This is a Hydraulic Crane. I made it with a Smartivity toy. It is for 8+ year old kids, but I was still able to do it. This was very, very, very fun!

It took me 6-7 hours over 2 days to do it. I spent 2 afternoons doing it. I totally love doing Smartivity kits!

How does it work?

This works with water. When you push the plunger of a syringe inwards, water in that syringe is pushed out. The pushed water forces water in the connecting tube to move into the connected syringe. This moves the connected syringe outwards. The plunger is connected to tubes. So pushing or pulling of plunger moves the Hydraulic Crane forward, backward, up, and down.

How to use my Hydraulic Crane?

There are 3 main features in this Hydraulic Crane:

1. Grab it.
2. Lift it.
3. Rotate it.

1. Grab it.

To use this, we need to push the plunger connected to the grabber (it is the one that has nothing at the end of it). The grabber will close it’s two hands. Then, the block will be held. That gives the control of the block to the grabber. Same thing to pull it out. Just pull the plunger back.

2. Lift it.

Push the medium size plunger. That will make the grabber lift. So, first grab the block (see step above) and then, lift it from the ground.

3. Rotate it.

To rotate it, take the large plunger (which is put as a single one), and push that in. That is a bit hard to push, so it might make your hands pain. That will make the Hydraulic crane rotate. Those are the features of this hydraulic crane (see video below).

What can be better?

1. The packets in which each wooden sheet is put, is made of plastic. It can be made of cloth (like Flintobox ones). This will be better for the environment and cloth is easier to open.
2. The rotating feature is hard to press. Can be made simpler like other features.
3. I needed adult help in some parts: Gears alignment (for rotating feature) and Buttons for holding the arms together (needs energy to open at the start)

I have not explored some of the other suggested experiments as yet. When I do, I will update my findings here.