Data-Driven Animatronic Design Using Motion Capture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional animatronic design and animation are time-consuming, expensive, and limited by manual repetition, resulting in unsatisfactory approximations of character lifelike motions.
Innovation Solution
A data-driven approach using 3D character data, pose sequences, and software algorithms to design and animate animatronics, allowing for automated creation and reproduction of lifelike motions through a system comprising input devices, computing devices, and animatronic actuators.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If manual design and animation methods are used, then designers and animators can create animatronic characters, but the process becomes time-consuming and expensive due to repeated manual adjustments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses motion capture data from real human performances as templates to copy and replicate lifelike movements in animatronics. Instead of manually creating each animation frame, the system captures actual human motion data and applies it to animatronic characters, dramatically reducing design time while maintaining realism
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical adjustment of actuators with automated computer-controlled systems. The motion capture data drives the animatronic actuators automatically through software control, eliminating the need for animators to physically adjust each joint and mechanism by hand
2Manufacturing precision
If manual adjustment of actuators is used to achieve poses, then animatronics can be positioned correctly, but the process is time-consuming and limits the number of sequential poses that can be created
Solution Approach 1:
The system copies precise human pose data from motion capture sessions and applies it directly to the animatronic's actuator positions. This allows accurate replication of complex poses without manual adjustment, maintaining precision while dramatically increasing the speed of pose creation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary motion capture of desired poses and sequences before animating the animatronic. By capturing the reference performance in advance, the system prepares all necessary pose data beforehand, allowing rapid automated reproduction during the animation phase without time-consuming manual setup
3Adaptability or versatility
If conventional design methods are used, then animatronics can be created, but the results are limited by the interpretation of the designer and animator rather than achieving true lifelike motion
Solution Approach 1:
The system directly copies authentic human movement patterns and expressions from motion capture data, eliminating the need for designer interpretation. This preserves the natural realism of human performance while transferring it to the animatronic, achieving lifelike motion that goes beyond what manual design can accomplish
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces motion capture technology as an intermediary between real human performance and animatronic representation. This intermediary layer captures the complexity and nuance of human movement objectively, serving as a bridge that transfers authentic lifelike motion data to control the animatronic's actuators
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a method for use by a system including a hardware processor and a memory storing a three-dimensional (3D) character data having a topology mesh describing a character. The method includes stabilizing the 3D character data by removing a translational motion and a rotational motion from the 3D character data, determining a range of motion of a plurality of points of the topology mesh describing the character, identifying a plurality of poses for generating an animation, where each of the plurality of poses includes a unique configuration of the plurality of points of the topology mesh, and creating an animatronic including a plurality of actuators configured to instantiate the plurality of poses for generating the animation.