuck in the installation and the bolts come off then we are in trouble so we haven't gone too low, it is a fine balance.

For the microphone spool we found an old 16mm film spool, attached the motor (which needs the H-bridge circuit) and drilled holes for the microphone coil before mounting it on the ceiling, This works really nicely and drops the microphone down into the water at a really nice speed just how I always imagined it to look.

We've filled the tank with water and it is looking really murky and reflective, we might add some black colouring to make it even darker but this is undecided as of yet! The main thing is it all seems to be working, we're just waiting on some motors to be delivered before it is all ready.