Here’s the Foamex version of the head posted earlier. It uses the same four servos and links to a servo buffer board. Servoblaster takes care of the timing signals and a Python program makes it look interesting.
The next stage will be to make it link with Twitter and also RSS feeds such as the BBC local weather forecast.
I’ve been working to create a servo controlled head and a servo controlled robot arm over the past few months and it’s starting to produce pretty encouraging results. I did damage a Pi – not too sure how – so I built a simple buffer board to prevent that happening again.
Some servo extension leads soon made the wiring easier, and it’s great fun to run the head along with espeak handling voice. My next goal is to have it reading RSS news feeds or perhaps the weather.
This version of “The Head” has been made using artist’s foam-core board which is really easy to work with. It’s a polystyrene sheet with a layer of good quality paper on each side. It can be cut with a craft knife and glued together with a glue gun.
Another alternative is a PVC sheet material known as Foamex. It cuts well in a CAM router and it is also possible to cut it with a craft knife or a coping saw.
rPi Kitchen 