Animatronics means animating electronics. This art form has many varieties form animating LED light to moving motors. It is a new interest of mine.
Showcase
These are some projects I started on, with many more to come.
Voice-reacted LED Mask
My goal was to create a mask where I can store different light animations and make some of them react for when I talk. I used an addressable LED matrix from amazon and an Arduino coupled with a sound sensor.
I got the main functions to work but I still have a couple of things I need to work on. When the microphone is inside the mask it stays active all the time because it is in constant contact with the mask and my skin.
I would like to create some kind of housing so that the microphone sensor doesn't touch anything. I also need to get a smaller portable battery so that I can have the battery in the mask, instead of having it in my pocket with a wire hanging around.
My essential requirements:
Non-essential requirements:
Marshmallow Roaster
As the name implies the goal was to make a device that would roast marshmallows on its own. Initially I used a 3v motor with 3 volts of power however it was too fast for the desired speed. I tried to slow it down by reducing the voltage from 3v to 1.5. I also reduced the speed by giving the motor a small gear and the stick with a big gear (to increase torque and decrease speed simultaneously). However, it was still too fast. adding more gears or decreasing the voltage would have solved the issue, however, after roasting for the first time with the slow speed I missed having a faster twist. It was hilarious, so I kept it at the original speed. At the end of the video I tried having 3 volts back again and it was of course way too much. I enjoyed working on this project, and I learned a lot from experimenting and tweaking with gears.
Curtain Robot (Prototype)
The design is made out of two main parts: 1. The tube, where the curtain rod goes inside. It also has a wheel on the top to reduce friction. 2. The box, houses all of the electronics. The box's weight helps with stability when moving. All of the parts are hidden since the device is placed behind the curtain. Also, the width of the device matches the width of the flops of my curtain, so that it doesn't change the shape of the curtain. First, I wanted to use a DC motor and a relay and have it open the motor for a few seconds (depending on how long it takes to close my curtain). However, upon testing I found out that the DC motor doesn't have enough torque to push the curtain. It would require using a lot of gears to make it have more torque and it would make the design more complex. I then switched to a stepper motor. The torque and speed were good, however, I couldn't find anything locally that could connect the wheel to the stepper's shaft. I'll order a coupler online to continue working on it later. Overall, I'm happy with my project's idea. If it works after I get the parts I'll make another one for my other curtain and have them synced up.
Amiibo IR Reader
I have tried to slow down the motor by reducing the voltage from 3v to 1.5. I also reduced the speed by giving the motor a small gear, and the stick with a big gear. However, it was still too fast. I think adding more gears would fix this, however, after roasting for
