Robotic/animatronic biological-musculature-aesthetic actuation hardware.
An exoskeleton to support and move a large character costume and to transfer weight of the costume away from a performer's body. The exoskeleton includes a spine including an elongated and rigid vertical member and also includes a waist ring configured to extend about a waist of a performer using the exoskeleton in a spaced apart manner. A lower end of the spine is attached to a rear center portion of the waist ring. The exoskeleton includes a pair of leg assemblies each pivotally coupled on opposite sides of the waist ring. Each of the leg assemblies is spaced apart from a leg of the performer and extends below a foot of the performer, whereby weight is transmitted to a support surface. Each of the leg assemblies may include at least one passive assist mechanism configured to assist the performer in moving the exoskeleton with bipedal locomotion.
BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Description
The present invention relates, in general, to systems and methods for implementing very large, costumed characters (e.g., costumes representing characters that are significantly larger than the human actor or performer). More particularly, the present description relates to systems and methods for designing and fabricating oversized character costumes that implement biological musculature aesthetics and distribute costume weight into the ground and away from a performer's vulnerable joints. 2. Relevant Background
There are many situations where it is desirable to provide costumed characters to entertain nearby crowds and audiences. For example, theme and amusement parks often have human performers in costumes mingling with crowds and providing shows and parades, with the costumes representing a wide variety of characters including those from television shows and movies that may be live action or be animated. Sporting events often include mascots and other performers wearing costumes to provide unique human-like (e.g., bipedal with moving hands) characters.
The design and fabrication of character costumes present a variety of challenges including ergonomic challenges. These challenges are amplified when the costumes grow larger to match the scale of characters that are much larger than the human performer wearing and operating the costume. The challenges or problems include: (a) the weight of the costume; (b) where on
1. An exoskeleton for use in a large character costume to support and move an outer skin layer, comprising: a spine comprising an elongated and rigid vertical member; a waist ring arcuate in shape configured to extend about a waist of a performer using the exoskeleton in a spaced apart manner, wherein a lower end of the spine is attached to a rear center portion of the waist ring; a pair of leg assemblies each pivotally coupled on opposite sides of the waist ring, wherein each of the leg assemblies is configured to be spaced apart from a leg of the performer and wherein each of the leg assemblies is configured to extend below a foot of the performer, whereby weight of the outer skin layer and the exoskeleton are transmitted to a support surface under the leg assemblies. ||
9. An exoskeleton for use in a large character costume, comprising: a spine; a waist ring arcuate in shape configured to extend about a waist of a performer using the exoskeleton in a spaced apart manner, wherein a lower end of the spine is attached to a rear center portion of the waist ring; a shoulder assembly pivotally coupled to an upper end of the spine; and a shoulder passive assist mechanism configured for assisting in pivoting the shoulder assembly relative to the upper end of the spine. ||
16. A costume system for providing a larger-than-human scale character, comprising: an exoskeleton comprising a plurality of shells including arm shells; a musculature simulation layer applied to outer surfaces of one or more of the shells including the arm shells, wherein at least portions of the musculature simulation layer are configured to have a first at rest pose and a second pose differing from the first at rest pose when compressed or stretched in response to movement of the exoskeleton; and an outer skin layer applied over the musculature simulation layer and the exoskeleton. ||
27. An aesthetic artificial musculature for exoskeletons, comprising: a body portion having a first shape and a second shape; and a plurality of actuation points on the body portion, wherein the actuation points are actuated by applied forces and cause the body portion to transform from the first shape to the second shape in a manner that corresponds to an aesthetic model behavior. ||
28. A method for building an exoskeleton-based costume, comprising: characterizing dynamic shape performance of a plurality of artificial musculature structures; analyzing an animated or computer generated character to identify characteristic dynamic musculature aesthetics that are visually recognizable to viewers; selecting from the characterized plurality of artificial musculature structures a number of structures that replicate the identify characteristic dynamic musculature aesthetics; fabricating the selected structures; and attaching the fabricated structures to an exoskeleton at attachment locations that apply forces to the selected structures when the exoskeleton changes position. ||
29. An exoskeleton for a costumed character, comprising: a scapula joint; a shoulder joint an elbow joint coupled to the shoulder joint by an upper arm linkage; a passive, pneumatic assist (e.g., gas springs) coupled to the scapula and shoulder joints of the character suit; linkage mechanisms that tie the elbow and scapula movement of the character suit to shoulder rotation; a sliding performer attachment mechanism that allows for dynamic shifting of geometry relations between the performer and the suit; a flexible shaft that allows a performer's wrist to directly rotate the character suit's wrist; and cable-driven mechanisms for finger articulation and wrist curl.