Patent ID: 7439699

Claim:
An animatronics system comprising: a memory storage device containing digital audio and animation data; a movable part; an audio output device; an electro-mechanical actuator adapted to move said movable part in response to the animation data; and a microcontroller electrically coupled to the memory storage device, wherein the microcontroller comprises an audio player and an animation player, said audio player is electrically coupled to the audio output device and adapted to process the audio data to result in production of sound through the audio output device, said animation player is electrically coupled to the electro-mechanical actuator and adapted to direct electrical signals to the electro-mechanical actuator in response to the animation data so as to cause movement of the movable part, wherein said movement is synchronized with the sound produced through the audio output device, wherein said audio player sends a current audio data position to the animation player at regular time intervals and if the animation player determines that the current audio data position is more than a predetermined number of frames off from a current animation data position, the animation player adjusts the current animation data position to correspond to the current audio data position.