I’m totally new to this and was wondering if someone could get me pointed in the right direction. I needed to add a natural breathing motion to a life-size plush dog and wondering if there are any devices that would get me close to this off-the-shelf. On another website someone recommended a linear actuator, but I’m totally in the dark and would appreciate some informed advice.
Many, many thanks.
Coleman,
Wow . . . thanks so much. I’ve still got a lot to learn, I can tell. Are all the parts needed for the first approach on this site, do you know?
Hi wirefox,
Welcome to the RobotShop Forum. To get the most realistic breathing, you would need pneumatics and an air bladder (compressor, variable solenoid driver, bladder). The solenoid driver would be controlled by a microcontroller. In essence it’s just like inflatign a balloon but instead of using your mouth, you are using a compressor (which is always on) and a solenoid (to control the flow).
A linear actuator is not a bad choice, but it won’t be as realistic - you would need a fast and small linear actuator (like the PW12) and a servo motor controller (assuming you choose the servo controllable version). You can connect a diaphragm and spring to this to get a bit more realism.
You might also consider a continuous rotation servo motor and an off-center part conected to the shaft (the motor being perpendicular to the chest) - as it rotates, it pushes a diaphragm away, which comes back (sort of like a cam mechanism).
Hope this gives you some ideas.
Hi wirefox,
At this time we are still building up our selection of pneumatic parts, so unfortunately we do not offer all the parts you need (yet).
Sincerely,
