Animation Kits
Animation Kits
Animate your pilot with Premier Pilots’ new animation kits. Now, you can add the kit, servos (not included), and program movements to your RC pilot figures. You can also add a controller board and program your pilot to move independently. The controller (item 1350 from Pololu) can be programmed with software you can download and program yourself.
You can make your pilot’s head pan and tilt by using two HXT500 Micro Servo 0.8kg / 0.07sec / 6.2g from HobbyKing ( Not Included) . If you want your pilot’s arm or arms to move, you’ll need one HXT500 or a Turnigy™ TGY-50090M Analog Servo 20T MG 1.6kg / 0.08sec / 9g, also from HobbyKing.
DIY Installation
Installation is simple. Just swap out the upper torso from the pilot with the animation upper torso with servos installed (instructions included). NB shoulder servos must be 9-gram metal gear. At first, we used a 5-gram nylon gear and either burned or ripped them.
Actual Setup:
- Head Movements – Two HobbyKing HXT 500
- Shoulder/Arm Movements(One on Each Side)
- Forearm Movements(One on Each Side)
- One NERS – Nano Electronic Receiver Switch V2
- One Pololu 1350 (6ch)or Pololu 1352(12)
- Software for Pololu
- Pololu Manual
- Settings
Tips:
- When programming, attach the board, connect the servos before mounting, and name each channel in the software.
- Then, in the “Channel Settings” tab, set the speed to 20 for head turn and arm movements and set the speed to 30–35 for nodding and forearm movements. Acceleration is set to 60 but can be a bit lower.
- Hit “Apply Settings,” and all the servos will be unticked.
- Mount the servos in the pilot without clothes. Run the servo leads through the trousers after having set all the servos as described below.
- Go to the “Status” tab and adjust one channel at a time. Move the slider until slight servo binding, back a little, and copy-paste the value to the “Channel Settings” tab for both directions. Hit “Apply Settings” and repeat for all channels.
- Test all channels and fine-tune the program by moving any number of sliders to the desired position. Then, save the frame—save as many frames as desired.
- Go to the “Sequence” tab and run your sequences. Adjust the duration of each sequence by double-clicking the sequence.
- The settings should be 300–500 ms for small, fast movements, such as nodding and short hand movements. For other movements, you should set the sequence to 1000–2000 ms to give time to complete the entire servo run.
- By control marking several frames, you can copy-paste to get nodding and waving.
- Set the start frame to 3000 ms and copy-paste it as the finishing frame. This frame setting prevents undesired movements with binding and damaged servos.
- When ready, save a settings file and copy all sequences to the script, click run at startup, and you have a working animation.
- We use the NERS – Nano Electronic Receiver Switch V2 to power the board; thus, all the servos are unpowered when the RX channel is inactive.
- Save the servos again!
