How to Build the Robotic Eyes Kit
Step-by-step photo guide to assembling the Greene Robotics animatronic Robotic Eyes Kit — an Arduino-powered DIY robotics project for beginners. No experience needed.
Introduction
Welcome to the official Greene Robotics tutorial for the Robotic Eyes Kit! This step-by-step guide walks you through assembling and bringing to life your own animatronic eyes — just like the ones in our product photos and videos.
This tutorial pairs with the Robotic Eyes Kit, available on our Etsy shop. Every part you need is included — servos, control board, 3D-printed pieces, and wiring — so you can focus on learning, building, and having fun.
Tip: All images can be clicked on to be enlarged, so that you can zoom in to get a closer look.
Note — two kit versions
This kit comes in two versions — Joystick-Controlled and Wirelessly-Controlled. Assembly is exactly the same for both, all the way through to “How to Operate,” where you’ll pick your kit and get the right instructions from there. Color doesn’t make a difference either — every color assembles identically.
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced maker, this project is approachable and easy to follow. By the end, you’ll have a fully functional pair of animatronic eyes ready to control. Let’s dive in!
Credit & inspiration
Before we begin, we want to give credit where it’s due. This project is inspired by an original design by James Bruton, a talented YouTuber with 1.38 million subscribers at the time of writing. Check out his channel at https://www.youtube.com/@jamesbruton. The project is based on his video, ‘How To Make Robots Move Smoothly | Arduino Tutorial.’ James released the CAD files and code under the MIT license, which permits use, modification, and distribution for commercial purposes, provided the original creator and license are acknowledged. While our project draws inspiration from his, we’ve significantly modified it to be more accessible to makers. Unlike James’s version, which uses various screw types and complex electronics, our kit uses a single M3 screw type and simplified circuitry, making it beginner-friendly and available as a complete kit. We extend a huge thank you to James Bruton for his inspiring open-source project and all the amazing content on his channel!
Our policy
Our number one goal is for you to finish this tutorial with a fully working robot. If any parts arrived damaged or broken, message us on Etsy and we’ll send replacements. However, once your build is fully functional, we’re no longer able to provide support for anything that happens after that point — including modifications, code changes, or anything else beyond the original kit.
Assemble the Eyes
Start with the eyes. Grab an eye and the black part with the numbers 3 and 4 on the back, shown below.
The two eyes are different — use the one that lines up with the two holes, as shown. Attach it to the mechanism with screws: the middle hole (circled green) takes a 16mm screw, the other hole (circled red) takes a 6mm screw.
It should look like the image below. Keep the screws snug but not overtight — too tight limits movement and makes the eyes harder to operate.
1× 16mm screw + 1× 6mm screw
Start two 12mm screws into the holes on the outside of the assembly, as shown. Don’t tighten them yet — just get them started.
2× 12mm screws
Get a pair of eyelids and lay them flat, like this.
Lift them into the position shown. The center holes line up with the screws you just started, so you can tighten those fully to hold the eyelids in place.
Once tightened, the screws hold the eyelids in place while still letting them move freely.
Connect the push rods to the eyelids with two 6mm screws, as shown. Keep them snug but not too tight.
2× 6mm screws
Nice work — that’s one finished eye! Now build the second one (unless you’re going for a cyclops). The steps are identical, just mirrored, so reference the first eye as you go.
Assemble the Neck
With both eyes done, it’s time to attach them to the neck — the part that moves up, down, left, and right. Grab the piece shown below.
Flip the eyes upside down and arrange them exactly as shown, with the eyelid push rods facing outward.
Once in place, use four 12mm screws to tightly secure the eye mechanism to the neck base.
4× 12mm screws
Place the assembly as shown. The motors should read 1 to 4, left to right — if the leftmost motor is 3, swap the eyes’ positions. Match the image exactly, with the eyelid push rods on the outside.
Next, connect the eye assembly to the part that moves it in all directions. Gather the parts shown below.
Set the black joint into the base as shown. Then take the smaller of the two black pins and push it all the way through the hole to secure the joint.
Secure it with a 6mm screw on the other side.
1× 6mm screw
Assembled, it should look like the image below, and the black joint should rotate easily.
Get the two black rods — these push the eyes up and down for neck movement. Attach them to the servo motors by aligning the hole on each rod with the hole on the motor.
Secure them with two 10mm screws — snug, but not too tight.
2× 10mm screws
Now attach the assembled eyes: align the hole on the bottom of the eye base with the black neck joint you installed earlier.
