4.7.15

Thesis: I spent yesterday going through the IBDM data base and managed to analyse data up till the year 1984. I am really enjoying sifting through and looking at some of these older films in detail as I have found some real gems to watch (Laserblast 1973, Ssssss 1972, Phase IV 1974)

Model: I have spent some time today positioning the servos that will control the characters cheek movements. I will eventually attach extended servo horns to these which will have the eproxy resin cheeks attached to them. The idea is that these two servos are conjoined with the left and right lip servos using a splitter cable. This will hopefully allow more defined control of the facial expression for the character in the later stages of this project. 1.1

I have also purchased a pair of jumbo spektrum servos (30kg) 'thanks ebay' that will control the characters head movement up/down left/right I will use suspension and ball bearing techniques to elevate the strain on these motors (similar to the mechanisms used in the jaw and the neck socket of my last project) http://www.actualityandartificiality.co.uk/   1.2

1.1

1.2

Feelings.

I feel very happy with the progress made over the past few days, I am starting to get a real feeling for the project as a whole which to me is a good indication of how the direction the project will eventually head.

Evaluation.

Adding the cheeks onto the robot has not only filled in a big gap int he robot but I think when they are completed will really had some extra emotional expression to the character. I plan on making this mechanism using just brackets and miliput, as I do not want to over complicate such a simple movement as cheek muscles. I hope by making this element that it will bring the character to life more, I also intend to trigger this system at the same time as the mouth and lips so when the audio trigger is in operation it really hits you all at once rather than a gradual progression. The IBDM data base is a really long and laborious task to trawl through as each year contains a hundred film titles than need to be examined in depth. This is really taking its toll on my as its not something I particularly enjoy doing but I think it is also very necessary for the projects development. 

Analysis

I feel that the project is going ok at the moment, it is very tiring trying to fit things in at the moment and I cant remember the last time I took a brake from everything so I may schedule in some down time for a few days and then start a fresh. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, this session has been both very good and very trying. I think some time off will really help me focus when I come back to it. My eyes are currently going square from staring at the pc screen for hours on end so ...ive made this entry quick.

Action Plan

The action plan is basically to refresh myself and pick it up from where I left off in a few days time. I think its more a personal thing as I have the tendency to become totally encapsulated by this project and sometimes its all I think about.