BB FANS

I know still haven't finished K9 but I've got something new to add to the list.

We came up with a theme for the 2010 carnival based on the Twilight Saga - New Moon. Not really original and I'd think quite a few other will also be long to this theme.

Well the real challenge is to build a semi-anametronic 'Jacob' wolf.

Now the Internet is a great source of information and I've found a great site with details and masses of large photo's of a wolf head used in a film. They show where and how the servo's mounted and how they are connected to the relevant components.

So far there's nothing to look at.
I have drawings and pictures.
I also have a 2 foot balloon ready for papier mache for basic shape before the add-ons for the muzzle. There's table tennis balls for the eyes. There's 8 Servos on order. I have a circuit using a 16F84 processor to operate the servos. So there's a basic programmer to program the processor and a computer program to control the servos via the processor . And my Fit-PC2 computer will be ideal fitted inside the body of the wolf running off 12 volt battery.

I'd like to get the mouth to open and close so the option is either to build jars with teeth and tongue or use taxidermy suppliers for realistic synthetic ones.

There's lot of things that it could be made to do but finding the resources to discover how they can be done could prove the interesting part.

Based on an over-sized Timber wolf we are looking at a standing height of 57 inches at the shoulders and a nose to tail tip of 116 inches. The tail length works out at 43 inches.

The body will have a wooden skeleton with plastic ribs made from hula-hoops with wire mesh before papier mache outer.
Every thing has to be finished in Rust-brown Faux-Fur.

I think a frame-work for the head with the eyes and other bits of the robots will be needed with the papier mache fixed to it ? or would it be easier to build the papier mache head and add the frame work for the eyes later ?

At least with the giant balloon I should be able to deflate it for future use so I can try different things in I get the first head wrong.

But with the on-board computer there has to be an access door to power every thing up etc.

This has to be the most challenging idea to date but it should be both fun and frustrating but if it gets anywhere near the current idea to should look good.

Sounds very challenging! I hope it won't frighten the little children! It's going to be huge by the sound of it. Good luck with that.

'Jacob' is the 'good guy' and this comes across even in his Wolf form.
And except when being defensive the Wolf doesn't look frightening though the size alone would make anybody wary of such a beast.

I doubt I could make our Wolf snarl ,eg pull the lips back to show the teeth and flatten the ears ready for battle.







Some pictures of the CGI Wolf we are trying to recreate.

Thanks for those I reckon that is going to be one hard mission there.

Your not kidding.

Have look Here to see the example I found. Looks fun .

And Here

And Here

And Here

And Here

All the same website !


Now for the bit I wrote before I started adding the links and realizing that someone had already done everything I want to do.

As the hardware / software can handle 8 servos that's the amount I bought.
In the example I saw they used 2 servos per eye. What I want to try is to get 2 for both eyes so they always look in the same direction.

If I animate the tail the example I found used two (one for each cable).
You need 1 for the mouth to open and close.

It would look good if it had eyelids the opened and closed .And I have an idea how this might work. But you need a socket for the eye to move in without dropping out !
The lids would have to hinge on the outer of the socket with a cable to pull them open but a sping to keep them closed if I can't make a brake cable to push them closed as well as pull them open.

The eyes have a rod centered on the back which is then pulled or pushed either left/right or up/down. But getting both to move to all directions lock together could be difficult. Looking left and right only should be ok but to get up and down as well would require the other servo to lift as well.

But there would be enough servos left to lower and lift the ear back up (cable again). And then the possibility to move the upper and lower lips away from the teeth.

But it's all theory at this stage.

Inflating the balloon is going to be fun as the aperture to blow it up from is 1 1/2 inches diameter so I'll have to restrict the neck of the balloon to make it easier to close when the required size is reached. And if tied off at the end it can be deflated and used again.

In the next week or two the materials will start to arrive the the reality of how difficult it is to build will start to be realized.

That looks very difficult and time consuming. I think you will need lots of patience! However, it is nice that you have found those web pages, because they should help a bit. Please keep us updated with your progress.

How's this going Larry or have you given up on it?

I'll have to get a picture but I have a wire frame head that should look something like a wolf head but it needs some work to get the shape right.

I took a pattern for a plush wolf toy and enlarged it to fit a 4x4 A3 grid.
I then looked at the shape and thought it looked too much like a domestic dog !
I then went to the Howto site that shows you how to draw a wolf's head and modified the pattern.

I then cut the head bits out of fine chicken wire and linked them together.
The head still needs reshaping in the muzzle and eye area.

I did the same for the ears but they look wrong.

I keeping checking hoping the 'Summit' will release a standee for the wolf like they have of all the other characters from the two movies as it would be a lot easier ,I think ,to transform a standee into a 3d figure. In fact they used a 3d standee during filming so the actors new where the wolves were.

I'll try and remember to photograph the head tomorrow though getting to show up will be interesting as the wire is rather fine.

I decided that the wire frame didn't look anything like what I was trying to create and have abandoned the project.

I might try papiermache later as I have a balloon that can be inflated to the correct size.