Animatronics is the use of mechatronics to create machines which seem animate rather than robotic. Animatronic creations include animals (including dinosaurs), plants and even mythical creatures. A robot designed to be a convincing imitation of a human is specifically known as an android.
Animatronics is mainly used in movie making, but also in theme parks and other forms of entertainment. Its main advantage over CGI and stop motion is that the simulated creature has a physical presence moving in front of the camera in real time. The technology behind animatronics has become more advanced and sophisticated over the years, making the puppets even more realistic and lifelike.
Animatronics is used in situations where a creature does not exist, the action is too risky or costly to use real actors or animals, or the action could never be obtained with a living person or animal. Animatronic systems can be implemented using both computer control and human control, including teleoperation.
Animatronic figures are most often powered by pneumatics (compressed air), and, in special instances, hydraulics (pressurized oil), or by electrical means. The figures are precisely customized with the exact dimensions and proportions of living creatures. Motion actuators are often used to imitate “muscle” movements, such as limbs to create realistic motions. Also, the figure is covered with body shells and flexible skins made of hard and soft plastic materials. Then, the figure is finished by adding details like colors, hair and feathers and other components to make the figure more realistic. [1].
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Animatronics was developed by Walt Disney in the early sixties. Essentially, an animatronic puppet is a figure that is animated by means of electromechanical devices[2]. Early examples were found at the 1964 World Fair in the New York Hall of Presidents and Disney Land. In the Hall of Presidents, Lincoln, with all the gestures of a statesman, gave the Gettysburg’s address. Body language and facial motions were matched to perfection with the recorded speech[3]. The abbreviated term originally coined by the Walt Disney as Audio Animatronics which is used to describe the mechanized characters, can be actually seen in the various forms as far back as Leonardo Da Vinci’s Automata Lion, which is theoretically built to the present lilies to King of the France during one of his Visits,and has now be developed as the career which may be require combined talent in the Mechanical Engineering , Casting/Sculpting, Control Technologies, Electrical/Electronic, Radio Control, Airbrushing. Long before digital effects was appeared, animatronics were making the cinematic history[4]
Building the various components used in the animatronic device usually takes the longest time. There are four main categories that the work splits into, with development happening simultaneously across the categories.