Tag Archives: animatronic

Stuffed Toys Alive! replaces mechanical limbs with strings for a much softer feel (hands-on)

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Stuffed Toys Alive! replaces mechanical limbs with strings for a much softer feel handson

It worked just fine for Pinocchio, so why not animatronic stuffed bears? A group of researchers from the Tokyo University of Technology are on hand at SIGGRAPH's Emerging Technologies section this week to demonstrate "Stuffed Toys Alive!," a new type of interactive toy that replaces the rigid plastic infrastructure used today with a seemingly simple string pulley-based solution. Several strings are installed at different points within each of the cuddly gadget's limbs, then attached to a motor that pulls the strings to move the fuzzy guy's arms while also registering feedback, letting it respond to touch as well. There's not much more to it than that -- the project is ingenious but also quite simple, and it's certain to be a hit amongst youngsters. The obligatory creepy hands-on video is waiting just past the break.

Gallery: Stuffed Toys Alive! hands-on

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T-800 Animatronic Terminator Bust Promises Not to Kill You

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Terminator fans have seen their share of statues and busts, but I am willing to bet that they have never seen the likes of this T-800 bust. It doesn’t just sit there looking pretty. The eyes glow and it actually moves. It’s basically like having a real T-800 (from the shoulders up anyway,) except that it won’t kill you. I think.

t 800 animatronic bust
This T-800 was created by Animatronics Works Japan and you won’t find a cooler robot head to display. The detail is amazing. Even the teeth were created based on images of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The whole thing is chrome plated using a “six-layer chrome plating” technique to reduce the signs of aging and degradation. It looks like the bidding for this thing starts at 900,000 yen (~$11,000 USD), though there are no bids yet. Does anyone care to guess how much it will sell for?

[via Obvious Winner]


TJ* Animatronic Puppet Puts a Robot Head on Your Desk

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If you’ve ever wanted to play with animatronics, here’s your chance to do it without breaking the bank. This low-cost robotic head is the perfect combination of plaything and educational toy.

tj animatronic robot head 1

Designed by Jeff Kessler, TJ* is an animatronic puppet you can easily control. TJ*’s mechanical eyes can move up, down, left and right, and his mouth can move open and closed too. The mechanical puppet is controlled using a programmable Arduino circuit, so you can make it do whatever you want.

tj animatronic robot head 2

TJ* is made from laser-cut MDF wood and three drive servos, and can also be covered with a paper “skin” so you don’t have to stare at his skull if you don’t want (though I think it looks cool that way.) Jeff is also working on an upgrade which will let you add LED eyeballs to TJ*. Now all we need is a metal skin, and we’ll have our own desktop Terminators!

Pricing for TJ* starts at just $50(USD) if you already have an Arduino, and at $120 for a complete system with the Arduino Uno controller and puppeteer’s joystick. For $10 extra, you can request a plastic version of TJ* instead of MDF. Drop on over to Kickstarter and get your pledge in by this Saturday April 14th, if you want to get in on the action. Jeff expects to start shipping out the first batch of TJ* robots this June. Down the road, he’ll also be releasing an upgraded ($200) version of TJ* with the ability to move the corners of his mouth and his brow up and down.