Seeking feedback for a talking bed puppet!

Bobthebuilder

Hey everyone, I'm working on a talking Mattress puppet. Video below!

Right now I have one person operating the arms and another pulling the sheets.

I was thinking about embedding a piece of wood along the edge that the second puppeteer can pull so more of sheet moves with each pull.

It'd be great if I could get multiple directions moving at once, any ideas? Maybe some kind of push/pull mechanism?

https://imgur.com/a/fKAL2co

Bobthebuilder

Try this one, if the link above isn't working

https://imgur.com/a/fKAL2co

Chris Ellerby

It may be possible to use cable mechanisms to get parts of the blanket to curl or move.  One thought that comes to mind is a flat cable mechanism similar to the tail mechanism you can see during the introduction in this course:

https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/tutorials/animatronic-tentacle-mechanism-basics/

The design in question is shown in the top right behind Richard.

You could have something like that at either end of the sheets to get independent curling at the head and foot of the bed.  That said, sometimes simpler solutions can be more ideal.  What you have now looks like it works great.

/Chris

Bobthebuilder

Thanks Chris! I was considering something along those lines. I'm just not sure how I'd get the mechanism to roll in on itself like a spiral and unroll. I can visualize something that bends up and down giving it movement though and that would still be cool!

Chris Ellerby

Tentacle-style cable mechanisms can curl in on themselves, which may be what you are interested in.  The same course I linked above covers a variety of tentacle and scale mechanisms that could help.

/Chris