The eyes
6 motors control Mia's eyes. She can look left, right, up, down. Her eyes follow the faces she detects — when you move, her gaze follows you.
Expressions
28 motors for a smile — a replicant's face must animate like a human face.
28 servo motors animate Mia's face to reproduce natural human expressions.
Mia's face — 28 motors
● Eyes: 6
● Eyelids: 2
● Eyebrows: 4
● Smile: 6
● Lips: 3
● Jaw: 1
● Neck: 3
● Tongue: 3
Each motor pulls on a precise point of the skin to create the expression
The eyelids
2 motors control Mia's eyelids — one per eye. They can close slowly, blink, or open wide. Blinking brings the gaze to life and reinforces the impression of presence.
The eyebrows
4 motors control Mia's eyebrows — 2 per side. They can raise, furrow, arch independently. Eyebrows are essential to expression: surprise, anger, questioning are read there first.
The smile
6 motors dedicated to the smile, placed above the lips and at the corners of the mouth. They pull the skin upward to create the smile — from a subtle micro-smile to a full grin.
The mouth
3 motors animate the lips and 1 motor controls the jaw. Mia can express surprise, open her mouth, pout. Each motor pulls on a precise point of the latex skin.
The neck
3 motors allow Mia to turn her head, tilt it sideways, look up or down. These movements are essential — a face without head movement looks frozen.
The tongue
3 motors move Mia's tongue. It's not just aesthetic — the tongue participates in expressions (sticking out tongue, pouting) and prepares for future speech capability.
The latex skin
It's the skin that transforms mechanical movements into visible expressions. Thinner on the lips for mobility, thicker on the forehead for hold. The latex is hand-painted for a realistic look.
Natural expressions
The goal isn't to perfectly copy a human face, but to produce expressions that feel alive. A slight eye movement, a micro-smile — it's these details that create the impression of presence.
Simulateur d'expressions
Déplacez les curseurs pour animer le visage de Mia
28head servos
6eye servos
2eyelid servos
4eyebrow servos
6smile servos
3+1lips/jaw servos
3neck servos
3tongue servos
Servo mapping
Eyes — 6 servos
- 2 horizontal servos (left/right pan)
- 2 vertical servos (up/down tilt)
- 2 eyelid servos
Eyelids — 2 servos
- 1 servo per eyelid
- Open, close, blink
Eyebrows — 4 servos
- 2 servos per eyebrow
- Independent left/right movement
- Raise, furrow, arch
Smile — 6 servos
- Above the lips
- At the mouth corners
- Upward pull on latex skin
Lips — 3 servos
- Multi-directional pull
- Smile, pout, surprise
- Control via latex skin
Jaw — 1 servo
- Open / close
- Base for mouth expressions
Neck — 3 servos
- Yaw (left/right rotation)
- Pitch (forward/backward tilt)
- Roll (lateral tilt)
Tongue — 3 servos
- Horizontal and vertical movement
- Participates in expressions (pout, sticking out tongue)
- Prepares for future speech capability
Command chain
Cognitive decisionThe brain decides on an expression to produce (e.g.: gaze toward detected face)
→
Motor interfaceAbstraction layer — translates intention into angular commands for each servo
→
MicrocontrollerReceives real-time commands via network, drives the servo motors
→
Servo motorsMechanical rotation -> pull on latex skin -> visible facial expression
Future
- Principle — the robot learns to control its own face through autonomous exploration
- Method — random movements + camera feedback to map its own morphology
- Result — expressions are not hand-coded, they are discovered by the system
- Mia application — target a desired expression and automatically compute the corresponding servo commands