Slowly but surely

Slowly but surely, it's coming along. Obligatory image update:

One problem is that in the movie, WALL-E's eyebrow doesn't pivot the way I've designed mine. The real WALL-E's eyebrows slides upwards slightly and then pivots outwards. It's difficult to explain so check the movie to see what I'm talking about.

I still have to create the inside piece of the eyebrow - where it will rest on. The internal mechanisms are almost done but I was too lazy to create a section view to show them... maybe next time. I also have to update the design of the eyebrow to make it look like two links.. next time as well!

Eye Update

Here's the latest CAD of WALL-E's left eye.

I added the chamfer to WALL-E's brim, made a temporary cut-out of his eyebrows, and began modeling the movement mechanism. It's taking longer than usual because I have to see what kind of material I can purchase and alter the design such that I can actually fabricate it.

Hopefully by the next time I update, I'll have the eye socket finished.

Edit: Here's a cutout of the eye so far. I'm too lazy to color each part so unfortunately, all the parts are blended together...

First Render And Other Thoughts

As promised, here's the first CAD drawings for WALL-E. It's only part of the eye but at least it's a start.

The dimensions are okay.. I don't think that they are super accurate but it should be pretty close. Being, the eyes, I want them to be dead-on since most of the initial impression you'll get is from his eyes. I've seen some replicas out there, and it just doesn't have the same feeling and look when compared with the real WALL-E.

I still need to adjust, the brim of the eye to be thicker and to have a chamfer. I'll work on this later on, as I want to get the bulk of his eye done first. I'll also need to modify the two inner ribs in the picture to have pin holes for the eyebrow pivot pin.. and finally, I'll need a cut out and mounting holes for the servo on those inner two ribs.

In other news, I've decided to build a modified Shapeoko to fabricate most of WALL-E's, complicated pieces. It'll use 1000mm rails in the X and Y but it'll keep the Z as it is. It'll require dual rails to prevent warping and dual drives for the gantry movement.. Estimated cost? Around $650 plus tax/shipping.. Yikes.

Head And Movement Updates

I'll be starting to CAD the head parts probably today. Preliminary drawings for the head only are complete so it should make things easier.

For the head, I've added an additional movement: Eye focus twist. When the eye lenses move in and out, it will also rotate. It might not be noticeable that easily but I think it'll make a nice addition, especially if the white lettering on the lenses are visible. Plus, it's a simple addition that doesn't overly complicate the eye socket subassembly.

So, the movements for the head will be:
- Eye in an out
- Eye twist
- Eye tilt
- Eyebrow up and down
- Head tilt
- Head/Neck rotate

For the rest of the body, the preliminary movements will be:

- Neck base tilt
- Neck midpoint tilt
- Shoulder rotate
- Shoulder swing
- Arm extend
- Arm rotate
- Hand grasp
- Legs/Tread drive

Possible additional movements:
- Legs/Suspension up and down
- Body forward/Bakward sway

That's it for now, drawings and pictures to be added in the future!

Still here...

Unfortunately, I took a very long break from this project to work on some other things... But I am back!