Background

Detailed Background and Overview of our Animatronic Turtle Project

Introduction:     

     Animatronics are renowned all throughout the themed entertainment world, from the familiar characters found in the Disney Theme Parks, or on the big screen in famous motion pictures such as Jurassic Park and E.T. These devices provide an engaging experience for children and adults of all ages, and they have continued to amaze generations of people since their development by Walt Disney for the 1964 World’s Fair [1]. These devices have always been seen as luxury reserved to the entertainment world, as they are very expensive to develop, construct and maintain. With the rapid advancements of computers, a higher emphasis has been placed recently on using animatronics to personally interact with humans, and it is the goal of this project to further explore this area.  The main goal is to develop a feasible, affordable, and practical solution that can be available to a wide range of consumers who could utilize these devices for educational, personal, or research. These devices have the potential to be useful outside of entertainment purposes, and it has never been explored if these devices could possibly be brought into different venues such as a classroom or the family living room. Robotics education could be made simpler with devices similar to which the group is constructing.

Figure 1: Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room

Figure 2: First Audio Animatronic Show - Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln

     
     The motivation behind developing an animatronic turtle is to create a simple working mechanical and computer system that can be massed produced, and an applied to a wide range of aesthetics to create recognizable or even custom characters for audiences. Consumers cannot go to their local stores to purchase such a device, and one goal of this project is to make that possible. The turtle is going to be the size of any stuff animal, and the cost is going to be kept below $150.00. This prototype is going to showcase the mechanical and software components that can be purchased, while it would fall on the consumers to design the device to their own aesthetic tastes or needs.

Existing Solutions

       Animatronics have not been produced on a wide range scale for personal use, and constructing a device outside of entertainment purposes usually falls on robotic enthusiasts or experts to construct their own devices. The major companies that use these devices are usually contracted by movie production crews or the themed entertainment venues, and most are constructed in-house by the vast majority of animatronic users. The major goal of the project is to create a fully interactive device that can be easily created and used by a broader group of users, and advance what currently resides on the toy market. The most renowned device that exists for in-home personal entertainment and interaction has be the Furby, which was introduced by Hasboro in the 1990s and recently reintroduced last year [2]. Furbys possess the ability to respond to their users by expressing personality and connecting with children on a personal level. Furbys possess the ability to move its head but not the ability to move, which the group is trying to achieve with the animatronic turtle.

Figure 3: 1990's Furby Toy

Project Objectives

       At the end of the module in ten weeks, it is the goal to produce a working animatronic turtle that will have the basic mechanisms to properly move its body and parts, and the necessary programing to move and interact with the surrounding it is placed in. The physical prototype with have a mechanical mechanism with servos that can cause the device to move, and these movements will all be controlled through a micro controller. The electrical software and necessary parts will be planted within the device to transmit power and movement from the servos. The accompanying programming software will be executed through a program such as MATLAB, where numerous codes can be written to ensure that the turtle can do several things, such as move in several directions, contract its arms and legs, move its head and neck and connect the device with various sensors and accelerometer that will cause interaction. Several of these sensors that could be implemented include an ultrasound, motion, or light sensor. It is the goal to have the device to interact under various scenarios, such as when a moving component gets close to the turtle, the surrounding sound is too loud, or when the surrounding lighting changes causing the turtle to retract. The main learning objectives of this module is to gain a general understanding of the workings of robotics, from the mechanical and electrical design, and ultimately being able to bring the device to life through computer programming techniques. The final prototype will be presented as an option to be able to bring customizable animatronics to a more affordable and personal level. The audience of children and adults who would choose to utilize these devices would be able to aesthetically design the divide to their needs and likings, and would utilize the same mechanical, software, and electrical components as found in the Turtle Project.

Figure 4: Using CAD to Design our Device

Technical Activities:

Mechanical Activities

1.1.1        Contract Motion:
The contract motion is one of the main tasks. A turtle has four legs, one head and a tail. They are all contracted into the shell when potential danger is sensed by the turtle. The contract motion will be archived by utilizing a four bar linkage system for the mechanics. We have been able to transfer the rotating motion of the servo to the contract motion of the legs, head and tail by using this design.

1.1.2        Structure Design:

Structure Design is another mechanical main task. An acrylic base has been used to construct the body of the turtle, while a paper mache shell provide the outer layer and protection for teh mechanics. 

1.2        Electrical Activity:

1.2.1        Electrical Wiring:

The wire will be connected from the controller to all the servos and sensors that need to be connected. The wire has been attached to the servos from the micro controller, through soldering. 

1.3        Programming Activity:

1.3.1        Servo Controls:

The controller will be programmed through Matlab. The controllers can control the degree of rotation by Matlab code.

1.3.2        Sensor Controls:

The sensor will input the signal to the controller. The reaction of the servos can be programmed through Matlab according to the input. The challenge will be how to program the input of sensors through Matlab.

 Figure 3: Tower Hobbies Servo

Figure 4: Tower Hobbies Micro Servo

1.3.3        Accelerometer Controls:

The accelerometer will also be connected to the signal input in the micro controller. The movement of the Animatronic can be mimicked through an accelerometer device, which can be programmed through Matlab according to the input. The challenge will be to write additional programming in Matlab to integrate the sensor and accelerometer controls together in one software package.

Raw Material Components and Assembly Logistics:

First off, we have the raw materials which include acrylic, sheet metal, nuts, bolts, wood, rods and apoxy glue. We'll need to use these materials to create the turtle shell and inner mechanics, along with its realistic outer shell. These raw materials will be purchased in phases throughout the course of the project, and more materials may be needed on a as needed basis.

Because this turtle is going to move, servo motors will be necessary. There will be movement in all four legs along with the head. At the very least, the head will be able to retract and move on an axis while all four legs will retract into the shell. The servo model being used is a Tower Hobbies TS-53 for heavier movements and TS-6 for lighter movements.

Our intended turtle will be using a 6-channel micro controller to control the communications between the computer and the sensors, servos, and accelorometer.  The original micro controller is a Micro-Maestro Six Channel Controller from the distributor Pololu.

To facilitate our goal of human-robot interaction, we will be installing a sensor and an accelerometer. This will allow our turtle to interact with the environment and know when to retract into its shell. The sensor will be placed on the shell facing forward, retracting when there is movement within 20cm. The accelorometer will be placed in the head of the turtle, so that we can strike the head and cause it to retract.

Computer programming and codes will be required in order to make our turtle retract and move; this is being done in MATLAB to control the serial communications.

Real Life Comparison: This video below details how we are trying to create our device mimicking this creature.

Project Timeline:

Project Budget:

Category	Projected Cost
Raw Material	$30.00
Servos	$40.00
Micro Controller	$20.00
Sensors	$20.00
TOTAL	$110.00

Table 2: General Budget Chart for Animatronic Turtle