Animatronics
From Simreal
Contents |
This book gives a solid introduction to the mechanics behind moving things. It also touches on electronic controls, and pneumatics.
There are a number of projects promised on the back cover of the book that, due to an error by the publisher, are not INSIDE the book! Oops. You can find most of what you want on Mark Butler's [Monster List of Projects]. Enjoy!
But don't take our word on it... here are some quotes by readers of Applied Robotics that have drifted across the mailing lists, or that have been sent to me:
"Just a quick note to say thanks for you book....well, thanks for writing it.
I received it recently and I find it hard to put down. Showed it to a EE grad f
rom IIT (who now works for UL) and he wants one as well."
-- Odie (aka Mouse)
"Edwin's book is excellent. He does go overboard a bit on a lot of unnecessary
geometry when dealing with animatronic design but you can skip that part. He
also likes to weld stuff together from square steel tubing, but you can usually
substitute wood or PVC for that. The book is a fine reference source for
electromechanical design."
-- D. Derek
"I read this book over and over. Usually sit and read it at least once a week.
What is very interesting is that I keep that book right here with the computer
so I always know where it is...lol. A book you cannot be without."
-- Sue McDonald
" I have two of his books (same one). I misplaced one and could not live
without it so I bought another. Now my husband uses one book and I use the
other. We have advanced quite a bit since I got the first one. If I could only
have one Halloween book/manual/instructional video? This book would be it. I
have lots of the other "Halloween" related books and videos which sit around
and collect dust but not his book."
-- Sue <nop>McDonald (Yes, Sue is in here twice. She really likes
me, what can I say?)
"As a newbie to pneumatics myself, I have found that the best instructions
around on this topic are found in Edwin Wise's excellent tome, "Animatronics."
...I found his instruction to be incredibly clear, his illustrations very
helpful, and I really got a lot out of this book."
-- Jon
Table of Contents
1. Welcome to the Lab
- Tools and Materials
- Suppliers
- Notation and Conversions
2. Skin and Bones
- Skin
- Bones
- Properties of the Materials
- Cut, Drill, Fasten
- Joints, Ligaments, and Fasteners
- Joints
- Ligaments and Tendons
- Fasteners
- Muscle
3. Basic Muscle Power: Electric Motors
- AC vs DC
- Motor Specifications
- Motor Power
- Motor Speed
- Other Information
- Attaching to the Shaft
4. Stirring and Spinning
- Simple Spinner
- Offset Spinner
- Alternative Construction
- Stirring
5. Back and Forth
- Oscillation
- Pull
- Push
- Technical Details
- Putting it to Use
- Monster in a Box
- Reaching Arm
- Waving Figure
- Turning Head
- Ghosts
6. Up and Down
- Cams
- Hopping and Dancing
- Hammering and Waving
- Complex Figure
- Cam Summary
7. Pneumatics Basics
- Principles
- Air Pressure, Volume, and Temperature
- Air Flow
- Mechanical Force
- Speed of Operation
- Pneumatic Components
- Air Supply
- Regulation
- Air Treatment
- Valves
- Actuators
- Connectors
- Pneumatic Components
- Cheating
- The Real Parts
8. Surprise!
- Up and At 'Em!
- Four Bar Linkage
- Santa Box
- Accordion Linkage
- Body Flinger
9. The Big Picture
- The Plan
- The Details
- Near, Middle, Far
- Two Sides to Every Bush
- Corners and Gates
- High, Middle, Low
- Points of Interest
- Working in Harmony
10. Who's There?
- Sensing People
- Motion Detectors
- Shadow Detectors
- Beam-Breakers
- Distance Sensors
- Pressure Switches
- Touch Switches
- Feedback in the Automata
- Potentiometers
- Limit Switches
11. Power Drivers
- AC Control: Silicon Controlled Rectifiers
- DC Control: MOSFETs
12. Brains... Bring me Brains
- Delayed Turn-Off
- Delayed Turn-On
- Sequencing
- Pulse-Width Modulation
- R/C Servo Control
- PC Ports
- Microcontroller Systems for Sale
- Custom MCU
Appendix: Suppliers
Index
Supplemental Information
Not everything created for the book would fit in the book!
For example, the paper animatrons Hammering Bob and Hammered Fred are included here so you can print them out in their full 8 1/2" by 11" glory, on heavy paper.
Also, what's the best way to embed a short MPG movie in paper?
Paper Automata Patterns
(from chapter 6).
| Hammering Bob hammering.
Media:hammer_bob_1.pdf 21K pdf
|
| Hammered Fred waving.
Media:wave_fred_1.pdf 31K PDF
|
Movies
Grab some popcorn
| Grabbing hand from the grave. |
| Flying Ghost Mechanism |
| Flying Ghost in Action
Running on a fast motor for illustration
|
| Cam Mechanisms in Action |
Errata
Back-Cover Good grief! There is a grievous error on the back cover. It says "Also covered are 'background' projects that include stationary systems such as Fog Chillers...". I dropped those fillers when we converted the book from a Halloween-only text to generic animatronics. They must have written the blurb from the original proposal, missing the changes as it evolved.
Yeah, I know, I bet if I looked I would find more problems. But who wants to go looking for trouble?
Categories: Books | Robotics | Halloween | Props | Animatronics
