What if an animatronic eye could rotate 360° in any direction?
That’s the challenge four Vanderbilt University mechanical engineering fourth-year students, Ari Horwitz, Jackson Singer, Henry Dirksen, and Kaylee Greenberg, took on for their senior design project. Partnering with Nashville-based animatronics company Animax Designs, the team was tasked with a bold goal: engineer an animatronic eyeball that could move in every direction, feature a customizable iris, and wirelessly sense its orientation.
Unlike most animatronic eyes, which move only on an X/Y axis, this one had to roll fully backward, change direction seamlessly, and mimic organic motion in all dimensions. It was a passion project for Animax and an engineering crucible for the team.
“The first version was literally a basketball with hot-glued dowels,” said Jackson. “It was scrappy, but it helped us visualize the mechanics.”
Over several major design-build-test iterations, the group progressed from foam-core frames to fully 3D-printed housings with precision electronics. Along the way, they installed omni-directional wheels, designed a custom internal sensor system, and painted their final eye by hand. “It took hours of coding, wiring, and problem-solving,” said Kaylee. “But seeing it rotate smoothly for the first time, that was the moment it all came together.”
Though all four students were mechanical engineers, the project required them to cross into unfamiliar territory. Ari led much of the electrical integration, while Jackson took on the coding, spending more than 30 hours learning to transmit data wirelessly from the sensor inside the eyeball. Henry took charge of CAD modeling and structural design, while Kaylee juggled fabrication, coordination, and planning. “It was one of the few projects where we had to build everything ourselves,” said Henry. “We weren’t just modifying an existing design. We were figuring out how to make it from scratch.”
Much of the project came to life in the mechanical makerspace at the Wond’ry, Vanderbilt’s Innovation Center. The team found space to prototype, access to tools and materials, and support from Garrett, the Makerspace Manager at the Wond’ry, as well as the Wond’ry maker techs, whose guidance proved instrumental in navigating fabrication challenges. “This space was essential,” said Ari. “We were here more than in our dorms.”
The team tested expanding foam for the eye structure, experimented with roller bearings for smoother movement, and refined their internal compartment to house a delicate accelerometer, choosing ingenuity over pre-fab solutions at every turn.
Looking back, the group agrees: success wasn’t about getting it right the first time. It was really about adapting, asking questions, and embracing failure. “Be open to learning,” said Jackson. “You're not supposed to know everything going in. That’s kind of the point.”