Here’s a great home-brew animatronics project! You’ll make a talking hat that you can wear anywhere you’d like. Here’s more from joeywbell via instructables:
Animatronics and puppets have been a part of the entertainment industry for a very long time. In 1961 Walt Disney and his “imagineers” started developing animatronics for the entertainment industry; their first project was a 9″ tall dancing man figurine. As robotics advances more electronic actors can be seen in film. For example, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial and Jaws were both robotic creations.
While it may be expensive and complicated to enter into the world of advanced animatronics, it doesn’t take much to fabricate a simple creation. Depending on what the outer shell is, a simple mouth can give the illusion of life to an inanimate object! Puppets are normally controlled with a person’s hand, but they could just as easily be controlled with a cheap motor. This project serves as an introduction to analyzing sounds and controlling a motor based on what sounds are playing through a talking hat! The hat used for this project is a top hat, but one could easily change what the exterior is with a bit of planning and forethought; the most difficult portion of this construction is the electronics and programming, and one of those is already done for you!