Iron Man Animatronics

I made an animatronic iron man mask with Tony Stark's face on the inside. The mask lifts when the distance sensor is triggered and Tony Stark starts speaking. The mask then stays open till the button is pushed, Tony Stark speaks again, then the mask closes and restarts the cycle. The code I used for this project can be found here: https://github.com/msaleh15/Iron-Man-Animatronics

The Arduino code controls the actions of the model. To add sound that plays through your computer, you must run the model through the Python code. Make sure that the serial monitor is not open in the Arduino IDE when you run the Python code, or else it will not be able to talk to the Arduino board through the COM port.

Small piece of plywood, short 2x4, Arduino, jumper wires, 3D printer, (2) servo motors, distance sensor, button sensor, hot glue gun, drill, screws, spray paint

I cut my pieces down to size and then screwed the plywood into the 2x4. I also spray-painted the front black, but that is optional.

I used max7th's Iron Man mask model, which can be found on Thingiverse through this link: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3236642/files

I printed at 70% scale and only used the front half of the model for my animatronic.

To create the hinge, I 3d printed two small hinges and used a string to attach the front mask to the body.

I then screwed a small bracket into the plywood that allowed my mask to hang in place.

Print a picture of Tony Stark of your choosing and glue/tape the face to cardboard for support. I used tape to attach the face to the plywood. Cut out his mouth so that it can be attached to a servo motor.

Add your (2) servo motors, distance sensor, and button sensor, and make sure that you can control the motors by activating the sensors. This setup does not require an external power supply.

I designed and 3d printed motor mounts for my specific motors and screwed them into place on the back of the model. I used a larger servo motor with more torque to handle the lifting of the mask. A small servo motor works well with the mouth motion. I also glued extensions onto the servos. I was able to use some 3d printed scrap, but anything will work.

I designed and printed a sliding mechanism that gets tied to the servo so that the mouth can move up and down without any additional movement. The mouthpiece gets glued to the front of the slider.

I designed and printed a pull piece, which I then glued to the top part of the mask. This allowed me to lift the mask after connecting this piece to the large servo with a string. To connect the two, I drilled a hole in the plywood to create a direct connection (Not seen in this image).

I used gold and red spray paint to match the colors of Iron Man. To attach the bottom part of the mask, I used a hot glue gun. Also, I wanted the button to be accessible from the front, so I drilled a hole in the plywood and used the hot glue gun to secure the button in place. You can watch my completed project through this link: https://youtube.com/shorts/ar6pzINIGfM?feature=share

Lessons Learned

1. Designing and creating a project that moves takes time and patience. Also, being prepared to have to iterate a few times before getting your desired outcome. I tried multiple different approaches to getting the mouth to move how I wanted before landing on the slider system.
2. Use outside resources. There are tons of resources online that can help, especially related to Arduino coding and components.

Improvements

1. If I were to recreate this animatronic, I would like to create the lifting motion of the mask by keeping all the components hidden. This would require more designing and adding a motor directly inside the mask instead of using the servo attached to the back.
2. Integrate the motion sensor into the plywood and create an enclosure for the back of the project so that it looks more like a finished product.