ABSTRACT
Animatronic control systems are generally operated in two phases: programming and playback. During the programming period, the character’s movements are precisely matched to the audio track; during the playback phase, the movements are played back in sync with the sound track. Good programming is key to achieving sophisticated and believable motion in animatronic systems, and some systems use a programming panel, consisting of button panels to turn on and off effects, and knobs, sliders, or joysticks to run the proportional effects. High-end (typically custom) systems may even record this performance data from humans, using sensors attached to their bodies, or allow interactivity with the audience. In any case, as the character’s moves are “performed” by a human programmer, the control systems digitally sample and record the performance data in sync with the audio soundtrack.
