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Phase 1 Complete : What's Next For Kinetics?
Since October 2019 we have been collaborting and dedicating time towards this project as a group and were fortunate enough to be funded in part by The Arts Council to help begin developing this technology. The first phase of this project (Phase 1) is now complete as we have working prototypes of the technology needed and are beginning work on the finished Dodo puppet. This has been very fulfilling to see over a years worth of work come together and...
Feathers and Feature Progress!
Our first body movement tests are underway as we experiment with the 3D printed fabric, and adding feathers! This fabric will comform to the body of the puppet while giving unique movements to the feathers we attach! Stay tuned for more photos as we develop this idea :)
Prototyping progress on the Dodo Puppet
Our wonderful partners are working remotely and making great progress on the Dodo prototype! Clare from Broken Puppet Co had this to say: 'Some basic prototyping progress on our first live action animatronic puppet today...it'll be mountable on shoulder rigs as well as on various accessible set pieces...including mobility scooters and wheel chairs! :) Thanks to our Kinetics Project partners Furrifingers for the 3D test head."
Weekly Zoom Progress Meetings
Throughout the entire process of this project we have collaborated together as two companies with weekly zoom meetings and brainstorm sessions, as well as frequent emails with ideas and progress photos. This has been a difficult aspect of the project, as some of our developments needed to be tailor fitted to the performer/artist who will be wearing it, therefore certain parts (body, head) have had to be sent to our partners who are currently sheilding. This has added a lot...
Quick Release Foam Body Tests
We made a couple of prototype foam bodies for the Dodo to get the dimensions right in relation to the head. The body needs to be very light but strong enough to hold all of the mechanisms including moving wings, moving tail feathers etc. This was acheived by using EVA foam for most of the structure but also including a plywood backbone which would anchor all of the mechanisms. On the bottom of the body we also attached a plywood...
3D Printed Fabric Tests for Body Covering
One of the most important features of this Dodo project is for it to stand out, be eye catching and unique. This required us to think drastically outside of the box when it came to the aesthetics of the design. We began looking into incorporating 3D printed features such as spines, and creating our own 3D printed fabric which will move with the contours of the puppet. The spines work brilliantly and really bring a different texture and movement to...
Working Camera Tests With Screen.
Once we had the successful cast eye we began to work on the electronic circuitry to connect the camera remotely to a monitor. The easiest way we found to acheive this was by using FPV cameras similar to those used on drones. This work really well and we were pleased with our results, with the image and video being able to be transmitted over 100 metres. We did realise that to have a camera in only one of the eyes...
Camera Eye Designing and Casting in Resin!
Once we were happy with the design and scale of the skull we began designing and creating the camera mounted eye. We started by designing the eyes in Shapr3d and printed them in resin, due to the fact that we wanted the eye to be cast in Crystal Clear 202. For this, we had to produce several sillicone moulds with a core as well as a shell to encapsulate the camera. This again took a lot of trial and error,...
3D Printing and Prototype Tests.
Once we were happy with our 3D rendered design and we had shared it with our collaborators, we imported it into the programme MeshMixer to turn the 3D image into a file that could be printed. We initially created a skull using Resin to test the shape, before setting a larger scale print going using PLA to test the size. This took several attempts as some of the sizes weren't perfect, and so we kept going until we got one...
Dodo Designing Begins!
Our first design and prototype was an animatronic Dodo, with a camera within the eyes to help the performer gauge the audience's reaction and engagement. This puppet had to be lightweight so that it can be mounted on the shoulder of the performer, and be quickly removed. It also needs to have the ability to be mounted on a wheelchair. Our first step in designing this puppet was to take the sketches provided by Broken Puppet Co. and turning them...
An Introduction to The Kinetics Project
FurriFingers is partnering with the wonderful team at Broken Puppet Co for a very special research project called Kinetics Kinetics is an incredibly exciting and groundbreaking collaborative project which is aimed for creating an all inclusive and accessible puppetry technology designed for professional and emerging disabled artists. Together as a team we will be researching and developing new technologies using animatronics to help create more accessible ways to perform with puppets. This technology will include voice activated animatronics, lightweight puppetry...