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My Animatronics Journal

Trying to Understand - Judy Hopps Indestructible Animatronic

Picture from

Photo Credits: Walt Disney Imagingeering: Disney Imagineers Demo New Relatable Robotic Character

 

Around 2 years ago, Disney unveiled a Judy Hopps animatronic riding rollerblades. The robotic character from Zootoptoia demonstrated feats never previously seen by any animatronic and to this day is incredible feat of engineering for the arts. The animatronic is meant to be a prototype for a line of animatronics that appear to be more durable and capable of getting roughed up. Seemingly a continuation of the stuntronics animatronics developed previously.

I'm currently trying to dial down what will be the focus of my thesis, but it is going to revolve around roaming animatronics. Which leads to why I am even writing this, I am looking into any of the roaming animatronics I can track down and see if I can find out how I can replicate aspects of the character by looking at any documentation that may exist on the character. The first one I'm looking into is Judy Hopps, lets begin.

After having rewatched and looked into any documentation and pictures of the animatronic here are some of the things I've learned.

  • Hardware Notes

    • Mechanical

      • The actuators appear to be Dynamixel actuators, a line of smart actuators from ROBOTIS

      • Based on the circumstances I think they went with 540 or 430 form factors as they have tend to have higher torques

      • It is hard to say which exact line they may have used but I think it may have been the XD since those are designed to have a longer lifespan, the D stands for Durable, but I wouldn't be surprised if they used XM or XH

      • Most, if not all, are directly driven

    • The Functions

      • Shoulder Rotate (2)

        • Dynamixel XM or XH

        • Housed inside the chest

          • These were difficult to get a good look at for this reason

      • Shoulder Out (2)

        • Dynamixel XM or XH

        • mounted to both sides of actuator

          • Many of the Dynamixels have a bearing on the opposite side of the driving, I believe some are driven from both sides but I can’t pinpoint if this is accurate

        • the arms are stiff with no elbow bend but the fingers have slight flexibility

          • This can be some kind of spring return with jointed hands so they fingers displace in a reasonable range for the character

      • Body Forebend (1)

        • Dynamixel XM, XH or XD

        • it is a single actuator, I couldn't tell if there was some kind of assistance, a spring return or something or if the actuator is rated really high to handle the load of the upper torso, if so it could be a DYNAMIXEL XD540-T270-R or DYNAMIXEL XM540-W270-T since those are rated the highest in terms of Torque

      • Hip Rotate (2)

        • Dynamixel XM, XH or XD

        • The attachment for this function was interesting, the actuator is facing up, leading to the hip piece being more secure on the actuator

      • Hip Extension (2)

        • Dynamixel XM, XH or XD

        • Are placed lower on the leg than what I would expect but I think it will look less off-putting when the figure is costumed

      • Knee Bend (2)

        • Dynamixel XM, XH or XD

        • This is the joint that I can imagine experiences the most moment acting upon it and as such needs the most torque

        • There is what I initially believed to be shock absorbers between the KB and HE but I think it may also be a battery pack of sorts

      • Ankle Bend (2)

        • Dynamixel XM, XH or XD

        • could be a 2-headed servo but I doubt it, while there is seemingly an appearance of a second degree of freedom, I think its a by product of all the functions further up the leg.

      • Rollerblade forward (2)

        • Looks like a DC motor with a sprocket driving the first wheel

    • The Build

      • 3D printed parts seem to be limited, most parts look like carbon fiber plates that were cut

        • good for weight but I am not sure what thickness they went with to keep it structural maybe 2mm-5mm

        • The 3d printed parts maybe ABS

      • The arms look 3D printed but it is hard to say what else goes into them because the fingers have some flexibility and return to a posed place

      • The head appears to be some kind of foam, from the videos it doesn't look like it has much give but I can imagine it is of a lightweight type of foam

      • Alternatively I think there may be a shell on the inside with the sculpted foam exterior which could be lighter weight

    • Software Notes

      • One fo the videos indicated that the animation for the robot is based on motion capture data

      • Based on a moment where they picked up the animatronic and it changed poses to sit on Morgan Pope's shoulders, I imagine that means that there is a IMU(inertial measurement unit)

        • Likely being used help keep it balanced, and trigger some animations(such as the roll and pose change)

In summary, the build of the animatronic revolves around using light weight materials that can be moved by electronic actuators while still being able to handle falling over and over. In terms of programming, I think that there is a combination of animation with motion capture data that incorporates sensors to trigger certain animations. As to how this will help me in my thesis, I think I will approach it with a similar lightweight construction, the tricky part will be making shells mount to very minimal structural parts. I’ll be making a variation of the model in Onshape and explore what I can accomplish with the functions it has in Maya.

Here are links to the videos I referenced:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orSr0wOQwZ0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEp3OV9k_O4

Animatronics, R&D, ThesisCarlitosAnimatronics, Zootopia, Disney, ImagineeringComment