Hello,

I'm a part of a theatre/stage project and have a bit of a dilemma. We're building an inner city-type landscape that will be very busy. Signs that light up, lots of objects and colors, moving parts, etc. All made out of 2-dimensional materials like paper, plastic, and cardboard.

In one part of the set we've built a 2-D character and want it's arm to move up and down at a slow, repetitive pace (as if it's waving), but we aren't really sure how to go about it. We have the arm detached, we just need to know what mechanical parts we need exactly to make this work.

Any advice?

 

You just need a basic crank mechanism attached to a slow turning motor. http://www.robives.com/mechanisms/crank
The attachment to the motor shaft need not be a circular disk. It can just be a short arm. These kinds of devices are frequently used to animate cardboard point of sale displays and operate from batteries.

 

I'm so glad to hear that this process might be simpler than I thought. Thank you for the quick response! So do you know where I could possibly find/purchase a slow turning motor?

 

Several of these may be workable: http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/category/400/Motors/1.html.