A Deeper Look At The Dragon's Tail
- Feb 12
- 2 min read
I have previously posted about the prototype dragon's tail for the animatronic figure I have been working on. This past week, I have had the time and ability to make some exciting progress on the tail assembly and actuation! The individual joints have been updated and re-printed with red-ombre PLA filament. Short segments of PTFE tubing have been added to the joints where the fishing line interacts with each joint.
An additional through-hole has been added to each individual joint to allow for tail lift, though this form of actuation has not yet been assembled as of today (2/11/26). On the other hand, two continuous rotation servos have been assembled on the tail's main mount with spool attachments securely connected.
Initial testing and demonstration animations of the tail have been programmed and proven successful. Two animations have been catalogued up to this point, a tail wag animation and a tail curve animation. The tail wag animation moves the tail back and forth, with the tail ending in its initial starting position. The wag animation is not fully optimized but is functioning well enough that I feel comfortable sharing it here!
The tail curve animation was my first test in automating the tail's motion. In working through the code for the tail curve animation, I was able to work towards an optimal ratio for the speeds of the contracting and retracting wire spools. I am very excited to share the current animation with those of you that are interested.
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