Animatronics Timeline · Motion control
Choreograph a machine like you'd edit a film.
A timeline editor for animatronics, and the motor-control firmware that runs it: set each motor's angle, speed, and easing at keyframes, scrub to preview the whole performance, then stream it to the rig. On the roadmap, we are extending it to capture a performance from pose estimation or a motion-capture suit and retarget it onto the rig.
- Angle
- 142°
- Speed
- 60°/s
- Easing
- ease-in-out ▾
- Hold
- 0.3s
The problem
Animatronics means dozens of motors moving in sync across time, hand-coded and impossible to preview before they run on the hardware.
How it works
From input to a result you can stand behind.
- 01
Add a track per motor
Lay out every servo and stepper as its own lane on the timeline.
- 02
Keyframe the motion
Drop keyframes for angle, speed, and easing wherever the performance needs them.
- 03
Scrub to preview
Scrub the playhead and watch the whole rig pose in real time before it runs.
- 04
Run it on the rig
Compile the timeline to a compact motion program, then stream it to the on-board firmware that drives every actuator on one clock.
What's inside
Built for the work it does every day.
Per-motor tracks
Every motor gets its own lane, named and colour-coded for scanability.
Angle, speed & easing
Keyframe each motor's angle, speed, and easing independently.
Easing-curve editor
Shape the interpolation between keyframes with a curve editor.
Scrub & live preview
Preview the full performance by scrubbing the timeline.
On-board motor firmware
Real-time control loops on the controller generate the PWM and step timing every servo and stepper needs.
Deterministic timing
One clock keeps dozens of actuators in phase, so playback never drifts out of sync.
Editor-to-controller link
A compact binary protocol carries poses to the rig and state back, live or from an uploaded program.
Calibration & soft limits
Neutral offsets and travel limits sit in firmware, so every motor stays inside its safe range.
Built end to end
Authoring tool, motion compiler, and controller firmware were built as one system, so nothing is lost between screen and servo.
Pose-estimation capture (on the roadmap)
Designed to be driven from an ordinary camera feed, so a move can be performed and captured without a suit or studio.
Motion-capture input (on the roadmap)
Built to accept a motion-capture suit when a project wants the highest-fidelity capture.
Performance retargeting (on the roadmap)
Captured human joints map onto the rig's motors, so a performance can transfer without hand-animating every servo.
A closer look
See it in motion.
pose @ 0.0s · 6 DOF active
Yaw 90° · Pitch 90° · Jaw 0°
At a glance
- Software
- Web-based keyframe timeline
- Firmware
- Real-time servo & stepper control
- Integration
- Editor-to-controller protocol
- Roadmap
- Pose / mocap performance capture
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