On the 1st of December, there is a new major exhibition opening at THINKTANK (Birmingham Science Museum). The new major exhibition is on the development of classic Automata and will feature everything from machines from Chitty chitty Bang bang, Heath Robinson contraptions and some more recent Automata artistry.

The star of the show is the famous 1950’s Rowland Emett’s, ‘A quiet afternoon in Cuckoo Valley’ which is compromised of several pieces including the train.

Back in the day, these moving machines were operated by systems of motors, pulleys, gears and levers which were controlled by analogue devices such as the Jacquard looms but these devices have not stood the test of time!

We have helped out by providing bespoke software running from a small laptop, which is connected to a system of relays, which provided a scheduled sequence of machine demonstrations throughout the exhibition where visitors can view and see the automata operating as the artists originally intended.

This THINKTANK exhibition runs until the end of March 2017 and then Cuckoo Valley will then be on show at the Chelsea Flower Show where we will also be providing our software.

If you are interested in learning more about this event or our bespoke software, please be in touch with us at [email protected]