Dancing Santa Clause Automata

So a few weeks ago i went to an event and saw this mascott performing and dancing on stage.. it was a from a kids cartoon show.. so then when i saw the movement of the mascott.. i thought that looks simple enough to make using a motor and some gears.. and here we are..

so i made an exact replica of the cartoon character.. but since not everyone knows or like the cartoon character.. i thought it was the end of the year.. i should make a christmas themed automata.. and so here we are.. a dancing santa clause automata..

I modelled everything using tinkercad and 3d printed it.. the dancing santa is run by a single N20 40RPM dc motor and powered using a 9v battery.. there are 3 parts movement.. the body.. the hands.. and the head..

Difficulty level:

1. 3D printing - Easy
2. Assembly - Easy 
3. Wiring - Easy 
4. Painting - Easy

So let's get started..

• N20 DC motor - 40-60RPM - https://amzn.to/3INPHv6
• 9v battery holder with wire connectors - https://amzn.to/43BpO9I
• 9v battery
• rocker switch - 2pins - 15x10mm - https://amzn.to/43uotlP
• m3 screws - 6mm, 8mm, 16mm & 20mm
• m3 brass treaded inserts

And as always a FDM 3d printer to print all the parts..

I made the whole project using tinkercad since i'm already used to it.. i modelled a new type of gears to use for this project.. making a 12 and 24 teeth gears.. there is also a gear that is screwed on to the dc motor..

I had to trim the santa beard since the head needs to bob left and right.. and the long beard will get caught on santa's body.. I also gave him huge feets to support the whole moving automata body.. added a compartment on his back to accommodate the 9v battery..

You can find the 3d printed stl files here: www.fay3dlab.com

Once 3d printed all the parts.. i started painting them since it was easier than painting them once assembled..

you'll need a soldering iron to install the brass tread insert to 5 holes.. 4 on the middle body piece and 1 on the back head piece..

first combine the 2 feet pieces and glue them together.. than take the body back piece and screw a 8mm m3 screw and the peg into the middle bottom hole.. insert the leg piece facing forward..

now take the 2 small peg and insert 2 8mm m3 screw.. take the 2 small identical gear and screw them to the body back piece.. also attach the 2 hands to the gear and screw 2 6mm screw to the gear.. use the smaller hand to attach to the gears.. make sure the gears can turn with the hand..

next attach the bigger gear to the middle with the peg and a 20mm m3 screw.. make sure that both hands are facing outward when inserting the middle big gear..

the last small gear has a peg.. you will need to screw it from the back.. use a 8mm m3 screw.. make sure that the gears are able to spin and that the screw is not protruding out of the small gear..

next take the gear with holes and inser a 8mm m3 screw and nut into its respected holes and screw it.. insert the motor and make sure it goes all the way into the gear hole.. use the m3 screw to tighten the hold of the gear to the motor.. now add 2x 200mm wires to the motor..

As usual.. test out the motor to make sure the gear spins normally.. it doesnt matter which rotation the motor makes..

in the middle body piece.. there is a square hole for the motor.. the gear should be align with the circle opening once the motor is inserted into the hole.. run the wires through the 2 holes on the side of the motor..

now take the front body piece and align the wires so it wont get clamp and close the front piece to the middle piece.. you'll need 2x 16mm m3 screw to hold the front piece

now we will close the 2 half of the body together.. first run the wires through the other piece of the body to the back compartment..

align the motor gear peg to the hole in the leg and slowly close the 2 half.. you'll need 2x 16mm and 2x 8mm m3 screws to hold the 2 half together.. once you finish.. test out the motor and the body should be moving side to side and the 2 hands going in and out of the body..

now we move on to the head pieces..

the 2 back head pieces need to be scew together using 16mm m3 screw.. but you'll need to screw it togehther to the neck on the body piece.. make sure the long hole on the head align with the gear peg when you insert the back head..

insert the peg as well.. once screwed tight.. the back head should be able to bobbed side to side..

the 2 front head pieces need to also be screw on first togther using 2x 8mm m3 screws and use 2x 16mm m3 screw to close the head.

next we'll need to assemble santa's hands.. you'll need 2x 20mm m3 screw to hold the hands to the sholder holes.. and another 2x 16mm m3 screw to screw to the gear hand.. the gear hand will make the santa hand moves touching his belly..

to make the assembly easier.. make sure to turn the motor until the gear hand extrude out to the max.. so it will be easier to find the hole to get the screw through..

you can choose to use a 9v battery or a 3x AA battery holder on the compartment.. im using a 9v battery cause of the N20 motor im using has low RPM if using 4.5v..

leave about 100mm wire from the motor and cut the rest.. now the positive wires from battery holder and motor needs to run though the rocker switch.. make sure to get the wires through the back cap door hole first before soldering it to the rocker switch..

once done solder the negative wires as well and you are done.. install the 9v battery and test out the automata..

This was an easy model of the santa clause but i had trouble getting the head to bob left and right.. had to trim down santa's beard to make room for when he bob his head..

If you are proficient in tinkercad.. you can also change the character by just using the my base design of the automata just like i did with the blue bird character..

have fun making this and happy 3d printing..