Droid Building Project
Meet our final exam, an animatronic cupcake. Carl is based on an animatronic cupcake from the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” video games*. Intended to be both scary and cute, this “haunted” robot is ready to move, groove, and even jump scare.
* This project was created for educational purposes only and does not represent the brand or the company.
Watch Him Dance!
What is Droid Building?
“Introduction to Droid Building” is a class at the University of Notre Dame where students are tasked with brining an animated droid to life combining both technical design and storytelling. The end goal was to bring a character to life! Built by both Caitlin Wilkinson and Elie Zinsmeister, this class project took 3 months to complete. The three requirements were to be able to preform 3 integrated show routines with lights, sound, and motion, to autonomously drive with motion sensors to detect walls, and complete a manual drive obstacle course.
Behind the Scenes
This robot was fabricated with 3D printed parts modeled in SolidWorks, and controlled by a Bluetooth remote and an Arduino ADK. Programmed using C++ the final code include sound, motion, and one animated gesture in the form of blinking to bring the character to life. The droid from concept to completion was delivered by both Caitlin and Elie and determined a success from a panel of industry professionals.
