How to Build a Simple 3D Printed Arduino Animatronic Eye Mechanism

[@markgreco1962]

Mine is built complete and works. I followed the directions completely I think I might have about US$20 in this whole fantastic project. The placeholder eyes rub just a little bit on the eyelids but that’s all, it could be my printer settings thank you very much for this great project.

[@WillCogley]

I'm so glad it's worked out for you :) !

[@prajwalsathwick1021]

@@WillCogley where is eye lids and eye lid connectors its missing in the stl files of you blog.please send it even i need to build

[@WillCogley]

They're in there, the eye lid connectors are "bottom/top lid link" and the eyelids are "bottom left lid" etc

[@prajwalsathwick1021]

@@WillCogley in the zip file which i downloaded by the link you have given in the discription only 9 stl files are available

[@markgreco1962]

@@WillCogley Added photos to instructables

[@buildersmark]

With having separate servos for the eyelids, you could make the the mech not just blink but also wink.

[@horashia495]

Builder's Mark Amazing idea

[@Obnoxiousxalien]

Ty so much for the idea!! I'm starting a project that'll need to be able to wink

[@buildersmark]

Going back and reviewing the video again you will see there are independent top and bottom servos for each lid on each side. Would need to program a "wink" in code to make it work that way.

[@spicemasterii6775]

This eye opening video opened my eyes on how simple components can be used in creative ways to make something awesome.

[@bmp7458]

hahaha thats a knee slapper

[@RecklessModelling]

Love this. The blink is good which is always a difficult effect to get fast enough

[@notzonedforthis6146]

I built this as part of my Krampus costume (I posted a video documenting the process of making the costume on my channel, if anyone is interested in seeing it in action!). The eyes worked great! The parts were easy to 3D print, and fairly straight-forward to assemble. The main part I struggled with was the power driver board; the link in the description wasn't working, so I needed to get a similar one, and it was slightly challenging (for a beginner) to integrate it. It also requires a bit of soldering, not too difficult. The material around a lot of the screw connections is a pretty thin, so I worry that with heavy use it could wear down, but no issues yet. The snap base for the painting of the eye was a little tricky, I needed to play with scaling to get a tight fit, and one of the parts did break when removing the eyes, but that's my fault for printing it in PLA. Overall, excellent design. It's as beginner friendly as this sort of thing can be while still producing excellent results, and very compact.

[@Nik4toon]

Thankyou so much for everything! Now some students like me can also make an eye mechanism and study alot, by the way I am 15 yr old and i am trying to make one from last 20 to 25 days,and here , i finished my treasure hunt.

[@nilothpalbhattacharya8230]

I have come across a few on youtube but Will Cogley is really amazing. His guidance serve immensely to many people. One of the best on KZbin I feel.

[@sprynglz]

Me, a FNAF fan: *Now teach me how to make a jaw*

[@xadventures9125]

WHAT THAT THE BIT OF 87!??!?!?

[@owilliams0919]

Should i be worried that i would love for fnaf to be real

[@ifyoucantbethebestbethewor5507]

Owilliams09 nah unless you want it to be murdered kids in them.

[@policeofficer292]

I'm currently working on creating , Freddy and bonnie also chica , foxy and golden Freddy , I know it's going to take a couple of years , they will not be made as a killer animatronic it will be a normal.

[@ifyoucantbethebestbethewor5507]

Police officer will you show your process of how it’s going?

[@CasualCheetah]

Quick note: Miuzei SG90 servos aren't quite short enough fit the structures. Thanks for the great project/tutorial btw :) **Amazon says they're the same dimensions, but there's definitely a difference on my end, play it safe and go for the ones listed in the description if you're just starting. Could be setting on my Prusa despite following the 0.2mm layer height**

[@davidwolfenbarger7383]

I experienced exactly the same issue and I ordered the servos directly from the description. I had servos on hand that worked fine (but were noisy). In the case of the ones I ordered from the link in description, the distance from the back of the servo's mounting flange to the rear of the servo is 17mm. For the servos I had on hand, this dimension is only about 15mm. The design accommodates about 32mm for servos 1 and 2 which are back to back. This is not enough space for the 34mm that the servos ordered from the description would require.

