Sylvie 2021 - Animatronic Eye Mechanism + Rbpi Camera!

Last crawled date: 4 years, 2 months ago

Note: Due to a thingiverse bug, no Thingiview previews are available.. but the .stl's are ready to download!
Animatronic Eye Mechanism for Sylvie 2021, featuring Raspberry Pi v2.1 Camera module with extended sensor.
Is easier to assemble compared to older models I've created.
Glue the eyeball holder to the eyeball with epoxy or ABS slurry, if using ABS.
Sand your eyeballs.
Glue the bottom parts of your eyelid/eyeball holders with epoxy or ABS slurry.
File down any rough edges that may get in the way.

Use gyroscopic rings in order to join eyeballs to the front holder.

Use heatshrink to join eyelids at the joints.
Use fishing line in order to hold the eyelids.
Use 10mm m3 screws to join servo holder and eyelid holder to the platform.
Use fishing line threaded through the eyelid holder in order to hold the eyelids.
Use fishing line to join the linear actuators to the servos, to the eyelids.

Use fishing line to move the eyeballs (don't make knots at the eyeballs.. just go in and out and then make the knot at the servo! Do this twice for both Y axis and X axis).

Important: Use the two holes inside the platforms to alternate from left to right on X axis, and top to bottom on y axis.. with your fishing line. There's also tiny holes in the front holder where you can thread up to 2x lots of fishing line. The servo in effect behaves like a pulley with a timing belt.
You will have to experiment with different tensions in order to get the right balance and movement, like tuning a guitar. Use your code in order to change the XY offsets for every eye.
For realistic eyeballs with Raspberry Pi Camera:
Print a 13mm diameter iris using a 2d printer (use a whole page in case you need backups).

Use 6mm hole-puncher to open up your pupil to give way to Rbpi Camera v2.1 sensor (you must get special IMX219 8 megapixel extended sensor from Aliexpress or Amazon)

Use translucent/transparent ABS in order to print your Termoforming Plastic. (don't use PETG as you will never get it off your cabochons! You can also just use regular thermoforming plastic, if you can find a good sheet...)

Use your thermoforming plastic to create your cornea. This needs to be heated in the oven (grill) on top of a cabochon. Use 14mm diameter glass cabochons (Aliexpress, Amazon). Wait for it to melt until it is crystal clear and until no 3d printing lines are visible (30 minutes). Let it cool and then cut it out. Remove the cabochon first. This is now your camera lens.


File down your camera lens around the edges, being very careful not to scratch the surface, and being very careful not to crack the plastic (it is now brittle after being baked in the oven).


Squeeze the iris texture on a cabochon in order to give it a concave shape. Take your time to get it nice and smooth. Plastic wrap helps.

Use a few drops of Clear Cast Resin in order to stick and embed your printed eyeball texture. Put your camera lens on top of the iris. You only want the resin to touch the outer edges of the lens, so it creates a large airbubble that takes up 95% of the dome. Wait 4 hours.
Use XTC 3d to seal and coat the entirety of the eyeball. (Kleer Kast resin cures with a sticky surface when applied as a coat. Only use XTC-3d!)

Let cure for 24 hours. More the merrier.

Attach your IMX219 sensor to your preferred eyeball.. carefully with gluegun around the edges (don't get any of it into the sensor at the front!)

Apply some insulation tape at the back of the ribbon cable so that the gyroscopic rings don't scratch it.

The eyeball that doesn't have the camera should use a 6mm Placeholder (included in stls) covered in heatshrink. Secure it with gluegun.
For silicone animatronic skin:
Attach 3 pieces cotton cloth to each eyelid prior to rigging. Secure them with gluegun at the back (don't put gluegun anywhere else, as it will rub against your eyeballs)
Cloth on eyelids serves two functions: It protects the eyeballs from scratches due to the coarse nature of the plastic eyelids, and also allows you to glue the eye mechanism to the silicone skin using SilPoxy (only use a tiny bit so that you can then remove it in future without damaging the skin.)
It also cleans the eyes with each blink, removing dust and debris.. just like real eyes!
Demo:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7CSV4H_rmc