Servo - December 2015

Time to be a Scriptwriter

Your first step in selecting the proper trigger is to determine exactly how you want your character to interact with your guests.

Will you have attendants or actors available that can monitor the scene your character is in? How accurately can you predict the location of your guests? Will there need to be delays between activations? Is your character located inside or outdoors? Will it need to perform at night, during the day, or both?

These are all important considerations to take into account when planning your prop’s activation schedule.

What are My Choices?

Once you’ve choreographed your character’s performance, it is time to decide on your activation method. Let’s look at some of the alternatives available and the merits of each one.

A Microprocessor Can Do It

One option is to program a microprocessor to trigger your routine on a timing loop. Set a retrigger delay and allow your character to perform at regular intervals. This method is especially useful if you have people in line moving past your display at a calculated speed. You can

What do you do if you don’t have someone to trigger your props on cue? Do you throw up your hands? Are you out of luck? Well have no fear, the answers are here!

You have put in long hours dreaming up, designing, and building that special one-of-a-kind animatronic. Now, you need a method to control it to respond at precisely the right time and perform on demand.

There is a wide variety of options to choose from when selecting the best trigger mechanisms, but no single solution is best for every situation. I know this is not the most glamorous part of the build process, but they perform a vital role in creating the illusion we are attempting to create.

We will examine some of the options, and I hope to introduce some products that may be new to you. Take a look and you may discover a useful technique that will improve the performance of your designs.