[@GeekMustHave]

I just ran across your channel and I'm very impressed. Excellent video and voice over, storyboard just makes you want to watch. The simpler solution is usually the best one and in your case, the simpler one was 2 more servos over complex mechanics. Love the eyes, those I wish I could just buy someplace. You have a new subscriber. Keep broadcasting!!

[@gregsankey3026]

If you need eyes I am a Ocularist and work on special projects.

[@andrewrobotbuilder]

Just bought some filament for this, hopefully turns out functional (my printer isn't the best around XD)

[@WillCogley]

Good luck with it :)

[@xiaomidrone4k]

I make one too. Very nice FREE project. 👍🍩

[@MavericksRacin]

Where are the files for the printer parts found? Am I missing it? This is an awesome kit/build that I wanna try.

[@andrewrobotbuilder]

@@MavericksRacin Head to his website (last link in the description) and you'll find them in 'Downloads' under the tools and materials list

[@GV-gl1xn]

where is the code?

[@AlienTaskForce]

Can't wait to build one of my own. Glad I found your channel.

[@M2oMark]

I like how you pick up the screw at 5:38 :D

[@KevinLarsson42]

With having a server for each eyelid, you could express emotions like happiness. The lower eyelid stays in place and then the upper eyelid goes up. This would probably look better with eyebrows added.

[@KevinLarsson42]

you know, like how certain anime characters eyes turn into a half-moon? that expression :)

[@randallsalyer]

Thank you sir! I have been looking for a good project to do with the family and this is perfect. Thank you for making it free as well. Looking forward to your upcoming videos.

[@PalettePawsStudios]

These are so lively it’s insane! 🤩

[@tjyoyo3]

Hi, I'm Douglas fir, thank you for reviving my gears and servos

[@cembuyukalpelli8194]

I really like this project and how it's move is awsome

[@Geeksmithing]

This is great Will. Thanks for sharing as always!

[@maxieboi0608]

Thank you so much I have been looking for a vid like this for days!

[@grivello]

Thanks!

[@liamgeorgeson8689]

Smack bang in the centre of Uncanny Valley! Great design!

[@architectman100]

Really love your projects! They are really inspirational! Hope to see more.

[@SplashyAnimatronic]

Man! I really enjoy watching your videos! good job!

[@jesterc.6763]

This is gonna be so lit!! We even have the same Geeetech printer. Thanks for this. Imma use Open CV face tracker.

[@dougcrawford6218]

Great Job Will! ... Been interested in doing something like this on a robotics feature.

[@cryptomjj]

love u bro. i see many vedios but now i am satisfied by your vedio. plz bro make a full playlist of making a human robot❤️❤️

[@brandonromero421]

Bruh perfect 👌 I both love electronics and engineering, and fnaf !!

[@kevinburns939]

your stuff is awesome. I look forward to seeing more.

[@bas9682]

Wow this looks amazing! Subbed!

[@wooshjj]

Awesome! Im gonna try to make them automated so no controller and just random movements

[@Lasermangaming6670]

thank you sooooo much for helping me. i liked and subscribed thank you

[@asdomega]

it looks so simple and good hope i can try that

[@marktadlock5428]

I like your design and I like seeing the operation

[@Alex_-zi6hz]

Hi, I have a problem - if I want the eye mechanism to work not from the joystick, but to move by itself according to the program, how do I implement it? I mean by the type of animatronics performances in showbiz pizza place or chuck e cheese, where animatronics themselves opened and closed their eyes and mouth to music or cues.

[@RikGordon]

Awesome vid! Looking forward to the more advanced one next. Making puppets for a short film, so these will really bring it to life

[@WillCogley]

That sounds ace, be sure to let me know when I can see it!

[@yousefabdelnour4822]

1:27 what softwares is this?

[@andreiandrew9953]

what should be the scale of the stl print files? Printed them and the parts are very very small.

[@Nono-hk3is]

Extremely impressive.

[@jhn910]

Thanks for this tutorial! Now i can finish my Endoskeleton! Hope it dosen't move during the night.

[@rodrigoprado7238]

thanks a lot for this project! I'm excited to start on it

[@flexmcpee]

Wow this is incredible work!

