How to Create an Animatronic Dragon Model
Introduction: How to Create an Animatronic Dragon Model
<PERSON>!! Before you learn how to train your dragon, you need to first obtain a dragon, and there's no better way than to make it yourself! This guide will explain the steps I took to create a scale model animatronic dragon, and in doing so I hope you might also learn how to follow similar steps to make your own if you so choose.
Here's a video preview of the final result!:
The St. George legend famously portrays <PERSON> protecting a nearby village from a giant serpent/dragon, where he is often depicted riding his white horse and stabbing the dragon with a spear/lance. I had made a full size animatronic dragon for my church theatre team two years ago, but sadly the electronics were not on during the real performance! Aiming to redeem myself with an improved version, I designed and fabricated this prototype to test out my new ideas and amass buy-in for supporting building the new full version in the near future.
I designed my dragon to have the following features:
* Dragon shall be fully Bluetooth controlled
* Dragon shall open and close its jaws
* Dragon shall rotate its neck
* Dragon shall flap its wings
* Dragon shall whip its tail back and forth
* Dragon shall walk on its legs
* Dragon shall spray blood when the wing is disconnected (red colored water sprayed via USB pump and tubing)
Note that this kind of animatronic work is just as much an artistic work as it is a mechanical, electrical, and software engineering feat. Feel free to adjust the steps as you would like for your own preferences and resources available!
[Disclaimer: I did not actually finish the entire dragon per my original plans, as I stopped short of adding the walking legs and USB pump spray. This guide describes the steps I took to complete the rest of the dragon, and I would follow similar approached to complete the rest. 120
One day soon I'll finish it completely and re-update this guide.]
Supplies
For this scale model build, I decided to go with lighter materials to avoid weight from ruining the functional movements of the different mechanisms. I also owned much of what is on my list, so feel free to adjust with what you personally own already, or consider purchasing those items as well. Thus, here is roughly my supply list:
* Note: Prices have been rounded up and excluded tax for simplicity
- 1 ft x 2 ft Aluminum Sheet Metal – Home Depot - $11
- 10x SG90 9G Micro Servos – Amazon - $19
- ESP32 Microcontroller & PCA9685 Servo Driver Board (already owned these, might be out of pocket expense for others)
- 8x AA Batteries
- USB water pump & Plastic tubing for pump (I already had these from my last dragon attempt, this would be an extra out of pocket expense, but the pump and tubing are pretty inexpensive)
- Cardstock paper, cardboard (you can use index cards instead of sheet cardstock)
- Duct Tape, Hot glue (a hot glue gun is extremely useful to own, strongly recommend getting one!)
- Aluminum foil
My Total out-of-pocket cost: $30
Step 1: Create the Concept and Design
The first and arguably most important phase of the project is the concept creation and design stage! Proper systems engineering dictates that majority of defects/problems that cost more time/resources to fix can be prevented more easily when addressed earlier in the design.
While it is motivating to draw the dragon's aesthetic design for the final look desired, focus also on the main mechanisms that will provide the intended motions:
* How will the jaws move? Both top and bottom jaws moving or only one side?
* What will be the main mechanical device used to move the jaws together? Gears? Springs? Clothespin?
* What mechanism will be used to move the wings? Will the motion be smooth as desired?
* How will the tail be attached?
* How will the dragon walk? What is the intended walking gait?
* Where will the blood spray tube and pump go?
* Where will the red water reservoir sit?
* Where will the rotation in the neck occur? Near the base of the neck or halfway down the neck?
These questions and many more should be pondered and considered, and the resulting ideas should be captured as sketches and diagrams. You will likely need to revise these several times throughout the project, so don't feel like you have to commit to the ideas once drawn. It's okay to have many scribbled out ideas if they do not work later on, but always better to have them on paper than floating in your mind.
Step 2: Construct the Main Mechanisms
Once you feel comfortable with a design, start fabricating the main mechanisms for movement. 120