I connected the Garth and Olivia puppets to the servo motors and used the “servo sweep” code to animate them. I decided to use dowels so I could achieve a wider range of vertical motion for the arm movements.

Animating the Olivia puppet
Animating the Garth puppet

Results

Using just three strings and one servo unit at a vertical tilt, I was pleased how animated the puppets became. The vertical tilt made both puppets raise and lower their arms and slightly twisted their whole body from left to right. For the Olivia puppet it made it float and feel very ethereal, while the Garth puppet’s movements look very weighted and purposeful, which was the goal I wanted to achieve within my initial concept design.