Simple Animatronics
Since the last Guardian Robot project, we've gotten a number of requests to add a servo and LED to the head – In this project, we'll show you how to do that!
Mounted to the eye is a 10mm blue LED. The head itself is attached to a servo horn and mounted to a micro servo. The head can freely rotate while the eye blink randomly. Surrounding the body are 5mm blue LEDs that illuminate the various surface details.
The random motion of the servo and eye blinks give the illusion of the robot "searching". It's appears quite organic and live like, adding much more dimension to this replica.
Dual Extrusion
The head and body are dual extruded in two different colored filaments. This allows the details to be illuminate by using a translucent filament. The opaque material diffuses the LEDs nicely, giving a soft glow. The details are distinctly separate but merged into the rest of the body via the dual extrusion 3D printing process.
I worked with Steve to redesign the head and body parts. They're optimized for dual extrusion 3D printing but there's also a single extrusion version available. The internal structures are optimized to print with minimal material and still require no supports. The joints articulate freely and are printed in place.
Prerequisite Guides
If your new to electronics and working with LEDs, I suggest you walk through the following guides to get basics of wiring and soldering. The following guides will walk you through setting up Arduino IDE and Adafruit libraries.
Parts & Components
A nice handful of parts and components used to build this project. Always a good idea to have more on hand in case something is damaged or burns out!
Cool Tools!
These things really do help make building the project smoothly. You don't need them all of them, but I recommend them.
Page last edited July 12, 2017
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