Odysseus, Steampunk Robot Owl

2021-11-30 | By Jorvon Moss

License: See Original Project

3D Printed Parts

There are 13 parts to this build that need to be printed, some more than once, so each part is marked with the quantity needed for one owl.

Owl head (1)
Beak (1)
Neck (1)
Servo fitted gear (1)
Owl chest (1)
Skullbone (1)
Bracket (1)
Gears eye (2)
Gear eye parts (1)
Owl wings 1-2 (1 each)
Owl chest plate (1)
Chest ribs (3)
Feet (1)
Toes (3)
Wing pulley (2)
Micro servo (1)

Parts Used

Adafruit CRICKIT for Circuit Playground Express
Circuit Playground Express
Micro servos (3) (Tower Pro SG92R)
Continuous rotation servo (1)
Gear reduction motor JST cable (2)
Armature wire
Flexible coolant hose

Step 1

I started by printing the owl head, gear eyes, gear eye parts, micro servo, and skullbone. The gear eyes and the gear parts fit as shown below, inside the head.

eye_1

The eyes fit easily into the head, but the skull bone is tricky. I ended up using a lot of hot glue to make sure it would fit properly.

fit_2

fit_3

I recommend being patient and doing a lot of testing to make sure the gears move correctly. A continuous rotation servo is the best for the eye.

Step 2

The neck and chest are some of the easiest parts. They’re both simple prints. You will also need the servo fitted gear. You can easily screw the neck to the base and there is a part on the back to fit the gear.

parts_4

Step 3

There are two sets of wing STLs, left and right, to make it easier. Otherwise, you can print one set and mirror a second set.

folding_5

It's a simple folding system. You're going to need some screws to attach them, but when it's all set up you can add the DC motor to the bottom portion of the wing that will open and close the wing. I recommend at this point adding a servo pulley system to the wings. It should look something like this:

setup_6

Step 4

Using the flexible coolant hose and some armature wire, along with the feet print and bracket, you can assemble what I like to think of as the leg of an owl. The armature wire helps make the coolant hose strong. The foot may look a bit different in the below picture because I changed the part to make the toe addition a bit easier.

hose_7

hose_8

You can also print out the toes and attach them as well.

Step 5

The chest plate and the chest ribs can be attached to make a small covering over the leg.

chest_9

I added foam for the wings and tail, and while not needed, I like the look of it.

foam_10

I used the Adafruit CRIKIT to run this robot. This was more of a fun build to learn some mechanical movement and to play with steampunk design. I hope you like it.

owl_11