Toy Story "Andy's Coming" Interactive Art Piece

This project brings Toy Story characters to life by combining motion, music, and sensor-based interaction. Woody and Buzz move back and forth in sync with the “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” song, creating a fun art piece. When a human is detected nearby using a distance sensor, the music immediately stops, the characters freeze in place, and a second sound clip “Andy’s coming!” plays, this recreates the toys’ famous reaction from the movies.

1. 1/8 in Birch Wood
2. 2 90 Degree Servo Motors
3. Adafruit Distance Sensor VL53L1X
4. Raspberry Pi Pico
5. Stereo Speaker
6. Breadboard
7. Lots of alligator clips and wires
8. Paint

I was inspired by my favorite artist Simon Bailey to make an art piece that was "in motion". All of his art pieces tell a story and I wanted to do the same thing. So I went to illustrator and google images and crafted my design.

Install the servo motors into the laser-cut board, securing them firmly in place with hot glue. Next, attach the distance sensor by gluing it into the bottom center hole of the board. Refer to the wiring table and picture for a clear view of how everything is connected. Connect the speaker as well. Finally, use hot glue to carefully mount the two character figures onto the servo motor shafts, ensuring they are balanced and stable for smooth movement.

I have the theme song from toy story as well as clips from the movie playing. And then when a human is detected it plays andy is coming!

The code works by using a while audio.playing loop, which continuously plays the background music while simultaneously moving the characters (Woody and Buzz) in a smooth sweeping motion. Within this loop, the distance sensor is constantly monitored. If the sensor detects a human within 90 centimeters, the code immediately triggers a break from the motion and audio playback. When this happens, the characters freeze in place and a secondary audio file, “Andy Coming,” is played to mimic the toys’ iconic reaction from the Toy Story movies. This approach ensures that the characters move naturally to the music under normal conditions, but respond instantly and realistically when someone approaches. The result is an engaging and dynamic interactive project that brings the Toy Story theme to life.

Add finishing details like painting the characters!