P3: Norman project statement

My inspiration from this piece came from my dog Pixel. I'm going home for Thanksgiving soon, and I'm excited to see her. This piece mimics on a small scale the greeting I will get from her upon my return. I wanted to replicate a dog's excitement seeing someone, and I decided to do this by connecting a cardboard cut out of a tail to the servo motor. I made it so that coming within 15 centimeters of the dog would cause the servo motor to turn back and forth between 90 and -90 degrees to mimic the tail wag. I had some issues in figuring out how I would make the dog while also hiding the mechanism. I ended up making the top piece of the dog and making a bottom cardboard piece that was like a box with an open top. I hid the servo motor within the bottom cardboard piece and positioned the dog cardboard piece on top. I was also afraid that some of the wires may pop out, so I tried my best to keep everything in position, and glueing the servo motor into the cardboard helped. 

In figuring out the finishing touches, I decided to paint the dog's name onto the cardboard stand to make the project as a whole pop a bit more. I decided to name the dog Norman because the cardboard dog looked like a Norman. I didn't want to name the cardboard dog after my own dog because Norman wags his tail at everyone who approaches, whereas my dog is scared of new people. If I had more time, I would have liked to make the tail wagging mechanic more smooth and make the project as a whole look more finished by using wood instead of cardboard. 

Here is a video of Pixel for reference: