Mecha Robot Eyeball! Fast and Cheap Kinetic Sculpture for Beginners

In this workshop you'll build and program a simple animatronic eyeball using an Arduino, two servo motors, and a custom 3D-printed mechanism. Take it home and scare your friends!

Along the way you'll learn the fundamentals of prototyping and animatronics: from basic mechanics and servo control, to programming movement and creating the illusion of life. By the end of the session you'll have a working robotic eye and the skills to start designing your own animatronics.

• Learn the basics of prototyping with microcontrollers and servos
• Overview of basic fabrication tools, tips, and tricks
• Learn how to plan a “gimmick” and the difference between what’s being asked for vs what needs to be seen
• Take home a working animatronic eyeball that runs on usb

Requirements:

• Laptop (Windows, macOS, or Linux)
• Arduino IDE installed beforehand
• USB-A or USB-C adapter if your laptop requires one
• No previous Arduino experience required… 
• But familiarity with electronics, microcontrollers like Arduino or Raspberry PI is recommended
• Understanding of hand tools and physical objects (do you know which end of a screwdriver to hold?)

Materials provided (that you go home with):

• Arduino Uno compatible board
• USB programming cable
• Two SG90 micro servos
• Pre-assembled 3D-printed animatronic eye mechanism
• Eyeball assembly
• Universal joint
• Jumper wires
• All required hardware

“It’s ALIVE” you shriek as the grotesque apparition shudders into movement before your eyes.

You slump back into your easy chair, sweaty and exultant. Is this travesty of movement and form, a mechanical horror, an affront to God’s own clay, worthy of the time it took to build it?

YES!!! You fling yourself forward and scream up at the stars, again and again. You know from this moment on that nothing in Creation is beyond your grasp.