JadBean
New Member
I'm starting a Stormtrooper build with the goal of joining the 501st, and I got to thinking about ways to display armor/costumes when they're not being used. I've seen plenty of attractive mannequin displays of costumes, but they're usually completely static. I'm thinking there may be simple ways of automating and animating a mannequin to create a more lifelike display.
Here's what I'd love to be able to accomplish with an animated mannequin:
- Slowly expanding and contracting chest, to simulate breathing.
- Body slightly shifting from left to right, as if the person were shifting their weight from one foot to the other.
- Sound chip of normal at-rest breathing. We all know what sound to use for a certain Dark Lord of the Sith display!
- Head slowly and occasionally turning left to right to left. Bonus points if a system could be made to recognize and follow a person in the room, so that the head is always pointed at the person!
I'm betting a program could be written for an arduino board to manage the timing of the breathing, weight-shifting, etc. Any thoughts on how to engineer motions like these? Would you modify an existing mannequin or build one from scratch?
Here's what I'd love to be able to accomplish with an animated mannequin:
- Slowly expanding and contracting chest, to simulate breathing.
- Body slightly shifting from left to right, as if the person were shifting their weight from one foot to the other.
- Sound chip of normal at-rest breathing. We all know what sound to use for a certain Dark Lord of the Sith display!
- Head slowly and occasionally turning left to right to left. Bonus points if a system could be made to recognize and follow a person in the room, so that the head is always pointed at the person!
I'm betting a program could be written for an arduino board to manage the timing of the breathing, weight-shifting, etc. Any thoughts on how to engineer motions like these? Would you modify an existing mannequin or build one from scratch?