WATTS the Bot
A childhood dream to build an animated character
When I was a kid, I got this weird robot from my relatives. He was called R.O.B. and you could control him using the flashes from your TV screen. I loved the actual game he came with - Gyromite - but what mesmerized me was the test screen. If I could make him move these little gyroscopes around, what else could I do? Make him dance? Sing?
Fast forward almost 30 years to the COVID-19 pandemic. My ROB had sat on display through several workshop moves and I figured now was the time. I began refitting the same toy from the ground up, to make him an animatronic. He is an ongoing project and a test bed for new skills of mine. You can find updates on his Twitter account.
Current Features
2 Axis head tilt
Stepper controlled 360 degree torso movement
Programmable fiber optic eyes
In development
Torso rise/fall
Shoulder rotation
Arm open/close
Custom hardware base
Wireless control with custom Raspberry Pi software
Dream features
Incognito puppeteering controller
Character voice
Behind the Scenes