[@martinedelius]

You produce some properly interesting content, really good stuff. Please check your mic setup for your voice overs though. It's harder to follow along for a non-native English speaker when quality of the audio is uneven.

[@witowczarek]

Cool . Really like your videos 👍

[@kevinburns939]

I'm just getting into 3D printing and computers. I'll be retiring in the next 2 to 3 yrs from driving tractor trailer, just looking for a hobby and looks like a lot of fun. So I printed and made your first print, but things are so small difficult to work with, so I upsized 200% much easier to work with, but I still need to change the size of the servo holders. Is the any chance you could help to resize the servo holes to match up. I'll still have to learn to code and fusion 360 not easy when I work 14hrs a day driving. It's taking me 3 months just to get this far. Sincerely the old guy

[@JOKOT01]

Love this project!

[@KEEPSTARTINGINNOVATIVELY]

Thank you sir , I am using it for my humanoid robot project, actually I thought to design an own mechanism, but we are running out of time , so we are using your animatronic mechanism in our project .. Just giving you information for copying you Thankyou sir

[@Bayazid397]

I want to do this model for my project where can get animatronic eye the 3D model.......?

[@randallsalyer]

ok i want to know how you did that with the screw at 8:10 lol

[@JSPHism]

I think the video was on reverse lmao

[@gkess7106]

Magnetic screwdriver.

[@Bayazid397]

I want to do this model for my project where can get the 3D model.......?

[@niconoob184]

nice vid !! looking forward for the future vids

[@sighlows9615]

Anybody who can create suits and anyone who could create electronics would be able to make anything with this

[@pappy1812]

I think these eyes are brilliant and your style of tutorial is really great. So first things first is to say thanks for sharing your work. Question for you - how hard would it be to make the eyes autonomous? I would like to put these in my front door so they responded to callers by having the eyes open when someone comes to the door and then have the eyes track the callers face. When the person leaves the eyes would shut and reset. What do you think? 🤔

[@willblaze339]

Hi Will was just wondering if theirs some way that I can get the 3d model files used for the 3d printed parts?

[@thetimelessbanana]

4 years later and im asking if theres an animatronic head 3d file which can fit this exact eye mechanism in it

[@thatoneintrovert9618]

Where can I find the CAD models used in this video?

[@BrilliantNews]

Was really looking forward to building this, but your website isn't working :'( Anyone know of an alternative to get my hands on those juicy .stl's? ^^ Amazing work btw!!

[@jameswebb8162]

Sick dude!! Nice job!!

[@Scampcam]

possible to make a manual puppet operating print of this? even if it means losing the up/down motion of the eyes to simplify.

[@therealboomshlamian700]

0:57 is that a wii controler

[@Lil2012angle]

Can you please specify the length for screws and bolts at any point connection. Including the eye lids connection, I built it but it doesn’t work completely because of the eye lids not secure well.

[@redquency]

great design and instructions, keep it up :)

[@powder939]

Hey does it work when i use a Powerbank with 5V and 2A to power the servo driver board ? an the second power bank output with 5V and 1A to power the arduio ? best regards Jaden (Im Geman so my english isn´t that good ^^)

[@alexarnett5943]

What code do you upload onto the Arduino? I'm very new, and don't know that much. If anyone can help, it would be appreciated.

[@KaineScott]

I'm looking at the diagram and how can one wire have three different ports? And what is the 10k thing sorry I'm new to this stuff.

[@accramart249]

Pls do you sell such eyes? Could you make smaller size eyes?

[@jordieenmanuelcruzcabrera644]

Great work man !!!

[@darthtechnologies553]

Nice design @will I've tried a few of the other open source ones, like the one you mentioned. I like those real looking eyes too. I think I might have to fork you project and try to add some video cameras for a robot

[@zawtun4864]

If I could without it breaking and not working, could i remove the bottom eyelid and only make the top eyelid blink?

[@jeffronicus]

Built this in 2024, but like some others who've commented on the Instructables site I'm having an issue with the code or the wiring, possibly an issue with the default Elegoo kit joystick or an off-brand servo shield. The eyes move fine up and down, right and left, but the lid behavior is off. For example, look down and the left lower servo also pulls the lid down, but nothing happens on the right; push the button to blink and the right servo motors pull both the lower and upper eyelids up. Will probably just move on to another iteration of the eyemech.

