I’m not done yet, but pretty happy with the progress on “eye mech” – the mechanical part of the eye movement control.

A local radio control hobby shop had a transmitter on sale… the same type that R/C airplane and higher-end copter folks use. That, plus a receiver, a battery, and four servos, and I’m on my way to some real movement!

Here’s a picture of the “eye mech plate” I designed and 3D printed, along with two eyes.  8 gauge threaded cable holds the eyes, currently, but I’m working on a smaller cable with a smooth ball on the end to reduce friction and provide stability.  Servos are strategically mounted – though they’re not yet hooked up to any control rods. One servo will control left/right eye movement, and the other will control up/down. I’ve got room for a third servo to control blinking movement for eyelids – not yet designed.

You’ll notice the two-level box near and just between the eyes. I’m planning to drill holes through them for the control linkages, to provide “forward/backward only” movement restriction.

There’s plenty more work to do, but even at this early stage, it was exciting to fire up the transmitter and watch the servos move!