What have we got here? A space vehicle?
Zoom zoom zoom zoom?
Oh no, look - it's got a couple of eyes - it must be a robot of course.
Yes.
But it's more than just a robot, it's got a huge gyroscopic wheel here, so it's actually
a very nice robotic gyroscope; and it's got little feet it walks on at the bottom here.
So I'll just turn it on, which takes a bit of time; it's got three triple A batteries in it,
and now ever so slowly you can hear it...
speeding up...
and in a minute you'll see the little feet starting to turn...
Wow.
It is nearly full speed now...
It is only when it reaches that constant speed that it is safe to put down this way, because
then it will stay up, even though it is on small feet.
I'll turn it so... it's going to move... that's right...
it will walk towards you...
very slowly the feet move... very very slowly...
[There is] tremendous gear reduction; this [the gyroscope] is going at huge speed, and
those feet are going really slowly and carefully...
So it'll do that on any normal surface, but the fun of it is something else which comes
with it... a frame you have to make up [construct] which is this thing here.
This has been a lot of fun to construct; it took me about half an hour, but it's well
worth doing because you've got a lovely tightness here, and you've got to put it on there, and
it's going to walk across the wire; this is what really turns you on nicely... [the exciting part!]
Make sure his feet are on the string, and... he's off!
Just hold it steady... and there he's walking across the tightrope...
it must be very very taut [tight] there, otherwise it just won't work.
Well what's that... about half a mile an hour?
More like half an hour a mile or something [like that].
Every now and then you can steady it if you want to, if it starts getting out of phase
you can just steady it like that, and then it goes back to being a steady gyroscope.
Wonderful!
When he reaches the end, you can turn him around and go back again.
Meanwhile, it comes also with other pieces, these ones here, and a booklet, and you can
create a lot of other things.
The book looks very nice because it contains little stories for the kids, as well as serious instructions.
I'll just get this steady again...
So after you've finished playing with this frame, what you can do
is create one of these frames here, with a gyroscope without it's feet on it, and make
him perform there...
you can hang him from a piece of string, and make him hang around which is something that
I always like doing with gyroscopes...
This is probably the best of gyroscopes.... that's something that I like like doing...
that effect like that...
when it's hanging from a string off-centre, and that's very nice; and you can do that
very well on this piece of equipment here.
So the whole thing comes in a beautiful box - I'll turn it off and you'll hear how slowly
it slows down again -
and it's a tremendous thing to make.
The fun of it really is the fact that this is already pre-made, you only need to fit
this onto the body of the gyroscope, and it's complete; this [the frame] is the one that
takes a little bit of time and fuss, but [it is] well worth doing, because when you've
got a good track and good tension in there, it does a lovely action of walking across
there; in addition what I'm going to try - if I dare to - is place it on a string going
right across the room at a height, with lots of bubble wrap underneath in case it falls
down; there's a little hole here where you attach it, and when it's sitting on the string
if it falls off it just falls down a little way and the safety rope stops it from crashing
on the ground.
So there's something else I've got to try, and they mention how to do that in the book.
But it's quite fun just to see, even though it's only two inches high or three inches
high off the ground there, but to have it going across the room at about six foot high,
that would be something else!
I really want to see that.
So I must pursue that.
Plus these other little effects there; and I think this is probably the best made gyroscope
I've ever heard...
it's so beautifully engineered and so beautifully balanced as well.
I love gyroscope toys this is going to be a hit - probably the best in my collection!