Students from Olsztyn have developed an automatic puppet doll

Automatic doll designed by mechatronics students at the University of Warmia and Mazury with the support of the Olsztyn branch of the Association of Polish Electrical Engineers under the supervision of Dr. Michał Śmieja, has been awarded by the jury of an international competition.

Fourth year students of mechatronics Adam Masyk, Jakub Krajewski, Szymon Dunajski and Wojciech Dubis, and third year student Bartosz Pszczółkowski, won the third place in the automation competition New Automation Award XPLORE 2015.

Dr. Michał Śmieja told PAP that the work on automated doll prototype was preceded by a visit to the Olsztyn puppet theatre, where students learned the mechanisms for moving the marionettes.

The prototype resembles a marionette. In the case of a string puppet, a puppeteer animates the puppet doll with a control bar. Strings running down from the bar are connected to parts of the puppet doll. By moving the bar, raising and lowering strings tied to parts of the puppet, the puppeteer controls the doll.

Automatic doll uses a similar mechanism. Strings are also attached to the doll’s hands, elbows, feet, lower legs, body, neck and head, but they are not connected to a control bar, but an electronic controller. Programming sequences of movements by automatic device animates the puppet, also by means of pulling and lowering the strings attached its parts. Pulling and lowering is achieved by winding or unwinding the strings from powered bobbins. The doll, in addition to lifting, lowering arms, legs, head, also moves forward and backward.

"It is a prototype, so we have programmed only few sequences of movements, but we are still working on new sequences, to put it simply we are teaching the doll how to >>walk<<. Human movement is a very complex process, because a lot of independent elements work together, performing many movements at the same time" - explained the scientist.

He emphasised that the control of the puppet is a big challenge for an engineer.

Marionette’s reaction to puppeteer’s movements is incomparably more difficult to predict than the behaviour of hand or rod puppets.

The movements of hand and rod puppets are animated by a rigid rod or by direct contact with the puppeteer’s hand. Using modern motors it is relatively easy to build an automatic doll, in which the relative positions of "body parts" and end position can be fairly accurately determined. In the case of a marionette, which is animated with strings, it is very difficult to achieve.

Pulling a string does not mean that the puppet’s leg or hand will end up in a clearly defined position, so in a sense the doll >>itself is also a bit of an actor<<"- explained Dr. Michał Śmieja.

He added that in the technical language, hand and rod puppets are on "rigid tendons" and marionettes on "flexible tendons."

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

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