I have a typical pull string puppet that makes the mouth move but I like a simple mechanism that will make the mouth go up and down remotely via a wire or possibly RC control which probably complicates things and adds to cost. It be nice to do simple arm movements also but not as important. Any thoughts on what to look at. It may be better for a lever arm to go up and down rather then the string as maybe it would wind and unwind on a pulley device. Need short strokes and fairly quick response time going up and down. Not much load if you figure force to pull a mannequin string to open mouth.
thank you
Hi einstein,
How will you control those “electronic” movement exactly ? What kind would be best for you.
R/C type servos are the easiest since they work out of the box without any modifications but do have other restrictions.
I be fine with a radio-controlled operation. I’m thinking maybe more of a linear actuator would be better suited if you do those also. You’re talkin maybe 1 inch stroke with minimal load requirements. If you have info on that it would be great. I need more linear motion and not sure what you would have to put on a servo which is acting more in a rotary fashion. I appreciate you trying to help but probably if you just imagine instead of taking your hand pulling down that string to make the drawer open and close I’d like to have a mechanism that will do that and hopefully be remotely controlled. It may be possible to actually have a handheld controller wire directly to the motor also if that makes it simpler and a bit less costly but either option I’d like to consider. Thank you
The issues with linear actuators is the speed, it will not go as fast as you need. (i think)
A R/C servo will give you a very fast movement and if you need more stroke, you can custom make a horn that’s longer and they are low cost.
I am no expert on this other than knowing what I want to do so I have no idea in terms of picking out a unit that may do the job what I’m looking at. I also don’t know what RC controller you would use in conjunction with the servo. That’s the sort of help I’m looking for to get pointed in the right direction to look at a few things.
Thank
Sure, but we cannot do the project for you.
If you agree on the RC servo approach we can look at the items needed to control the system.
A standard R/C system (wireless) like the RadioLink T8FB will get you great results:
Otherwise something not-wireless like a servo box:
The servo will be selected for it’s torque but here is a low cost one:
That’s all I was looking for is a little Direction and I could take it from there. Thank you
I had time now to look at things and understand. I can see that little Servo motor working with the accessories to make rotary into linear motion. My question now is if I use the wireless radio control transmitter can I use that Servo motor you show, if so what else do I need that sends the signal to the servo from the signal sent by the transmitter. I assume I can power the servo off a small battery pack…correct?
If I use the servo you showed with the wired controller can I make a direct connection from the controller to that servo? I assume I still need a power source from batteries to power the servo itself…correct? Pricing on various items you showed is fair to make it worth giving one of these projects a shot but I’m just trying to make sure on a little bit of added technical information asked. I hope I explained things correctly to make use of this equipment. Thank you
The transmitter suggested will work with almost any R/C servos on the market.
To complete a working system you need:
]Power for the Receiver & Servos. (6vdc)
robotshop.com/en/nimh-2000m … ector.html/:m]
]Charger for that battery
robotshop.com/en/nimh-batte … 0306n.html
robotshop.com/en/tamiya-fem … cable.html/:m]
]Servos & Hitec brand is suggested:
robotshop.com/en/catalogsea … ce&q=servo/:m]
You will connect the battery to the “BATT” port or any spare channel of the “Receiver” side of the R/C system.
Can I also adapt this to be used on my wife to operate her mouth. She may use it instead to operator foot and kick me in my bottom if I did that. Thank you for your added technical information as I’m getting there with what’s required. My wife says hello
I got everything working…nice! Now, if I got another servo motor with about 20-25% added torque can you recommend one to work with my current system for maybe moving the arms a bit… I assume I could run two more servo’s off my current controller and receiving device and have all 3 servos be controlled independently…correct?
If required are there servo’s that give more range on the shaft movement. The one I have is fine for the jaw but for the arms I wondered if maybe something has more a max of 360 degree rotation.
Which servo are you currently using?
Which controller are you using? RC remote?
Yes, but really not many. Consider the large 785HB: robotshop.com/en/hitec-hs78 … motor.html
The RC servo market really does seem to offer servos mostly with 180 degrees (or less) or rotation
I have a Radio Link #T8FB on question to control maybe 3 servos. Can you give me a servo model that can do 90degree movement?. My current Hitec model is #HS-422 which works well for jaw movement.
Thank You
That’s a nice controller, but one catch is that it’s not programmable. Most RC servo motors can rotate -90 to +90 degrees (180 degrees total motion). There are programmable digital servos where you can extend the angle, move the center position and some additional factors, though they require an external programmer. A similar servo which has the same footprint, but a lot more torque would be the 645MG: robotshop.com/en/hitec-hs64 … motor.html
Not many are restricted to -45 to +45 degrees (or 0 to 90 degrees). For example servos for specific applications may have restricted movement, like ones for landing gear or wings:
robotshop.com/en/hitec-hs12 … =RB-Hit-34
We tend to put the “less normal” servos here: robotshop.com/en/misc-servo-en.html
I have a Hitec Servo# HS-422 that works great to open the dummy’s mouth but it’s much to noisy. Are there quieter servos that are similar to this?
Another question on the controller I have, I use the joystick on the left to power the servo. Can I make use of the controller to power one other servo using the joystick on the right? I was hoping I could plug the other servo into the transmitter part the other servo is in along with the battery pack.
The servo noise issue is more of my issue as I was going to put a small bloothtooh speaker to have the dummy talk as I control his mouth movements remotely.
Very few servo manufacturers have put effort into making their servos less noisy, largely because they are used for RC and the vehicles are inherently noisy. There are no decibel values provided, so aside from personal experience with a variety of servos, it’s hard to provide any information regarding servo noise.
Certainly. You just plug the servo into the right pins on the receiver. No need to power it separately.
The “transmitter” is what you hold with the joysticks. The “receiver” is what receives the signal and sends commands to the servos. The transmitter itself does not hav epins for the servos - you plug the servos into the receiver. The receiver only needs one battery pack.
Makes sense. You might have to experiment a bit, and even search online for servos use in puppeteering / animatronics. Worst case, you might need to add some acoustic foam without preventing heat dissipation.