Poke an eye out with one of your mad scientific experiments?   Harness the awesome power of thermoplastic fusion to print a microprocessor powered bionic replacement!  It won’t help your vision much, but no one will doubt your mad scientist cred.

The Bionic Eye Module is a 46mm 3D-printed servo-powered mechanical eyeball module sized to fit into standard 50mm goggles.   2 sub-micro sized servos and an Adafruit Trinket create that annoying nervous tic.  The whole thing is powered by a 3xAAA battery pack.

This guide was written for the Trinket 5v board, but can also be done with the Trinket M0. We recommend the Trinket M0 as it is easier to use and is more compatible with modern computers!

Materials

Supplies

  • Stranded hookup wire.
  • Solder
  • Heat Shrink Tubing
  • Epoxy (‘Fast Cure’ or ‘5-Minute’ is preferred)
  • Double-sided foam tape
  • Paint - or permanent markers

Optional Supplies

  • Plastic Glue
  • Hot Glue

Tools

  • 3D Printer
  • Small Philips screwdriver
  • Soldering iron
  • Knife (e.g. X-Acto)
  • Toothpick

 

It is not necessary to poke an eye out to complete this project. In fact we strongly recommend keeping your natural eyes intact. But do use caution when wearing the 3D-Printed Bionic Eye. It will impair your vision.

This advanced ocular appliance gives you a close up view of the inner workings of a 3D printed bionic eye.  Of course you won't be able to see anything else out of that eye, but hey, it looks cool and that’s what counts!  

Nevertheless, use caution when wearing the Bionic Eye.  This costume prop will impair your depth perception and your vision in general.  It is best to remove the goggles while walking around.  Or wear them backwards to keep an eye on what’s behind you!

This guide was first published on Oct 13, 2014. It was last updated on Mar 19, 2024.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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