Disney applies a patent to move puppets using drone

Disney has a laboratory in Zurich, Switzerland, but next to itZurich Institute of Technologythere is. Due to its immediate proximity, the Disney Research Institute and the Zurich Polytechnic University have been doing various collaborations so far, this time it is "A system that moves a puppet with a drone"We developed jointly with Disney to complete a patent application for Disney.

Disney Research Patents ETH Zurich's PuppetCopter - IEEE Spectrum
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/aerial-robots/disney-research-patents-eth-zurichs-puppetcopter


It was in 2013 that the attempt to move the puppet by drone started. This project started with a request from Disney, the name of the project is "PuppetCopter Maurice".

Of course, there are aspects of development of a new expression method, but the main purpose is to establish a place to make use of the knowledge students of Zurich Technical University learned at school in actual research and development etc. Students who participated in this project are able to experience all of the actual product development process by voluntarily working on development.


You can tell what kind of system to move the marionette using drone developed in this project by seeing the movie being uploaded on the official Facebook page of "PuppetCopter Maurice" in one shot.

Impressions - PuppetCopter Maurice


The thread puppet (Marionet) is moving, the action arm part installed at the bottom of the drone. By attaching this to the drones, it is also possible to carry large dolls safely and to produce dramatic appearance scenes. Furthermore, the marionettes can express movement more freely and effectively.


The marionette itself is very light and flexible materials are to be used so that operation with drone is easy, but the making itself is quite normal.


When applying for a patent, it is necessary to explain the technical contents using sentences and drawings. Disney applies for a patent on Marronet operation technology using drone, the contents of thisInternet FAQ ArchivesofCan be browsed by patent itemAs you can see, when you look at this, the document with the details of the technology is drawn by Jack of Nightmare, Before, Christmas.


In addition, Disney seems to have applied for two other drone-related patents, and oneScreen for projection in the airIt is the technology to put up, the other is thereTechnology for projecting imagesis.