Neck Mechanism

Johnny 5 – neck assembly.

This page is about building Johnny 5’s neck assembly, check out the main project index for the rest

There’s a YouTube video about this

For this section, all the CAD files have been created from scratch in Autodesk 123D, using reference pictures and video which I mentioned in the first article.

The red parts will be printed in Ninjaflex rubber filament, using my Lulzbot TAZ 3D printer, the other parts will be ABS. Check out this article for more information on the 3D printing technology.

Here are all the pieces printed in various colours. The gold parts, with the addition of the bolt and a spring, make the neck cylinders. These are pulled back with a string which will be fed down a tube for remote actuation by a servo:

The main neck hinge was a universal style joint in the original Johnny 5. I’ve used a 3D printed Ninjaflex rubber ‘worm’ for this part which makes a simple flexible joint. I’ve also done the same for each end of the neck cylinders, which saves having to make any complicated ball joints:

The head will eventually be mounted on top, after painting. I also have various other details to revisit including the ‘lip lights’ which sit just under the main black plate:

More to follow…