Disney Research and other researchers made use of 3D printing to create animated objects by mechanized cables and joints. Entitled ‘‘Designing Cable-Driven Actuation Networks for Kinematic Chains and Trees’’, the research demonstrates the method by creating an animated character, an animatronic hand and a specialized gripper.
How to design cable-driven actuation networks for Kinematic chains and trees?
After selecting a set of target poses or keyframes using inverse kinematics, torsional springs were placed at the joints whereas a cable network allows the researchers to reproduce the poses.
The assembly consists of rigid links joined together with hinges. For Disney Research scientist Moritz Bacher, this “approach eliminates much of the complexity of designing those mechanisms.”
While appreciating this technology, the scientist adds that, “the advent of consumer-level 3D printing and affordable, off-the-shelf electronic components has given artists the machinery to make articulated, physical versions of animated characters.”
In another research, the team would bring more precision to the mechanisms, and enable for instance more degrees of freedom.
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