NM ROBOTICS

EYEMECH ε3.2
PARTS, TOOLS AND REQUIREMENTS
The design can be entirely 3D printed and can use hobby electronics components. However I would
recommend using Will Cogley’s animatronic compatible eyes and the dedicated EyeMech controller
board available for purchase through https://nmrobots.com/

Having trouble with this design or want to chat to other makers building it? Check out the official
Discord Server!

Skills
The assembly is relatively easy and suitable for experienced beginners in the world of 3D printing
and electronics. Some dexterity is required to assemble the small parts, and it may be tricky to
remove some of the supports.

Parts
The following parts are recommended:
●​ 6x Micro servos, choose either:
○​ SG90 - Low-cost, easy to find, but weaker and slower
○​ MG90s - A great middle-ground between cost and power
○​ Note that several other types of servo with similar form factors may also be
compatible with the mechanisms, but not all have been tested at this time
●​ 2x Realistic Eyeballs, choose either:
○​ Realistic Eyes
○​ Ultra Realistic Eyes
○​ Homemade 3D printed eyes
●​ 1x Eye Mechanism Controller Board
●​ Optional: 1x Handheld Controller Board

On a tighter budget or if you’d just prefer to use more standard parts, you can use a Raspberry Pi
Pico with a breadboard, jumper cables and a two-way switch instead, but note that the system
may be less reliable than the purpose-made board.

Tools
It is recommended to use a reliable 3D printer with good quality PLA filament. The mechanism was
designed on and works great on a Bambu Labs P1S printer. Bambu-brand filament is also
recommended but most high-quality brands work just fine. Also, some supports may be fiddly to
remove so it is recommended to use some kind of scraper tool. If using the NMRobotics Eyemech
board, you must use a good quality USB cable capable of data transfer (not just power) such as this
one.
SELECTING A DESIGN
The ε3.2 eye mechanism is designed to work with a variety of servos, and has snap-fit and print in
place variants (hereafter referred to as ε2 and ε3.2-PIP respectively). You can find both here.

While every effort has been taken to ensure the design fits every servo, there can be differences in
size and there are several imitation brands of popular servos with slightly different dimensions. For
this reason, you can print the servo fitting block to figure out the best dimensions for your
particular servos. Simply print the design and figure out which hole fits your servo best - it should
be as tight as you can comfortably assemble it without damaging the parts or the servo. The
corresponding letter of the hole should then be matched to the parts which you choose to print.

Factor​ ε2 (Snap-fit) ε3.2-PIP (Print-in-place)

Ease of printing ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐​ ​
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐​ ​
​
Ease of post-processing
⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
​
Ease of assembly
Accuracy ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐​ ​
If you’re unsure - it’s recommended that you choose MG90s servos, and the print-in-place design
(ε3.2-PIP).

MANUFACTURE
All parts can be 3D printed, and the entire assembly fits on a Bambu X-1 Carbon or P1 series printer.
In the downloads you can find pre-made layouts for printing on Bambu printers, otherwise you can
layout and slice yourself using the following guidelines:
●​ Good quality PLA Recommended
●​ 0.2mm layer height recommended
●​ Supports are needed for some parts, organic/tree supports recommended
●​ Ensure that all rotating parts are placed with the pivoting rods/rings parallel to the bed
●​ For ε2, The open parts of the pivots (where you can see the circle inside) should be facing
down

POST-PROCESSING
Care should be taken to remove supports carefully to ensure that the delicate parts are not
damaged.
ASSEMBLY
Below are the assembly instructions for EyeMech ε3.2-PIP. This guide can
also be used to assemble ε2 by first assembling the simple subsystems
which make up the X axis, Y axis and eyelids. Refer to the QR code opposite
or this link for additional video instructions.

Start by inserting a servo into X-Axis subassembly A. The orientation should be clear from the gap
for the wire.

