Megabot was a small-scale animatronic that was designed for the 2019 Otronicon Interactive Technology Expo at the Orlando Science Center. Based off of the Big Hero 6 character and theme, our goal was to use this figure to teach kids about how animatronics work, what technology is involved, and how many talented, diverse people work together to bring characters to life at Disney. I was responsible for the character design, mechanical design & guest experience.
Final Animatronic Demonstration
Megabot Design & Build
Project Description
Megabot was a five function animatronic figure with the following functions: torso twist, torso forebend, face turn, and arm in/out for both arms. Recreating the actual Megabot from the film would be extremely difficult, so we picked the functions that would be most expressive/representative of the figure’s movements from the film.
Packaging was a huge challenge for this figure, which also limited the number of functions that could be used.
The entire figure was comprised of 3D printed parts and actuated with Hitec servo motors. Connecting the shell pieces to the mechanism and other shell pieces was achieved through incorporating magnets into the design.
The overall display for the figure was designed to be interacted with by children at the exhibit. Three different pre-programmed animation sequences based off of the film were assigned to LED buttons that children could press to watch the figure perform different movements. Dials assigned to each function were also on the display that allowed children to move different body parts individually and act as the animator.