This is for group 18+.

Are you old enough to remember Teddy Ruxpin? If not, here is your lesson in cool 1980's toys. The Teddy Ruxpin was an animated bear toy from a cartoon. The casette tape had tones recorded on one of the stereo tracks. The other track would be a story. The tones would cause Teddy Ruxpin's mouth to open and close. His eyes followed the same mechanism.

Well, for the 80's, it was a cool toy. I stumbled across a broken one off eBay. I paid $40 for it.

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-1Igr-kq8U&feature=player_embedded

I removed its internals and replaced them with my own. Other then having to use a dremel, it wasn't very difficult. If you want to follow in my footsteps, then I suggest watching the video first. The video will give you a summary of the procedure. You'll have to be a little creative on your own because the servos and peices you have might be different then mine.

I build my robots with spare parts and junk that I have lying around. Everytime I build a new robot, I keep the old parts in a container for future robots. :) Robot Recycling!

Here are the peices I used...
1 x Teddy Ruxpin Doll (ebay)
1 x EZ-B Bluetooth Robot Controller: http://www.ez-robot.com
2 x Standard Servos for arms: http://www.hvwtech.com/products_view.asp?ProductID=878
1 x Standard Servo for neck: http://www.hvwtech.com/products_view.asp?ProductID=878
1 x Standard Servo for mouth: http://www.hvwtech.com/products_view.asp?ProductID=878
1 x Mini standard servo for eyes: http://www.hvwtech.com/products_view.asp?ProductID=878

The software I used to control the robot is EZ-Builder: http://www.ez-robot.com/EZ-Builder
I am using the beta version of EZ-Builder which uses the EZ-SDK's Voice Recognition and Voice Synthesis. I used it on one of my other robots here: http://www.ez-robot.com/Projects/Robots

Here are the tools I used:
Hot Gluegun
Scew drivers
Dremel
Zip Ties
Plyers

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-1Igr-kq8U&feature=player_embedded

Do not limit yourself to the steps in this instructable. Be sure to check out my other instructables for neat ideas to add to your robot. If you are using the EZ-Builder software, then there is also camera recognition you can add. I demo the camera recognition on another of my robots here: http://www.ez-robot.com/Projects/Robots

Step 1: Take Teddy Apart

You'll need to take teddy apart. I know he's cute, but don't feel bad. You will need to dive into his internals and make him even better.

The head seperates from the body easily. You will need to cut the material around his neck first.

Step 2: Take the Fur Off His Head

Take the fur off his head by lightly pulling the glue free. The glue is nearly 30 years old, so it isn't a problem :)

There are a few screws, take them out.

Step 3: Seperate Head

Lightly pull apart the head, as seen in the picture. The gears will fall out. If your teddy ruxpin works, you might want to use the existing mechanism. Just remember, it won't give you much control of facial expressions. So I suggest adding servos like I had done.

Step 4: Facial Expression Mechanism

This is the biggest challenge. You'll need to figure out how to fit servos and hook them up to the existing mechanism.

If you watched the video, you will see my arrangement in action. This picture shows how i did it.

The Hot Glue Gun is your friend on this step. You'll need to secure the servos, so a hot glue gun works well. Use lots of glue! The more you use, the better the fitting.

Step 5: Neck Servo

This is an easy step. You will need to fit a servo for the head. Great! It means using the dremel :)

Be careful, plastic bits fly everywhere. I use a cutting bit and a high speed. The plastic flies, so wear eye glasses.

Step 6: Assemble Head

Put your head back together and mount it to the body

Step 7: Remove Old Casette Player

You are going to be fitting a new circuit board internally. So you sure don't need that old tape player anymore. A few screws, and its out.

You'll need the room for batteries and maybe more servos. If you plan on adding arm servos, then you will really need the room!

In this picture, you can see how I fitted arm servos. I glued them to the side of the case. I added long dowels that reach into the arms. The servos move up and down, so do the arms.

Step 8: Reassemble

Putting Teddy Ruxpin back together is pretty easy. Just wrap the fur and glue it back together.

Because I chose to use my EZ-B Project, I also used my EZ-Builder software. You can use any microcontroller, but I definetly suggest the EZ-B project, because it is by far the most versatile and easiest. Get it and the software at http://www.ez-robot.com