Gator Animatronic

As a part of the Gator Theme Park Engineering and Design club at the University of Florida, I lead the Animatronics Design Team as their captain. During the 2023 to 2024 school year, I led the team in designing and manufacturing an animatronic with at least four functions. The animatronic needed to be a head and it was decided that making an alligator head would be a fun challenge.

In the fall of 2023, the design team focused on outlining how the animatronic would operate and what four functions would be used. This time was also used to introduce members who did not have a background in the industry to how animatronics are made and what software our team could use to make them. At the end of the semester, it was decided that the animatronic would have the following functions: jaw motion, side-to-side eye movement, two independent eyebrows, and a nostril motion.

In the spring of 2024, the team shifted from concept to CAD design and manufacturing. Although my role was mainly to oversee the progress of the team and keep them on track, I led the team that worked on turning the concept for the jaw into CAD. Most of the design called for 3D printed parts that would be held together with off-the-shelf fasteners. In the end, the mechanical parts were printed and the assembly of the animatronic will resume in the fall.