# Controlling a Bucky Head



## time2dive (Dec 29, 2007)

I am trying to add motion to the head on the pirate in my Pirate Cage. 








That head will be controlled by a RC transmitter. This will allow the controller in the house to have the head follow people. If it works I should also be able to control head movement via VSA. Has anyone besides Skulltronix done anything like this? As of now up and down and side to side should be fine. I have a pan and tilt servo set that may work. As of now I am experimenting and I may have to fabricate controls.

Tim


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

You should get in touch with Dr. Morbius. He knows this stuff real well.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Otaku! Heheh...Yea, I've been down this road a couple times...If you want just pan and tilt, you will need some kind of pivot block...check out this website, it's the gold standard for 2 axis pan and tilt:
http://sprawlingdelusions.com/Projects/AnimatedSkeleton/SkeletonMain.htm
http://sprawlingdelusions.com/Proje...PivotMechanism/PivotMechanismInstructions.htm


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## time2dive (Dec 29, 2007)

Four weeks ago I started this thread about having a bucky head tilt and rotate. After four weeks of learning what I can and can't machine I have a working prototype of a two axis (tilt and rotate) bucky head. It is based on the pivot block at
http://sprawlingdelusions.com/Projects/AnimatedSkeleton/SkeletonMain.htm

I had the main block machined and improvised from there. I should have pictures up in a day or so. I also came up with a fairly easy work around for the third axis.
More to follow

Tim


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## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

I'm also working on a 3-axis motion as we speak. I've made a fair amount of progress, and my servos should be here this weekend. Hopefully, I'll have something to show soon!


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## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

I have the mechanism all built up. It consists entirely of 1" aluminum tubing and 1" aluminum angle. Anyone with access to a drill and saw should be able to make this.

I anticipate the motors will arrive today, so hopefully they'll fit inside the skull just fine and I will have something to show soon.


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## Stiff Kitten (Oct 2, 2007)

After you get the head moving get legs kicking.I built same thing last year I will post video of it if I can fine time to pull him out and get it all hooked up.Lost video from halloween.I would like to upgrade head to 3 axis I look forward to your updates


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## time2dive (Dec 29, 2007)

I have completed the prototype of my two axis bucky head. A video of it can be found at
http://www.firediving.com/Video_4.wmv
As I build the refined versions I will post what I did and a parts list

Tim


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## Abunai (Oct 28, 2007)

time2dive said:


> I have completed the prototype of my two axis bucky head. A video of it can be found at
> http://www.firediving.com/Video_4.wmv
> As I build the refined versions I will post what I did and a parts list
> 
> Tim


Looking forward to the how-to.


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## Richie (Jan 4, 2007)

Great job guys!


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

One day I'll get there! One day...


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## SkullWerks (Mar 4, 2008)

Hi I know Im new to the forum but Ive made a 3 axis skull with 2 axis eyes with lots of room in a 4th quality bucky skull! This is all very possible with the process halloween bob posted a wile back !!here is link to a utube video of my skull!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cezVzXR2WU


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## joker (Sep 25, 2007)

Just curious what would be the expected cost of putting something like this together? Not counting labor/learning curve of course.


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## Daphne (Oct 18, 2006)

Welcome Skullwerks. Your skull looks great! Nice work! 

joker, it seems like I remember buchaneerbabe posting that it was around $200 to do a 3-axis skull. That didn't include the eyes, just the 3-axis. I could be wrong but that is the number I had in my head.

The learning curve is what worries me most!


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## SkullWerks (Mar 4, 2008)

Thanks I worked long and hard on that guy the cost if I caculated it correctly is about 

Skull: 20.00
controller: 60.00 mini ssc
vsa program: 55.00
servos: 90.00 hitec 475/51/65
3 2 1
leds for eyes: 5.00
Hardware: 30.00
power supply: 30.00
phone style cable:10.00
TIME ? every one I do gets faster to build!!
So parts 300.00 my best estimit!!


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## silermes (Jan 3, 2008)

Do/will these servos have a hard time moving the weight of a 4th gen bucky skull? I would think that the weight would be an issue. are there any other realistic looking skulls that will work for this project that are made of a lightweight material? Or are the servos listed above strong enough to move the bucky skull without being replaced often?


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## Daphne (Oct 18, 2006)

Are servos prone to burning up? I believe it was in an article about the talking skull we all want but can't afford where they mentioned something about that being a problem in the older model. It makes sense that could happen if you overload servos in terms of weight but other than that, are they subject to frequent failure?


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## SkullWerks (Mar 4, 2008)

Hi as you can see the video of my skull it runs just fine BUT I had to remove a lot of plastic from the inside of the skull and the backside of the jaw not only for the weight factor but also for the room for all those servos I ran my skull at halloween for about 5hours and it did not skip a beat!!


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## silermes (Jan 3, 2008)

I made the reply at work where all the videos are "Sonic Walled" so I can't see them....Damn Sonic Wall!


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## halloweenguy (Dec 27, 2006)

Skullwerks, Great Job on your talking skull and your voice work on this is top notch!!!


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## Haunted Wolf (Apr 18, 2007)

SkullWerks said:


> Hi I know Im new to the forum but Ive made a 3 axis skull with 2 axis eyes with lots of room in a 4th quality bucky skull! This is all very possible with the process halloween bob posted a wile back


Do you happen to have a link handy to the how-to?


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## uncle (Sep 26, 2007)

Here is the Halloween Bob link:

http://www.halloweenforum.com/showthread.php?t=62161

And here is the page with the PDF summarizing everything:

http://www.halloweenforum.com/showthread.php?t=62161&page=40

Course when you make one of these Robert, you will have to share with the rest of us.


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## Haunted Wolf (Apr 18, 2007)

Awesome, thanks!!

We'll see if I get to it this year or not.


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