Animatronics of the Mask

This animatronics project aims to create an animatronic figure inspired by Jim Carrey's iconic performance in "The Mask". The Mask is programmed to begin talking once the ultrasonic sensor is activated. Its eyes are integrated with DC motors, and they start rotating when touch ball sensor is activated. The structure of the animatronic figure was constructed using a combination of wood and cardboard materials.

To create a sturdy and reliable animatronic figure, a square wooden frame was built where I placed the circuit, and the motors were mounted onto cardboard structures. I used cardboard to place the face of the Mask and cardboard cut-outs to place servo motor at a height. I used table tennis balls as eyes which are connected to DC motor. 

The animatronic figure consisted of three main moving parts: the jaw and two eyes. The jaw was connected to a servo motor to achieve an up-and-down motion and was connected to the servo motor using a cardboard cut-out joint. The eyes were designed to move in a circular motion and were connected to a DC motor using empty pen refills. To create the eye spheres, holes were cut into Table Tennis balls with the same radius as the pen refills.

To activate the moving parts of the animatronic figure, two sensors were utilized: an Ultrasonic sensor and a Tilt ball sensor. The Ultrasonic sensor was programmed to detect when someone is as close as 5 cm and send a signal to the audio and servo motors to start working, causing the figure to start talking. The audio module and speaker is integrated with ultrasonic sensor. The Tilt ball sensor was connected to the eyes, and when it was turned 90 degrees, the eyes would start rotating. These sensors were essential to the interactivity of the animatronic figure and provided a more dynamic and engaging experience for the user.

1. If you use only one power source for ultrasonic sensor and servo motor, ultrasonic sensor will give false readings. To avoid false readings from the ultrasonic sensor due to power drops caused by the sudden power draw of the servos, a separate power source was used for the servos. This ensured that the power supply to the ultrasonic sensor remained stable and accurate readings were obtained.
2. Use sturdy joints. I used cardboard cutout for servo motor and it got deformed over the time because of the movement of the servo motor.