Ahiru-chan (2011)

This was my first foray into Arduino controllers (in particular, the Arduino Duemilanove). After a long treasure hunt in Osaka’s Electric district to gather components, I used a stuffed baby duck (ahiru) won from a Japanese crane game, removed its stuffing and inserted a small motor to control its arms to make it flap.

After a few different configurations, I decided to place the motor at the base of the body, and use an inner loop and pulley system to actuate the wings, so the robot would keep its soft and plushy feel as it danced!