[@GabAdt]

hey, did you find any solutions ? I have the same problem, what type of Arduino are you using ?

[@___dont_know_a_username__6582]

Is it possible to make it so you can see through it if it were in a helment

[@danjenkinsdesign]

Paul Lope-s.... Hilarious pronunciation. Love it.

[@Skelebelly]

i tryd to build it its just one tiny thing you dont explain a lot about how to attach the servo block on the base or how to get the eye into the eye socket

[@MichaelAngeluss]

could you make one without servos so its all hand operated? very cool!

[@niladritheboss]

can u make it with camera Recoder???? and automatically movement following.......

[@LumberDevvsPage]

Is there a way to make it automatic. Like it moves on its own without the controller. This is really helpful, im just curious!

[@DavidBair-r2t]

The whole project has been a bit of challenge for a newbee like myself, but the assembly and everything looks good except the coding says "Compilation error: 'pwm' was not declared in this scope". Have I hooked up something wrong?

[@magic_man_sam4055]

I tried putting everything together but for some reason the dc power supply is supplying 5v to the arduino but 3.4 volts to the servo driver board and none of the servos are working. Except for when I turn the power off and bock on and it sloghtly lives the eyes right idk

[@fannycarolkuatebemmo7129]

yes hello sir I would like to know how we go about getting possession of this prototype

[@hyderali3211]

Thank you so much for doing this :)))

[@mtaheij]

Thanks for this project! I've built it successfully, however I found that in other projects the SDA and SCL lines are connected to the A4 and A5 lines and it worked. Should it work using the SDA and SCL lines on the Arduino board as well, has the PWMServoDriver library changed or is there another reason?

[@viru_zzsquad7355]

you inspired me, huge thank you!

[@nidzdotnet76]

Is there a matching skull we can mount this into?

[@uzumakikyubi]

Dude I love IT, thanks

[@Arte.produçao]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGevpKSIf5t3gpo ANIMATRONIC

[@mlp9982]

Does it have to be connected to the computer for it to work? do you have the final code please? I did the project but I can't move the servos still help!!

[@yazikdurdiyev7304]

Hi, why do you need 6* MG90s servos while you already have 6x SG90 Micro Servos

[@SVGO_0s]

Is there also a version where you can program the eyes instead of using a joystick?

[@RobyRullz]

thank u so much for sharing this Mechanism

[@iolarXcag]

Great job, but.... Where is the code and the information to program the servos? I don't have any idea how to make it

[@animewhisperer1830]

ooooh could you feed a camera through these eyes if you wanted to set up object or face tracking?? that'd be super cool to see!!

[@ventiladordesuco]

This is lovely. I now have a reason to buy a 3D printer

[@Floridaweather1]

I was just building these eyes but i have a problem because the eyes wont snap in place correctly or go all the way back into the adapter is there anyway to fix this

[@memeguy2827]

which thing do we buy from JLC PCB that thing you made

[@William_Mr.TopHat]

Is the code so they move by themselves? Or controller?

[@emilioortiz3900]

I used a Sunfounder servo driver insteadof the adafruit, but used the code exactly the same with the adafruit library it requires, os this a problem? Or should they work the same?

[@605rounakthorat6]

Bro how u conntrooled this how u make controoller plz make on this it may be help us rather how we can controol this via Bluetooth in aurdino board plz

[@Methoriate]

2020, Learning steps to invent FNAF in real life.

[@gabrielschwench7673]

Me too 😂

[@MisterThing26]

Shhh

[@jucyzxz]

Fr

[@GreyWouldBe]

Guys guys guys! We have so many video games about why that's a bad idea.

[@GiantLizard76]

​@@GreyWouldBethat's exactly why we're doing it

[@thecervbest3986]

hey I recently printed this project and made it, I encountered a problem with the eyelids rubbing with the placeholders, and semi-contrasting with the eyes, is this normal? or should I carve the eyes better?

[@kiid2228]

Jeez, you're a good painter too! You should sell those eyeballs!