So neat to see the mech you made , I'm getting jealous at not having a 3D printer. It's a good thing that can I see the the Smooth-on EcoFlex it's result after demolding it from another silicone mold (I'll use stone myself, but still, it's nice to have the information). If I may ask, what release agent did you use for the mold before pouring the Exoflex?
*Edit: I mentioned that the video didn't showed up in youtube, but that was because it was still being verified by youtube or so.
I used Ease Release 200, as it was recommended to me by my supplier for releasing silicone from a silicone mold. You'd have to check if this is also the best product for your application, as there are a lot of different products available. I got most of my supplies at FormX, situated in Amsterdam.
The 3d printer is mostly a huge time saver. A lot of the parts could have been made from wood or metal, it would only have taken a lot more time (the printer works while I'm asleep or am doing other things). Some parts would have been harder to do, like the holes for the ball-links. That's were a 3d printer really does come in handy.
Decided to try and do a skin that's a bit more lifelike. Here it's still on the inner core. Hopefully next week, I'll have time to work on the mechanics some more!
It took some experimenting,but I managed to convert the .obj files my scanner produces to .dwg files. I also scanned the sculpt / mannequin head, so I could overlay both scans and get a feel for where the mechanics will have to go. Unfortunately, it's not possible to overlay boh scans exactly. In hindsight, I should have made some markings to be able to do that. But hopefully it's going to be of some help designing the jaw mechanism.
Thanks David! Engineering is kind of a hobby of mine, so I've had a bit of practice. You on the other hand are a lot better at the creative part!
I test-fitted the skin. Unfortunately, the base plate of eye mechanism protrudes a bit too far where the eyelids are attached. That's a drawback of 3D printing, you can't make the parts as thin as you could using metal. I could try grinding the plastic down a bit and see if I can get it to look a bit better, but that would mean risking to mess the whole part up and having to redo a big part of the entire mechanism. Hmmm, what to do...
Well, before I start hacking up the eye mechanism, here's a video showing all the functions. I had to do it in three separate shots, because the reciever of my rc gear only has 6 channels, so I couldn't have all the functions operating simultaniously. And I couldn't use VSA, because I used several mixes to get the eyes and the mouth to function properly. The mechanism uses 10 servos, 2 for the eyebrows, 6 for the eyes and 2 for the mouth.
Functions: - eyebrows up/down (individually or simultanously controlled) - eyes up/down - eyes right/left - eye blinks - eyelid tracking (eyelids follow the up/down movement of the eyes) - mouth open/close - jaw right/left
Luckily, hacking wasn't necessary, a bit of careful grinding did the trick. Still not perfect, but it won't get better than this withour redesigning the eyelids. Now to see how it looks with the skin glued down!
Comments
*Edit: I mentioned that the video didn't showed up in youtube, but that was because it was still being verified by youtube or so.
I used Ease Release 200, as it was recommended to me by my supplier for releasing silicone from a silicone mold. You'd have to check if this is also the best product for your application, as there are a lot of different products available. I got most of my supplies at FormX, situated in Amsterdam.
The 3d printer is mostly a huge time saver. A lot of the parts could have been made from wood or metal, it would only have taken a lot more time (the printer works while I'm asleep or am doing other things). Some parts would have been harder to do, like the holes for the ball-links. That's were a 3d printer really does come in handy.
Hopefully next week, I'll have time to work on the mechanics some more!
Unfortunately, it's not possible to overlay boh scans exactly. In hindsight, I should have made some markings to be able to do that. But hopefully it's going to be of some help designing the jaw mechanism.
Happy new year!
Total assembly.
I test-fitted the skin. Unfortunately, the base plate of eye mechanism protrudes a bit too far where the eyelids are attached. That's a drawback of 3D printing, you can't make the parts as thin as you could using metal.
I could try grinding the plastic down a bit and see if I can get it to look a bit better, but that would mean risking to mess the whole part up and having to redo a big part of the entire mechanism.
Hmmm, what to do...
The mechanism uses 10 servos, 2 for the eyebrows, 6 for the eyes and 2 for the mouth.
Functions:
- eyebrows up/down (individually or simultanously controlled)
- eyes up/down
- eyes right/left
- eye blinks
- eyelid tracking (eyelids follow the up/down movement of the eyes)
- mouth open/close
- jaw right/left
Still not perfect, but it won't get better than this withour redesigning the eyelids.
Now to see how it looks with the skin glued down!