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Animatronic tails‽
12 years ago
At various points in time I've considered trying to make tails that could swing and move themselves. I have a reasonable idea how I'd go about doing it, and I think it might be cool. But I don't have any of the electronics skills to deal with servos and actuators and stuff, so I never pushed myself towards that. (And also, my tails already swing around and sway and bend much better than most stuffed tails. So it's not super-critical for me.)
But then I saw this Kickstarter campaign: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects.....-your-own-tail
They're making motorized swinging tails, and they're doing it in almost exactly the way that I had figured would work to actuate my dragon tails. So I think I'm going to get one of their mechanisms and give it a try. The one thing I'm worried about is whether the motors will be able to handle the swinging weight of a bunch of metal without hurting themselves. But the people who are making them say that they're pretty sure the motors can handle it.
If they don't make their funding goal I'll be kind of sad. But if they succeed, and then keep making them in the future, this could be awesome. I'd love to be able to offer a self-powered upgrade option on my tails, and I'm sure other costume crafters would be excited about it too.
But then I saw this Kickstarter campaign: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects.....-your-own-tail
They're making motorized swinging tails, and they're doing it in almost exactly the way that I had figured would work to actuate my dragon tails. So I think I'm going to get one of their mechanisms and give it a try. The one thing I'm worried about is whether the motors will be able to handle the swinging weight of a bunch of metal without hurting themselves. But the people who are making them say that they're pretty sure the motors can handle it.
If they don't make their funding goal I'll be kind of sad. But if they succeed, and then keep making them in the future, this could be awesome. I'd love to be able to offer a self-powered upgrade option on my tails, and I'm sure other costume crafters would be excited about it too.
Metonymy
~metonymy
Hmmm, if that servo isn't powerful enough, you can always hit up the local junkyard and buy a motor from an automatic window or something, those are pretty strong,
DracoLoricatus
~dracoloricatus
OP
That's easy to say, but I know enough people that actually know how to make motors and robots work that I know how hard it is to actually implement. And so I'd really just rather buy the thing from someone else if they're making it.
Metonymy
~metonymy
It isn't toooo hard to swap motors as long as you have enough power. In my opinion, Of course I have no degree but merely dabble in such things. I agree the kits are nice if they have enough juice. :)
Feneris Wolf
~darkstormdragon
Hey another good source is get in contact with 
crazyjoe1952 He does a lot of Animatronics on his suits and does some really wicked stuff, he might be able to give ya some advice and pointers at some point but I like the idea, would be interested in one if you manage to make it all work :)
crazyjoe1952 He does a lot of Animatronics on his suits and does some really wicked stuff, he might be able to give ya some advice and pointers at some point but I like the idea, would be interested in one if you manage to make it all work :) 
Meleshira
~meleshira
They made it! My Kitty & I helped last night, & this morning, they were over the L10,000! They're in business! YAY!!!!!!!! So thank you for this journal/link. We both tried to spread the word in several places. Something somebody did worked, & they got what they needed. Now let's just hope that everyone who pledged actually HAS the pledge amount when the times comes.
