Animatronic Tail and Control Board 

(Version 2.0)

Animatronic Tail General Information (this page was originally created for the auction of this tail)

Total Tail length is 33 inches

Designed to run off a 6-volt battery, in the videos below, the Tail was running off of 4 AA batteries, the Tail will drain them in about 3 - 6 hours, it is recommended that you purchase a 6-volt rechargeable camcorder, or laptop battery.  The Animatronic Tail will last about 14 hours on a 3.6 amp hour 6-volt camcorder battery

The Tail is 100% user programmable WITH OUT the use of a computer, or any other device, but by simply pressing the third button.  This enters "Program Mode" and then using the other two buttons, you can adjust the stop locations of the tail, and the speed in which it will wag between them.

for more information go here:  How to Program Your Animatronic Tail  Skip to step 2.0

The Tail can be attached to you by a standard belt loop and belt

Videos (you will need Divx to play the AVI files)

tail21.avi (4.4megs) showing all the functions of the Tail

tail22.avi (1.5megs) padding around with the Tail in "slow wag"

tail23.avi (4.4megs) adjusting the speed of "slow wag"

tail24.avi (1.6megs) padding up to the net cam and showing the buttons, and the battery

tail25.avi (3.9megs) sitting down in a chair with the Tail on, and then taking off the Tail, and showing all the components

Animatronic Tail Information

The Tail spine is made out of a modified Klixx toy and paperclips:

The Tail movement is caused by simple "push - pull" cables, which are bicycle brake cables

The "push - pull" movement is generated by two PVC pulleys attached to servo motor

The servo motors are held together by a super structure, made of paperclips soldered together

The inner workings of the Tail, are then protected by a sub structure, which surrounds the whole actuation module

Control Board Information

The Control Board was devolved and prototyped on a breadboard using the ATMEL AT90S2313 microcontroller

The ATMEL AT90S2313 microcontroller was chosen because it has an onboard 128 byte EEPROM, which allows the user to save his/her Tail settings

The settings will stay in the EEPROM, even if power is removed, and then restored when the Tail is turned on

The control board is located in the actuator housing

The control board receives its commands from the buttons on this board, it is easily concealed in a paw

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