Just over a year ago, during the grand opening of WonderLab at Give Kids The World Village, Dale and I first saw an interactive fabrication and robotics activity that would later become the Garner Holt Animatronic Songbird Mini STEAM Build Kit. Last week, I stumbled across this hands-on robotics project on Kickstarter.โฏ Then the communication […]
Building the โimpossibleโ robot hand.
Kinetic artist Jim Polk created the mechanisms to animate a three-toed sloth puppet, giving it a head that can turn and eyes that blink.
Animatronic Raven DIY Kit $255โ$375, Mr. Chickenโs Prop Shop, chickenprops.com Pololu Mini Maestro Servo Controllers $30โ$50, Pololu Robotics and Electronics, pololu.com Here’s an awesome small-batch kit that’s got all the hardware and feathers you need to assemble a well-articulated animatronic raven that would fit into any imagineerโs menagerie. Includes laser-cut acrylic chassis parts, vacuum-formed […]
How to make a working pair of giant monster hands and arm extenders for a costume.
Using junk to build animatronic bots is whimsical and amusing. These cobbled-together bots are just filled with personality.
I just stumbled across the Starโ Bot animatronic platform kit out of the community of makers in Florida. It’s designed for kids to “create animatronic robots and learn microcontrollers, mechanics and papercraft.” Its Kickstarter campaign ends in a few hours! Pat Starace developed the kits at FamiLAB “Central Floridaโs provider of space, tools, and community for creative technical learning and projects.” (All the organizers for the Orlando Mini Maker Faire met at FamiLAB.)
