Animatronic Thesis.
I am still doing my literature review research, I have found some very interesting videos on youtube that underline many of the themes that I am working on. I have never used videos in my research before but I think it will be good in this instance to use as many sources as possible due to the lack of written information on the subject. The list of potential participants has gone up to 56 so I am over half way with building up a solid list of possible contacts.
Animatronic Build.
I have tested the melting point of Thermoplastic and discovered that it starts to melt at around 40 degrees. I did this simply by putting it in a pan gradually heating it with an electric thermostat in the water (same on I use for my daughters bath water). I am still not sure about how this will effect the animatronic structurally under heat and pressure. I could just hypothesise that it would be pretty difficult to get to that temperature inside the animatronic but then again with friction and heat from the servos this could be a real possibility. I am in a bit of a conundrum with this material as it is really useful in terms of strength and form but I cannot have something that will weaken under heat. I may have to introduce a cooling system if I decided to carry on using thermoplastic for the internal works of the animatronic.
I have been prototyping a jaw mechanism over the past couple of days (1.1),(1.2),(1.3)
1.1
1.2
1.3
To start with I took a length of 2mm thick lightweight steel wire and covered it with a length of heat shrink which I then set to the metal under heat, I did this to make the thermoplastic stick to the mechanism more efficiently. I then bent the metal into a jaw shape making sure that it would fit perfectly into the rim of the bottom jaw prosthetic. I then boiled some thermoplastic and moulded it to the shape of the jaw and around the metal wire. I then re-boiled the thermoplastic again and set the bottom jaw into it so the thermoplastic acted like a mould. This gave a perfect seal for the prosthetic teeth. I will use this method when building the main project to protect the teeth when testing the jaw mechanism.
Feelings:
I feel that things are coming along nicely, the research is starting to take shape and I am in the position to start thinking about what order I am going to be structuring the literature review. I am also happy to still be working on a physical build I have got a book called: Animatronic, a guide for holiday displays. It is a good reference guide but it is written for a different audience and the terminology is very americanised. The other issue I have with the book is that they work in feet and inches in the example and I tend to work in mm and cm, so there is a little bit of extra workings out.
Evaluation:
This project continues to be a fun experience, I wanted it to be a fun yet purposeful experience and so far it very much is.
Analysis:
The current situation is very good, I am finding plenty of time in the day to put towards to research and building of the project. I am fully aware that as things progress they may get more complicated and it is very time sapping when you have to work in a manner that is very specific..such as researching a particular animatronic control system in-depth.
Conclusion:
I had a good week playing with my children and studying at home. I hope that this balance continues are it is proving very progressive.
Action Plan:
I will go in to uni on Monday 23th and try and set up a meeting with my supervisor. I have two courses booked in on that day also: research planning and academic writing skills. I will also look at getting an example of the full size jaw rig using the materials I have at home this should give me an idea of scale.
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