hey guys, im making 2 animatronic gladiators that will sword fight. Im also making them historically accurate to the armor and weapons used. as you might know, the majority of the roman gladiator’s skin was exposed except for where their armor was. Does anyone have an idea of what i could use as a fake skin/muscle?
so far i have a quick mock-up of wood, servos,and home made brackets as the skeletal structure. i was thinking of covering it with sponges cut into the shape of muscles with the outside painted a tan color or covering the sponge with tan colored womens stockings. the elasticity of the stocking would conceil the servos/joints where the sponge wouldnt be and also mimic the elasticity of human skin ( such as the skin around the elbows).
Looks good. You did a great job of fabricating your own parts.
My concern is the weight that will add up in a hurry. Wood is a heavy material and any quick movement of the servos could strip the gears. Balsa wood or Styrofoam would be much better for this application.
As for the skin, there is an elastic polymer called Frubber developed by Hanson Robotics. I did a quick search and I don’t see it available for sale anywhere. This type of material would work for your application but you might need to compromise with some other material that’s available.
I have to agree with SN96, from the pics it looks as though you already have some substantial weight involved. The parts you have made so far look nice, but I would work it in polystyrene and then add carbon fiber tubes for rigity. Attachment areas can be epoxied to allow for firm attachments of servos and such. With a bit of though and a walk down the isles of Home Depot you can make it light enough to handle the weight of skinning the bot.
