Juggling isn’t an easy skill to master, especially when you up the challenge to keeping seven balls in the air. It’s even harder for robots to do, which is why Nathan Peterson’s automaton busker deserves more than just a handful of loose change if you happen to come across it busking in the subway.
Before you cry foul that Nathan’s robot really isn’t juggling because the balls are rolling up and down an inclined plane, you should keep in mind that coordinating those two hands — which use electromagnets to ‘catch’ and release the balls — is no easy feat. And eventually he does want his creation to be able to toss those balls in the air; otherwise there’s little chance of it getting a call back after a Cirque du Soleil audition. [IMGUR – Nathan Peterson via Hackaday via Boing Boing]