Doll Animation via Electromagnetic Actuation in Liquid
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing animating dolls and robots struggle to express complex and dynamic motions, such as dancing, due to mechanical complexity and high costs, and often require cumbersome mechanisms or simple repetitive movements when submerged in liquids.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus using a hermetically sealed container filled with liquid, equipped with a doll containing permanent magnets and electromagnets with independently controlled polarity, allowing for precise magnetic attraction and repulsion to enable detailed control of the doll's movements, including dancing and brake dances, through a controller and power supplier.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If mechanical articulated manipulation or motor-gear mechanisms are used to move the doll, then the doll can perform complex motions, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical articulated manipulation and motor-gear mechanisms with an electromagnetic field-based control system. Electromagnets arranged in arrays generate magnetic fields that interact with magnetic elements embedded in the doll, enabling complex dancing and waving motions without mechanical linkages or moving parts in the controller.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces liquid as an intermediary medium between the electromagnets and the doll. The liquid transmits magnetic forces while providing buoyancy and damping, enabling smooth and natural doll movements. This intermediary allows electromagnetic forces to be effectively transferred to the doll without direct mechanical contact.
2Device complexity
If the doll is hung in a string to perform simple repeated motion, then the device complexity is reduced, but the motion variety and dynamic expression are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the simple string suspension mechanism with an electromagnetic field-based control system. Arrays of electromagnets can independently control multiple magnetic elements in the doll, enabling complex dancing, waving, and other dynamic motions while keeping the doll floating freely in liquid without mechanical constraints.
3Manufacturing precision
If electromagnetic control is used to enable detailed motion control, then the motion precision and variety improve, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs periodic switching of electromagnet activation patterns to achieve continuous and varied doll motions. By sequentially activating different electromagnet groups in rhythmic patterns, the system creates dancing and waving motions while minimizing energy consumption through duty-cycled operation rather than continuous activation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses dynamic control of electromagnetic field strength and distribution to achieve precise motion control. The controller adjusts the intensity and spatial distribution of magnetic fields in real-time based on desired motion patterns, enabling energy-efficient actuation by applying magnetic forces only when and where needed during the doll's movement cycle.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the doll to perform intricate and dynamic movements, including human-like dancing, with the ability to adapt motions based on sound and light inputs, providing a more engaging and dynamic experience without the need for complex robotic mechanisms.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of electromagnets arranged along a ring-shaped core, where polarity of each electromagnet is independently determined by a control current
Implementation Method 2
a controller applying a control current to each of the plurality of electromagnets
Implementation Method 3
a container filled with liquid in a hermetically sealed inner space; a doll disposed inside the container
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is such that a doll equipped with a plurality of auxiliary magnetic poles is inserted into a hermetically-sealed container filled with liquid and the container is circumferentially arranged with variable magnetic poles whose polarities are determined by electromagnets, whereby attraction or repulsion is applied on each portion of the doll. The polarity of each variable magnetic pole can be arbitrarily controlled by adjustment of direction of current flowing in the electromagnets to enable the doll in the container to be driven in various types of motions. Therefore, the motions of the doll can be expressed in various interesting types including dancing to the accompaniment of music without recourse to making the doll in a complicated robotic shape.