Animatronic Dragon. Pic heavy. FINISHED!!.

F

familyman

Sr Member
Sorry I know this is not a movie replica or anything, but I just wanted to share with you guys/gals my latest project.
I have never done any animatronics before so this is a learning experience for me.
When I was a kid I loved to build those wooden dinosaur/Dragon/Giant spider kits. You know the ones that just slot together. I use to pretend they would come alive, I think I had around 10 of them.
Well I decided to build my own.
I am making the templates as I go and like I said I am learning all the animatronic bits each day as I work on it.
I am using white garbage bins for the main material, easy to cut and you can glue it and screw it.
I am using light wood for the main base/body
Air Craft cable, springs, hinges and anything else I can find.
For the control part I am using EZ ROBOT, I have also bought a few extra servos.

I made the head out of card first just to get it right before cutting up the bins.
The first head was too small, I liked it but I really wanted to put blinking eyelids in so I needed to make the head bigger, then the head was too big and the whole dragon would of been around 5 feet which is too big. so I ended up cutting the nose shorter and now with the stumpy nose it looks more like a big baby dragon which is perfect.
Here is what I have so far. I am going to redo the wings as they bend down to much.

Comments and suggestions welcome as always.
20130829_104020.jpg20130906_084659.jpg20130909_114011.jpg20130909_114017.jpg20130909_114050.jpg20130906_085249.jpg20130906_092952.jpg20130906_093023.jpg20130829_104031.jpg20130829_104038.jpg20130829_104125.jpg20130904_070450.jpg20130905_123307.jpg20130906_084357.jpg
 
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Re: Animatronic Dragon. Pic heavy.

Thanks guys, yes I have seen that video, I have spent over 2 weeks watching videos and reading up on animatronics before I even started this project. I have over 25 pages of sketch work and drawings I did of how I would build everything as well. Thanks for posting it though.
I would love to work with sheet styrene but I can not afford it. And no place locally sells it. The trash cans I am using are $4.99 each and I have used 1 so far.
 
Re: Animatronic Dragon. Pic heavy.

Been really busy with this build, redoing things, going back to the drawing board more than once on many aspects of this build. But finally baby dragon (as he is has been named by my girls) is really starting to take shape now.
I had some big issues with power, the servos were drawing far to much causing the board to reset and the servos to glitch. Once I swapped the batteries for wall outlet the power balanced out and I had Baby Dragon running for 30 minutes with no drop in power or resetting. Here are two videos, one of just the dragon, the other of the dragon and the xbox360 controller I use.
 
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Re: Animatronic Dragon. Pic heavy.

well thats super cool i've been toying with the idea of making a chest burster after seeing the winston video
 
Re: Animatronic Dragon. Pic heavy.

Thanks guys, I will be doing more tomorrow. I hope to have at least the wings finished (Planning on having them flap). Once that is done I will be adding the tail.
 
Re: Animatronic Dragon. Pic heavy.

Ok I am back my work station (kitchen table, when the wife is out).
I have finally finished baby dragon.
Cost:
$200 was spent on the electronics
$15 on trash cans
$5 on screws/washers and bolts
Total : $220

Hours:
3 weeks drawing plans, designs and patterns.
1 week getting everything needed.
4 weeks (on and of) building.
Total: 2 months

About baby Dragon:
Eye's, Open/Close and Blink
Neck, left/right and up/down
Wings: Left and Right open close independently, they can also open with one button, They can move up and down simultaneously.
Tail: Left/Right

Operated via keyboard or Xbox360 controller.

This has been one the best and most challenging projects I have ever done and maybe the most satisfactory.
As always comments/suggestions and criticisms welcome.

I wanted to show off everything she could do, so in the video I was talking to her as if she was a real living creation just for fun. She is not voice controlled (yet). :)

 
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Thanks all, but no this one will not be skinned, right from the start I had planned this build to be just how it looks now. And I just heard back from one of the local schools and she is going to be visiting some classes for some nature and art classes they think the kids will be really interested to see the workings and all.
I am working on my kids Halloween costumes next and then once they are done I will be starting a new dragon with the plans of that one being completely skinned. I will be building most of it the same but instead of having the legs thin 2mm pieces of plastic they will be more 3D and made of foam or something that way when it is skinned it will look better. Also I am looking into having all the servo's removed from the next dragon. They are very noisy, I am thinking of having the dragon just use pullies and cables and housing the servos in the base that way I can sound proof the base a little.
 
Cool that you're sharing this with local schools - I wish we were exposed to such awesomeness back in the day!!

I look forward to your next build. :)
 
This came out fantastic! Not only does it work like a charm, but the dragon's very aesthetically pleasing too--the shapes and proportions, and the way in which she moves. Congrats on an awesome job!
 
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