Disney builds new robots article

[Maerj]

http://thenextweb.com/shareables/20...gn=Feed:+TheNextWeb+(The+Next+Web+All+Stories)

Article aboutnew animatronics Disney research is working on. Sorry if this has already been discussed.

 

[dkosdros]

Pretty Amazing what they are able to do. if they combined all the technology they have out there and put it to use in their parks it would be an out of this world experience. Just stinks that by the time some of the technology (not all of it) reaches the parks its usually been done in some form or fashion elsewhere.

 

[longsaber]

Juggling its way into your nightmares.....But in all honesty, I don't understand why Disney is still using hydraulic actuators. Servos are a much more efficient and precise solution on robots of this size. Not to mention more reliable. I understand their use in Yeti and Dinosaur sized animatronics, however with Spaceship Earth sized animatronics, they are complete overkill.

 

[englanddg]

Juggling its way into your nightmares.....But in all honesty, I don't understand why Disney is still sing hydraulic actuators. Servos are a much more efficient and precise solution on robots of this size. Not to mention more reliable. I understand their use in Yeti and Dinosaur sized animatronics, however with Spaceship Earth sized animatronics, they are complete overkill.

My guess would be cost. While better in the long run, the entire units would need to be refurbished to put in servos instead of pneumatics. It's cheaper to replace broken cylinders and lines then it is to refurb all the characters.

Though, servos would make more sense in the long run, cost wise.

Just a guess.

 

[longsaber]

My guess would be cost. While better in the long run, the entire units would need to be refurbished to put in servos instead of pneumatics. It's cheaper to replace broken cylinders and lines then it is to refurb all the characters.

Though, servos would make more sense in the long run, cost wise.

Just a guess.

I can't wait to see if the new animatronics will come out with electric servos versus hydraulics. They would actually be a lot easier to repair since every servo is contained within it's own little black box, and each actuator only costs around 20 dollars. So for instance if a servo stopped working, the whole system wouldn't break, and blue goo wouldn't spew everywhere. They could just go in and easily replace the little black servo box. The main advantage to building new animatronics with servos would be the level of accuracy. You can program servo rotation down to fractions of degrees. Here's an example of a very small servo that could be used to manipulate the orientation of a hand or finger:

 

[englanddg]

I can't wait to see if the new animatronics will come out with electric servos versus hydraulics. They would actually be a lot easier to repair since every servo is contained within it's own little black box, and each actuator only costs around 20 dollars. So for instance if a servo stopped working, the whole system wouldn't break, and blue goo wouldn't spew everywhere. They could just go in and easily replace the little black servo box. The main advantage to building new animatronics with servos would be the level of accuracy. You can program servo rotation down to fractions of degrees. Here's an example of a very small servo that could be used to manipulate the orientation of a hand or finger:

Definitely. I've maintained cylinder based animatronic systems (not for Disney), and it was a chore! I did the 'Dine with an Imagineer" thing last year on my WDW trip, and this was one of the questions I asked about the Country Bears (which were in refurb at the time). Though, the Imagineer I was dining with either didn't know (he was working on the New Fantasyland project), or didn't care to say. He did seem a bit taken aback by the question, but I doubt that many people are familiar with animatronics...

<shrug>

Servo's would make a heck of a lot of sense. And the upgrade expense could easily be spread figure by figure over a period of time, and maintenance is far cheaper and easier (lowering material and labor costs).

Not to mention, as you stated, the precision it grants for more fluid and expressive motions for the characters themselves.

No need to convince me! I'm already a fan. <grin>

 

[longsaber]

Definitely. I've maintained cylinder based animatronic systems (not for Disney), and it was a chore! I did the 'Dine with an Imagineer" thing last year on my WDW trip, and this was one of the questions I asked about the Country Bears (which were in refurb at the time). Though, the Imagineer I was dining with either didn't know (he was working on the New Fantasyland project), or didn't care to say. He did seem a bit taken aback by the question, but I doubt that many people are familiar with animatronics...

<shrug>

Servo's would make a heck of a lot of sense. And the upgrade expense could easily be spread figure by figure over a period of time, and maintenance is far cheaper and easier (lowering material and labor costs).

Not to mention, as you stated, the precision it grants for more fluid and expressive motions for the characters themselves.

No need to convince me! I'm already a fan. <grin>

I WILL BERATE YOU WITH MY KNOWLEDGE OF SERVOS. lol

 

[unkadug]

Juggling its way into your nightmares.....But in all honesty, I don't understand why Disney is still using hydraulic actuators. Servos are a much more efficient and precise solution on robots of this size. Not to mention more reliable. I understand their use in Yeti and Dinosaur sized animatronics, however with Spaceship Earth sized animatronics, they are complete overkill.

The AA's date back to Walt's days and most are just updated versions of the original designs with a few exceptions.

Now that they have been outsourced to Garner Holt, who was inspired by Disney's original creativity, perhaps we may see some more updating in the near future.

Stepper motors has always been my idea for this application. It does seen outdated to try to maintain 30 year old hydraulic lines when everything is going digital.

 

[unkadug]

I WILL BERATE YOU WITH MY KNOWLEDGE OF SERVOS. lol

Fixed:


I will berate you with my knowledge of servos. LOL

(Shift F3 in Word will always fix that annoying caps lock issue! )

 

[longsaber]

The AA's date back to Walt's days and most are just updated versions of the original designs with a few exceptions.

Now that they have been outsourced to Garner Holt, who was inspired by Disney's original creativity, perhaps we may see some more updating in the near future.

Stepper motors has always been my idea for this application. It does seen outdated to try to maintain 30 year old hydraulic lines when everything is going digital.

I looks like you could pull a lot more torque out of these. Not really familiar with them, but I looked it up on Wikipedia so.......yeah.