Mechatronic

Character Model

Meet Wheatley, my final course project, a reverse engineered SOLIDWORKS model of the character of the same name from Valve’s Portal 2.*

Modeled with an emphasis on both visual accuracy and practicality, I incorporated not only several visual details from the game character, but also designed selected mechanisms to allow various movement. These mechanisms not only ground this model in practicality, but also allow Wheatley to come to life as a character, with distinct articulable expressions.

*This project was purely for educational purposes and does not represent or is associated with the property holder.

Designed Mechanisms

For this project, I designed and modeled a mechanical solution to a contracting and expanding iris motion, where a servo motor drives a central ring, which then pushes a stack of blades to the desired formation. This allows Wheatley to narrow his eye in focus or expand it in surprise!

Keyshot rendering of an internal view of the final product, showcasing a gimbal system used to push Wheatley’s face plates in 3 Degrees of Freedom. This system is viewable from the exterior of the in game model, thus it was selected for inclusion.

Wheatley’s eyelids are able to rotate such that they each cover one half of his eye “socket” and can completely retract into his shell without being visible. Both can move independently of one another, allowing for a variety of facial expressions. They rotate slightly off center of Wheatley’s central axis, allowing them motion without clipping his shell.