Santa Claus 2011

I make a Christmas model every year, and this is the 2011 model. I was particularly pleased with the fluffy bobble on the hat, made of white multi-purpose gears.

The right arm of the model waves using a crank constructed from an eccentric.

Hidden in the base of the model is a sensor which plays a festive message or tune when someone walks past. This is powered by an Arduino wave shield.

The early intention was for the sound to trigger the arm-waving on the model, but unfortunately I ran out of time before Christmas day to get this working! The arm-waving is therefore triggered manually.

UPDATE: I have subsequently discovered that the power transistor I was using to operator the Meccano M0 motor from the Arduino was faulty, so running out of time was not the problem! As Dave would say - "a trap for young players".