Now I am a fan of a simple but effective modular, and this one is a lot of fun:
Modelled after a spring-slinky, designed with skill by Jo Nakashima, it stretches, falls and steps like the real thing.
Using remarkably simple modules, each from a small square, the structure begins to behave when there is sufficient mass in it to be propelled by its own momentum.
I like this model a lot – it was a fun way to while away an exam supervision and the construction method was simple. I ended up making over 50 modules before it started behaving correctly but even this feat did not take very long.
Give it a try, you know you want to…
Also, I made this model too and tried to have it go down steps, but it didn’t work because the stairs are too wide for it to slink down. Don’t say I might’ve made it with too less modules, because mine has 72 modules in it.
can depend on the weight of the paper also – I made mine with 100GSM paper, so gathers a little momentum as it slinks
Yea, I made mine out of normal copy paper and it can still gather enough momentum.
there is lots about the physics of slinkys that might help explain it: http://slinky.org/