We ended the last article with a reference to the business end of the backhoe. The bucket represents the literal cutting edge of the machine; here is where the actual business of excavating takes place (Photo 1). However, recall that the theme for this series is Automaton Mechanisms. The bucket would be the equivalent of the fingernail on the index finger of a human-shaped automaton. There are a multitude of other small parts needed to get the fingernail to scratch the earth. After accomplishing the bucket, we will deal with some of those lesser, but equally necessary, parts before we move forward to the stick, boom, and mast.
展开▼
