Jean Deslauriers
Job role:Retired physicist
Skills:Electrical and electronic circuits. Robotics, mechatronics and animatronics. Auto and small engine mechanics. 3D design and 3D printing. Woodworking and carpentry. Stained glass.
As a retired physicist, I like to use my experience in electronics and skills in woodworking and 3D printing to create solutions to every day’s problems. I like to recycle obsolete electronic appliances and devices and harvest many of the still functioning components that often find a good use in my creations. I find the Little Inventors ideas a challenge to my creativity: how to reduce to practice, to make realistic models of the children’s extremely interesting conceptual ideas.
Recent project reports
(English version below).
J’ai bien aimé fabriquer ce modèle. Simon avait une excellente idée d’invention pour nettoyer la surface des océans. L’idée d’un scooper était particulièrement innovatrice. Les photos et le vidéo qui suivent montre le modèle dans sa forme finale : les lumières de navigation rouges et vertes scintillent à leur tour, la roue à aubes et le scooper tournent ensemble et le klaxon du bateau se fait entendre.
(Version française plus haut).
It was a very interesting experience to build this model. Simon had a most clever idea for a vessel that would clean floating debris on the surface of the oceans. The concept of the scooper was particularly inventive.
The attached pictures and video show the final model: we can see the red and green navitation lights flashing, the paddle wheels turning as well as the scooper and conveyor belt.
Well, this has been a very interesting project. Ava's idea of a submarine to clean the ocean water of plastic and metal pollution was very clever. I think I was able to bring her inventive idea to life through this little model. Once powered up, the model randomly switches on the propeller to drive the submarine, the beam lights to help guide the vessel through the murky waters, the sonar to detect potential obstacles or avoid schools of fish and finally an electromagnet to pick up metal debris. The waste is collected in a bag while the filtered water is channeled through the exhaust manifold.
(English version below)
Le projet tire à sa fin. J'ai assemblé l'électronique dans la carlingue du navire incluant un petit haut-parleur pour les effets sonores. J'ai décoré le "scooper" et le convoyeur de menu détritus pour ajouter une touche de réalisme. J'ai fabriqué un piédestal en pin avec un fini d'huile et de vernis afin de mettre en relief le modèle. Ce support en pin dissimule le circuit qui servira à animer le modèle.
(Version française plus haut)
The project is almost complete. I assembled the electronics below the deck, including the little speaker for the sound effects. I decorated the scooper and the conveyor belt with small pieces of plastic to simulate the real operation. I finally made a wooden base made of pine wood with an oil and varnish finish that will support the finished model. This base also hides the wiring connected to the switch that will be used to animate the model.
