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Goal:
During one week over spring break, I designed and fabricated a pair of animatronic eyes and a simple facial form to explore expressive motion, mechanical linkage design, and character based prototyping. The project focused on developing reliable two axis eye movement, adding eyebrow articulation, and experimenting with basic facial surfacing techniques.
Challenges:
The primary mechanical challenge was creating effective X and Y axis eye motion. My initial concept relied on rotating the eye about its center, which limited movement and did not provide full directional control. I revised the mechanism to use two rear mounted servos with stiff wire linkages, allowing independent control of the horizontal and vertical axes. This approach produced much more convincing motion and established a simple, compact actuation system. I also integrated a separate servo driven eyebrow to introduce a greater sense of expression.
A second challenge was building the facial form around the mechanism. I shaped the face from foam using glued layers and hot wire cutting, which required consistent motion to avoid visible surface defects. I then stretched fabric over the foam to explore a basic skin layer, which introduced additional challenges in tensioning, attachment, and finish quality. Although the outer form remained rough, the process was a valuable introduction to the material and fabrication challenges involved in expressive character surfaces.
Outcome:
The final facial form is still an early prototype, but the project successfully produced a functional set of animatronic eyes with two axis motion and eyebrow articulation. More importantly, it gave me hands on experience with servo driven mechanisms, linkage design, foam shaping, and fabric skin integration. This build was an important first exploration into animatronics and gave me a much stronger understanding of both the mechanical and material challenges involved in creating expressive animated forms.