Soaring To New Heights

Over the past several months I have been working on a new research project! I have been working to design, fabricate, and program an animatronic dragon figure with the ability to "follow" the movement of individuals throughout a room. In order to equip my robotic dragon figure with these special abilities, I will be applying my knowledge and experience with image processing and machine learning concepts to build and train a model to recognize individuals within a camera's field of view. The robotic figure will move its head to follow prioritized individuals as they move through the room. A major goal for this project is to help share how the scientific concepts that students are learning in Kindergarten through 12th grade that are applicable to artistic and interactive applications. I am grateful to be working towards a project that allows me to express my creative and technical knowledge that also allows me to share my passions with a younger generation.

A top-down view of the robot tail assembly attached to a workbench with two C-clamps.

So far, I have been focused on designing and testing various components of the dragon figure. In my designs, I am focusing on the durability of each sub-assembly while also designing the figure to move in ways that seem accurate for a dragon. This past week I was able to get an initial design of the dragon's tail printed and assembled. The tail is composed of a series of decreasing diameter PLA prints connected with six (6) identical TPU prints. The TPU-printed connection provides the tail's ability to be curved, as it is a flexible printing material. With two actuation wires, I can relatively precise control over the behavior of the tail. Overall, the tail is about 27 inches long fully extended and nine (9) inches tall at its largest point (the first/mounting tail joint).

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/5d26e9_8a10b3c3ed8f444f8b0cc7fe5b2981e5/720p/mp4/file.mp4

A video of the dragon tail assembly in action! Once installed, the string will be actuated by two continuous rotation servo spools allowing for controlled movement of the tail.

The design functions very well for its first iteration, though I plan to add PTFE tube inserts to the 3D-printed parts in order to decrease the wear of the actuation wire (by minimizing the friction it experiences at each tail joint). I will be updating all of you as the tail, and the rest of the dragon, continues to progress. I am happy that you are joining my for this journey!