Eye Mechanisms

Realized I have a screw so here is the bracket and ball joint with eyeball...
85dde192ab2a84fd52d154f965f48a13.jpg


So I need to shorten the screw so the distance from the eyeball to the bracket isn't so large and then add some screws to either side of the ball inside the eye to keep the joint centered. Then my mounting is complete and just need to add servos with mounts and should work perfectly!

Propmaster, there is a problem with your inverse joystick design. The movement would cause the brackets to move beyond the plane if the eye and stick out in front of the eye in the plane of view of the eyeball.


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Hi Fxguy1
It looks like you are moving forward in your design.
I am not sure what you mean by my design allowing the brackets to move outside the plain of view of the eyeball?

The servos would move the 2 brackets (under the eye) a measured amount left, right, up and down, which would cause the shaft attached to the bottom of the eyeball to move pointing the iris in a different direction.
All of this would be under the surface of the book cover.

I mocked up a quick setup to get a sense of how the eye would move in it's socket:

 
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I mocked up the 2 axis mechanism I am using to move the eye in it's socket based on the image I posted earlier.
I guess it was a bit to hard to see what I was trying to get across with just a picture.
The joystick idea was just the bases for the concept since it used two brackets to turn two potentiometers
to send a "location" signal back to a controller.

In my concept drawing I removed the joystick handle and added the eyeball.
The poteniometers on a joystick would be replaced with 2 servo drive motors.

I'm no expert on this subject and there is probably way better ways to do this, but it works for me
with the tools I have on hand. I don't have a 3D printer to do the build for me.
Just my 3 in one Drill, Mill, Lathe , hot glue, pencil and paper....



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propmaster2000 - Ok. The video definitely helps. When looking at the picture I was thinking backwards. This makes much more sense now. From what I can see the eyeball is basically free floating (not really mounted to anything) and is held in place by the socket (board) and the brackets correct? I may have to give this a shot. I have a universal joint on order at the local hobby shop that should be in a couple of days.
 
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Not yet, I ordered a universal joint from the local hobby store but it's out of stock until early December. Been checking in with them but not here yet. Once I get that I'll return to fiddling with it.


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Thanks for the update. Looking forward to your progress.

I've been messing with other ways of making an eye pivot on two axis and still keeping it low profile.
Also, I am using stuff I have around the shop.
I still need to add the second servo on the other axis.
There is a spring in the cable line which helps to keep it tight.

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Finally, my second servo motor was delivered.
Now the eye has full 2 axis movement - up, down, side to side and diagonal.

This set up works pretty well for my needs and I was able to use basic materials (no 3D printing).
Aluminum pulleys, 2 springs for wire tension and 2 small hobby servos. Low profile...
Hocus Pocus Animated Eye _ Mock-up (kind of creepy but with personality) :)


propmaster2000

Hocus Pocus_best1.jpg

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Well, I made a few changes to my eye mechanism by finding a more accurate eye size (26mm) and color.
The servos I am using are a bit smaller but work ok for this purpose.
I am putting the eye setup into a "Book Box" I found at my local hobby store.
I think that I will complete the front, back and spine and use the inside as a ''display diorama'' for potions and spells.



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@propmaster2000
"I'll try to be as specific as I can. The project I'm working on is for my wife. I want to make her a replica of Winifred Sanderson's Spell Book from Hocus Pocus. I know that it's probably not the best / easiest way to start out, but I've got most of the supplies / materials I need except for the custom mounting for the eye and/or the brackets for the servos. I have a Futaba Skysport T4YF FM Transmitter along with a Futaba FP-R127DF receiver to control the servos. I have two EMax ESO8A servos that I plan on using for the control of the x and y axis movements. I bought an empty book storage container and a set of 12 plastic eyeballs from the local costume shop in town. " .

Have you gotten very far on this build of the Hocus Pocus Book and Animated Eye?
Just checking :)

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Ok so I know it's been a while but I finally got my 3-D printer and printed the ball and socket joint last night....
3aa277c73468d6ca7d7560be1377bca7.jpg

b4a200ef6042fb98edd27e9d8e16fd89.jpg



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Nice to see you are still moving forward.
Can't way to see what you have in mind.
I did mine the "old school" way, but it seems to be holding up :)

hocus pocus animated_eye_gif.jpg
 
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Ok. So I know its been a LONG while since I last posted on this project. I apologize. I got the 3D printer from my Kickstarter, didn't like the print speed and so immediately purchased a different printer (the Anet A8 which is awesome BTW). Once I got that I had to print a bunch of upgrades and then got caught up with my ADD and printed a bunch of various projects for my self and co-workers ( including a full lightsaber and a Star Trek TOS Type II Phaser, I need to post some pics of those...) but I've finally picked this project up again.

I have been working through the Stan Winston course on animatronic eyes and its been going VERY well. I plan to post the full finished mechanism along with a tutorial to help explain some of the concepts and why my previous approaches were way off. In the meantime, I'm looking into what materials I need to do the finishing on the cover of the book.
propmaster, what did you use for your book? Did you use leather and hemp stitching and then wrap the cover and glue it down on the inside? What about the sculpted snake pieces?

Thanks for everyone who has replied and kept asking me about the project!
 
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Ok, here is a teaser of the coming examples. I have the blink mechanism down and am starting on the last bits for eye movement. I already have the eye printed and ready to go, just need the servo / pulley mount and it will be set.

 
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Is there a way to shrink that?


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How small do you want it? This is based on the dimensions of a human eye. The size would be limited by the servo size. I’m using micro servos which I thought are the smallest available. Now you could possibly make it smaller by doing a remote push/pull by cable but I’m not sure it would be as reliable as the push rod.


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