Clip on the Y-Axis subassembly over the top of the servo, securing it into place.
Attach both central pivot holders to the assembly. There should be a little resistance while
inserting, then the mechanism should rotate freely.

Attach X-Axis subassembly B to the servo loosely. Note that we will need to detach it later to
calibrate its position.
Attach the assembly to the main base component by snapping both central pivot holders in from
the underside.

Attach the eyes - I recommend using Will Cogley’s animatronic compatible eyes from
https://nmrobots.com/!

Attach the eyelids. Note that the top set has short levers and the bottom set has long levers. Line up
the top and bottoms first, then insert into the central pivots by either flexing the mechanism or
turning the eyes to the left and right.

Finish fixing the eyelids by snapping in the outer eyelid pivots to the underside of the base.
Place the remaining 5 servos in the orientations shown.

Fasten down the servos with the relevant retainers

Insert the 2 PCB holders from the underside, and snap in the PCB from the top

WIRING AND CODE

If using the NMRobotics β1.2 Eyemech Board or a raspberry pi pico, you can upload the code to it in the
same way.

Firstly, download the MicroPython firmware for Pico boards at the following link:
https://micropython.org/download/RPI_PICO/. You will also need the Thonny IDE for programming
the board which can be downloaded here: https://thonny.org/.

Upload the firmware to the board by connecting it to your PC while holding down the “boot” button,
and then copy-pasting the micropython .uf2 file you downloaded earlier on the to the board from
your documents/my computer. For more guidance, check the official guide here.
With the microcontroller connected and Thonny open, you now need to install the packages
necessary for this project’s code. You will need to download PicoZero and MicroPython Servo. From
within Thonny, check the microcontroller is connected by clicking the interpreter on the bottom
right and selecting your board/COM port. Then, from within the interface, go Tools>Manage
Packages, select “Install from local file” and select both the libraries you downloaded.

NOTE: The most common issue at

this stage arises from a faulty
connection between the
microcontroller and your computer.
Ensure that you have a good quality
USB cable that is capable of DATA
TRANSFER and not just power, such
as this one. USB 3.0 > USB C is
recommended, as sometimes USBC >
C can cause issues.

Occasionally the USB drivers on your computer may fail to recognise the microcontroller, you can
reset them but the quickest and easiest way is to connect another device such as a phone through
USBC, then disconnect, resetting the drivers. You may also need to try a different port or
unplugging other devices. Most of the time these issues are caused by the USB cable.
With the EyeMechEpsilon3.py code open in Thonny, run the code to make sure there are no errors.
Then press stop, and save the code to the board by going File > Save as, selecting Raspberry Pi Pico,
and naming the file main.py - this will make the code run by default whenever the board is restarted.

You can now switch the board into “hold” mode, and connect the servos to the board using the
following guide:
If not using the official board, connect your raspberry pi pico in the following way:

Pin Connect To

VBUS (5V) All servo power (usually red, central)

GND All servo GND (usually black/brown)

GPIO10 L/R

GPIO11 U/D

GPIO12 Top Left

GPIO13 Bottom Left

GPIO14 Top Right

GPIO15 Bottom Right

GPIO7 Mode switch connected to GND

CALIBRATION
With the board switched to “Hold”, all servos connected and the power on, you can now calibrate the
positions of the servos. The eyes should be centred, looking forwards, and the lids should be
closed, meeting in the middle. Secure all of the servos to their connectors by pressing them on and
tightening up their screws. You can do this (carefully) while they are powered on so you can be
certain they are in the right position. All of these should be easily accessible except for the
Up/Down servo - so it is recommended that you pop out the servo (taking note of the position) and
assemble it in the air before securing it back down.

OPERATION
The mechanism can be operated by switching it to “move”, where it will move randomly by default.
When the controller is plugged in it enters manual mode, and the joystick controls the direction of
the eyes and a button blinks the eyes. The slider on the back controls how open/closed the eyes are
by default.