I started by looking at what others had done before me. You see, over the years there have been attempts by many different people to reconstruct the chariot.

If we listen human instinct actually tells us what we need, but advertising makes us want things we don't need and things we can't have.

The original item looked like a little hand cart with the figure of a man mounted on a platform between the wheels. The man's outstretched arm always pointed south.

As I was working I noticed that the way I designed the differential gearing actually created a spare drive that sat directly below the emperor's feet, or where they would be if he were to sit in the chariot.

You see, my ambition was not to confound the engineering world but simply to create a beautiful piece of art.

In practical terms the South Pointing Chariot was a simple direction finder. It could have been made to point in any direction - north, south, east or west.

It inspired all sorts of whims and fancies that I ultimately wove into a fairy tale complete with muse, the earth, the moon, some famous inventors, a dog and a rabbit.