Another version of a pig in a bucket, produced by Rachael McGowan. In this design, instead of squeezing the ears or nose (like Rachel Hallisey’s pig) this one grunts and jumps about when you stand near it. The pig is made from papier mache and will sit on top of a platform near the top of a bucket. The platform moves up and down and takes the pig with it. Here is the original pig (which is used, not reproduced):
The pig that will be go into the jumping pig bucket
The original idea for making the pig move around was to use solenoids, but solenoids with a decent plunger reach (the amount of movement) are expensive and require a lot of current. So instead, we opted for a high speed servo. The mechanics are shown in the next few images. We first cut the bottom out of the bucket and fitted a wooden base, and glued this in place. Two holes were also cut at the sides of the bucket which supports the metal pivot. The pivot rests on 3D printed plastic supports (not shown here, but in the next image) that fit through the sides of the bucket, and act as bushes:
Base fitted to bottom of bucket, and pivot for moving platform
The servo fits onto the base:
Servo attached to base
The servo is then connected to a lever assembly which attaches to the moving platform, and rocks on the pivot:
Servo mechanism
The next image shown the platform in position:
Platform on top of pivot
The pig is not attached to the bucket but is free to jump about on top of the platform. We put grass on the platform and let the pig roam free! The video below shows the working model: