Here I've connected the eyes of a cabbage patch doll to a servo, so I can control opening and shutting her peepers. The doll came with weighted eyes that shut when she's reclining, and open when she's upright.
I started out by cutting out a piece of the back of the head, to get acces to the eyes. The eyes sit in molded sockets that are part of the rubber head. I slit open the socket backs, but left them mostly intact so I could put the eyes back in them. The eyes had a black plastic cover on the back that connects to the metal case surrounding the eye in the front. I sliced off most of the black plastic cover with a Dremel tool, but left a ring of it to hold the works together.
To connect to the eyes, I superglued a large bent paperclip to the back of each of eye.
The servo I mounted to a base built from Maker Beam. I attached the servo arm to the paperclips using a zip tie and some fishing line, so it could have a little play. Here is the head with the eyes moving while sitting on the bare base.
For now, I'm using a Pololu Maestro servo controller with its software to test. I intend to try out some others, and figure out how I want to connect together several dolls and stuffed animals for a display.
So there it is! The eyes move slower than I might like, and also don't open and close completely, but I'm happy enough with the project as it is.
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