Animatronic Jose From Disneyland's Tiki Room!

[Lord Hater]

I suffer from a sort of mental illness where I believe that if I’m willing to suck at something long enough and fail enough times I can be OK at just about anything.

When the pandemic broke out that illness told me, “when you’re done bleaching your groceries and quarantining your mail, you should teach yourself animatronics.” Having no experience whatsoever in mechanical engineering or programming robotics, this was a terrible idea.

But it was also wonderful. It forced me to try new things, get better at subjects I had struggled with my entire life and accept failure and setbacks as the necessary steps to succeed.

Fittingly, as the Pandemic is officially being declared over, after three years of failure and sucking at something, I have finally finished my Tiki Bird.

 

[Lord Hater]

I started by sculpting in the shell and body in ZBrush - which has a huge learning curve!
The mechanicals were all worked out in Fusion 360 - which was much easier!

 

[Lord Hater]

The frame had to be laser cut from aluminum because the 3D printed version kept tearing itself apart!

 

[Lord Hater]

I'll post video tonight when the lighting is better!

 

[Lord Hater]

 

[sbaxter]

¡Olé! ¡Olé! It's showtime!

But I still wonder whatever happened to Rosita …

That's awesome!

SSB

 

[Lord Hater]

 

[sbaxter]

View attachment 1703525

I'm continually floored by the talent and skill displayed on this forum … but this just takes the cake! Amazing! When I started reading this thread yesterday, I presumed you were "just" going to build a replica of José in the visual sense -- no idea you were taking on building an actual singing audio-animatronic! Wow! Kudos to you, sir!

SSB

 

[animator]

You really have created a fully realized character! All the skills you must master to do this level of work is mind-blowing.

Ever since I was a kid I have dreamed of building an animatronic character! You are an inspiration.

 

[sbaxter]

Upon reflection, I'm glad that no one on the RPF has decided to try their hand at taking over the world, just for the challenge of it all.

SSB

 

[rjenkinsgb]

View attachment 1703525

Very impressive!

I've just been referred to this threat after asking about making the "skin" for an animatronic bird I'm working on.

I've ended up with various types of supposed all-way stretch fabric - none of which stretch more than one way - and I'm still puzzling over how to get a suitably flexible material for the neck, to allow the neck and head to move without the "skin" kinking?

What did you use for the body shape and to attach the feathers etc. to?
I cannot find a suitable base shape as a printable object I could scale as a mould, so my present idea is to cut up PET plastic bottles to get curved sections, reinforce them with a wire frame for rigidity & glue thin foam over to stick feathers in. I don't know if that will work or not!

(My thread is here, if want to see the structure so far:
Help creating a realistic animal (bird) "skin" for an animatronic model? )

Thanks, Robert.

 

[Lord Hater]

Very impressive!

I've just been referred to this threat after asking about making the "skin" for an animatronic bird I'm working on.

I've ended up with various types of supposed all-way stretch fabric - none of which stretch more than one way - and I'm still puzzling over how to get a suitably flexible material for the neck, to allow the neck and head to move without the "skin" kinking?

What did you use for the body shape and to attach the feathers etc. to?
I cannot find a suitable base shape as a printable object I could scale as a mould, so my present idea is to cut up PET plastic bottles to get curved sections, reinforce them with a wire frame for rigidity & glue thin foam over to stick feathers in. I don't know if that will work or not!

(My thread is here, if want to see the structure so far:
Help creating a realistic animal (bird) "skin" for an animatronic model? )

Thanks, Robert.

Hi Robert!

Congratulations on your animatronic! It looks amazing!

The main source for 4-way stretch fur fabric is National Fiber Technology:

National Fiber Technology, LLC

www.nftech.com

Pretty much every animatronic, theme park and sports team walk around, or fur suit you've ever seen gets their fabric there!

They sell small pieces through their outlet, Harrymann's Closet, which are perfect for small animatronic projects:

Hairymann's Closet

Exclusive distributors of National Fiber Technology's clearance and overrun fur fabrics.

hairymannscloset.com

The fabric is attached so it looks right in its rest position - in my case with the neck down- It will easily stretch as the animatronic moves.

For my birds, an aluminum armature was laser cut, and a 3D printed, PETG shell was attached using 4/40 angle brackets:

4-40 Angle Bracket (10pk)

Description Simple angle brackets with one threaded and unthreaded hole Can also be used on the universal plate set for mounting all sorts of sensors Pack of 10 The 4-40 Angle Bracket (10pk) are very handy. Use them for connecting PCBs at 90 degree angles, mounting accelerometers, gryros, etc...

www.robotshop.com

Your idea for a shell sounds workable.
You could also sculpt a shell and vacuform a skin, attaching it your box with standoffs or RC linkages.

The feathers can be hot glued directly to the PETG.
Friendly advice: Trim the quill, and use a silicone sculpting tool or popsicle stick to press the feather into the glue. Otherwise you'll burn your fingers. It's embarrassing how many times I burned myself before figuring that out!

Good luck! I'll follow your post with interest! And feel free to reach out with any other questions that might come up along the way!

 

[Fett_Ish]

This is not only incredible, but also tugs at my heart strings. I still make a point to hit the tiki room on any visit. Amazing work!

 

[joberg]

No words...everything is perfect I remember seeing that Tiki room in a Disney Sunday docu looking at the various rides at Disneyland