Taylor's Pneumatic Toys Book Review #4

A review of " Taylor's Pneumatic Toys " by Stanley R. Taylor

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Mr Taylor has produced an interesting, well-illustrated, book which describes nine simplified models of miniature, pneumatic robotic items. Their parts can be ( and have been ) assembled by elementary school students.

These items are made to move 'back and forth' by means of pneumatic 'medical' syringes which can be connected by plastic tubing to attachment points on those items. The air pressure in the tubing, on each side of a 'primary' piston, responds to the motion of the syringe and a 'secondary' piston then moves accordingly.

One of the models ( he is bold enough to call it a miniature 'Canadarm' ) is driven by a total of four 10 mL medical syringes. It has a simple, but functioning Elbow Joint and can simulate some of the motions of the Lower Arm of the Canadarm including the ability to capture objects.

This model includes a simple End Effector with a grappling system derived from that of the full-scale Canadarm. It is able to bend down and capture an object and then lift it, if it is fitted with a simulated Grapple Fixture. It can also then release it. To demonstrate this, the drawings include a 'mass', fitted with a popsicle stick. The popsicle stick serves as the Grapple Fixture !

These are indeed 'educational' toys but they are also entertaining and thus will trigger many variations by the students themselves. ( Well done Stan ! )

Bruce Aikenhead,
Aeronautical Engineer,
Designer of Canadarm

Book Review 2 Taylor's Pneumatic Toys

Taylor's Pneumatic Toys (Paperback) Review by David Anderson, Ph.D., (Driggs, ID, US)


The title says it: How to Build Toys out of Wood with your Children. We live in a time when projects for children are often too" prepackaged", and often do not lend themselves to an honest collaboration between parents and their children. This book gives wonderful and creative projects that are unique and easy to do. Because they are made to move with simple pneumatics, they lend themselves to the creative process of thinking what else can be done with this technique. In that way, the book is as much a start as an end. I highly recommend this book to any parent that would like to spend some quality and creative time with their child.

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Creative, May 14, 2013

Book Review of Taylor's Pneumatic Toys

Taylor’s Pneumatic Toys

by Stanley R. Taylor

SRTENT@ruralwave.ca

http://stanleyrtaylorcommunications.blogspot.ca

Stan Taylor has written a delightful little book that ought to be a standard classroom reference for every middle school Design & Tech. teacher. Taylor outlines eight pneumatics projects of escalating degrees of difficulty that can be built out of wood, plastic syringes, and everyday materials such as string, foam cups, shoeboxes, and even McDonald’s fries containers. The only power tools that appear to be required are a drill and a jigsaw. Each project comes complete with a full parts list, stepby-step instructions, large labelled schematic diagrams, and black-and-white photos showing relevant details and the finished product. The binder-sized format of the book allows the diagrams and photos to be large enough that the details are visible. Each project is prefaced by a brief story that tells how the project idea arose and in some cases how sub-problems within that project were creatively solved. These stories invariably have a personal bent that makes the book endearing.

Taylor has given many workshops on the building of pneumatic toys. In February of this year he delivered a workshop on the construction of his Canadarm replica at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. He says, “Children and adults alike have learned through my workshops how to make many of the toys in this book. The sparkle in the eye of a child and the broad smile of an educator when they have made the toy and when they see it working is most gratifying.

Review by Tim Langford, newsletter editor

©2005 Matt Chan. Creative Commons license.

OAPT Newsletter: Spring 2013

Reprinted with permission.