Servo Prop Ideas

[JF1993]

I've been reading a lot of servo topics lately as I'm considering adding a couple of new props to my display. A few ideas I had were possibly doing a skeleton jazz band. After a bit of thinking I thought that this might be hard to pull off in one year so I thought up a few alternatives in case I do actually decide to build a few animatronic props. Another idea I had was to build a few characters from "The Nightmare Before Christmas." I was thinking that would be a fun show to build, but as for right now I'm still brainstorming and gathering as much research on servos that I can.

 

I do have one question though. If I was to construct a Nightmare Before Christmas show would there be a way to make the mayor with a motorized rotating head like in the movie? Another quick question that doesn't exactly pertain to servos that I had was what to make the props out of. I guess it would have to be something weather proof, durable, and light weight to put less strain on the motors. I'm just not sure what exactly to use.

 

Oh and I guess I have one last question. What kind of servos are recommended for props and such. I know they make plastic and metal geared ones, but are there different speeds and torques?

Edited February 4, 2013 by JF1993

[MikeZ]

I've built quite a few animatronics, which I've added to my display over the past few years http://www.lightsondisplay.com/2012.html. They're relatively waterproof, but I will cover them up in a downpour to prevent the fabrics from becoming saturated. The internal servos have plastic sheeting over them to protect them from the rain. Here's a link to a presentation as well as  a handout I made for the Christmas Expo a few years ago http://www.lightsondisplay.com/expo.html, which explains quite a bit, and has a list of the parts I used. You can check out my Facebook display page for some build photos https://www.facebook.com/LightsonDisplay. I use Hi-Tec hobby servos for all my animatronics and I purchased most of them from http://www.servocity.com. If you need a head to fully turn around, you can buy a continuos rotation servo. I never used one, but I would think they would program like any other servo.