http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/26/the-march-of-time-the-robot-flip-clock/ Engadget Comments for The March of Time: The Robot Flip Clock http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/26/the-march-of-time-the-robot-flip-clock/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/26/the-march-of-time-the-robot-flip-clock/
The illusion is how every gadget site claims that the legs move. I haven't seen one of these in person, but the bracket on the bottom looks suspiciously like the same one sold at the hardware store for securing a door with a 2x4. The 'legs' are bent 1/4" rods, secured by acorn nuts on the top (not motors of any kind). If they move at all it would certainly be a great illusion.

Look a little deeper and the original description simply says "swinging legs" (no mention of motorized motion):

http://www.moafl.org/store/1054.htm or
http://www.addject.com/product.asp?id=4011]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:22AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/26/the-march-of-time-the-robot-flip-clock/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/26/the-march-of-time-the-robot-flip-clock/Dec 19th 2005 1:22AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/26/the-march-of-time-the-robot-flip-clock/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/26/the-march-of-time-the-robot-flip-clock/Dec 19th 2005 1:22AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/26/the-march-of-time-the-robot-flip-clock/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/26/the-march-of-time-the-robot-flip-clock/Dec 19th 2005 1:22AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/26/the-march-of-time-the-robot-flip-clock/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/26/the-march-of-time-the-robot-flip-clock/
It's a damn fine clock, though you have to carefully clean it a lot otherwise dust will get in there and it will stop working. This flip mechanism, common is tons of older clocks really wasn't meant for the open air.

My friend just picked up a neat little $5 from ebay that cleverly uses a standard quartz wall-clock mechanism to turn a gear on the minute hand. You hang a square (or maybe they come in many other shapes) gear on this and it goes around throughout the day. Pretty spiffy little clock for the price. The auction was here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6161498412]]>Dec 19th 2005 1:22AM