Connect the joint with the long pin, sliding it all the way through.
Secure the pin with a 6mm screw so it can’t fall out, as shown.
1× 6mm screw
Now connect the up-and-down rods to the eyes themselves.
Use two 6mm screws, tightened to a snug fit, as shown.
2× 6mm screws
Great work — the eyes and neck are fully assembled. Next, connect it all to the base.
Assemble the Base
Get the big base and the four adhesive rubber pads.
Note — don’t remove the case
Do not take off the black protective case over the circuit board. It’s there to protect the board, and if you take it off, we won’t be able to offer support. Thank you!
Flip the base upside down. The four indented circles are where the rubber pads go — they keep the robot from sliding around on a surface.
Stick the pads into the circles, as shown.
Flip the base back over and find the square pin. Align it as shown, with its screw hole facing the hole in the base so you can screw it down.
Once it’s in place, secure it with a 6mm screw.
1× 6mm screw
Tighten it all the way. This pin is what the rest of the eye assembly connects to.
Line up the square hole on the eye assembly with the pin you just secured.
Slide it onto the pin and lock them together with another 6mm screw. Everything is now securely connected.
1× 6mm screw
Good work — all the mechanical parts are now assembled and connected. The last step is wiring everything up so the components can talk to each other and bring your robot to life.
Wire it up
Time to wire it up. The wiring is designed to be simple, but pay close attention here — misplaced wires can damage your robot. Don’t let that scare you; follow the directions exactly and it’ll work perfectly. Start by facing the back of your robot.
Note — two kit versions
The wiring steps in this section are the same whether you have the Joystick-Controlled Kit or the Wirelessly-Controlled Kit, right up through connecting the servos to the board. If you have the wireless board, it will look slightly different from the one pictured, with an extra set of pins — just ignore those, they aren’t used here. Your wireless kit also doesn’t include physical joysticks, so if that’s your kit, you can skip the joystick-wiring steps further down; your robot is controlled from your phone instead, covered in the “How to Operate” section.
This is the circuit board — where all the electrical signals connect and “talk” to each other. Under the black case is an Arduino Nano, a tiny programmable computer that makes the components work together.
Start by connecting the servos to the pins in the middle of the board. Each set of three pins is labeled 1–6, matching the number sticker on each motor — so plug motor 1 into pins 1, motor 2 into pins 2, and so on.
IMPORTANT — READ THIS: Wire color orientation matters most. Every servo has the same three-pin connector with three colored wires. The yellow wire must face toward the robot (toward the “Yellow wires this side” label). Every wire must follow this orientation, or it won’t work and could damage the motors.
Below is what the motor wires look like — three color-coded wires, as mentioned. Remember, the yellow wire faces TOWARD the “Yellow wires this side” label.
Start plugging each motor’s wire into its spot, like the example below: yellow facing toward the robot, brown facing away. This is the most important step — every wire must follow this color orientation, or you risk damaging the robot.
Now wire every motor to the board. The motors and pins are both labeled, so plug motor 1 into pins 1, and repeat for the rest. Each must go into its matching pin, or it won’t work as intended.
Once they’re all plugged in, it should look like this — every yellow wire facing the robot (the “Yellow wires this side” label) and every brown wire facing away. Double-check that color orientation, then confirm each wire is in its matching pin (1 to 1, 2 to 2, etc.). If everything checks out, nice work — the servos are wired.
Note — wireless kit
If you have the Wirelessly-Controlled Kit, you can skip ahead — your kit doesn’t have physical joysticks to wire up. Jump straight to the “How to Operate” section.
If you’re confident everything is wired into the correct spots, now’s a good time to zip-tie the wires for a cleaner build. Snug is enough — don’t overtighten — and go slow when trimming the excess so you don’t accidentally nick a wire.
Now for the joysticks, which let you control the robot.
Each side of the joystick connector’s pins is labeled 7 or 8 — that’s how you’ll connect the wires.
Grab the two long wires that connect the joysticks to the board. Orient the sticker side as shown. Each wire is labeled 7 and 8 to match the joystick board — just line up 7 to 7 and 8 to 8.
Connect the wires to the joystick by matching the numbers, as shown.
Now plug the other end into the circuit board. It has its own labeled sticker — match 7 to 7 and 8 to 8, with the sticker facing you, exactly like the image below.
Repeat with the other wire. The order doesn’t matter — as long as 7 matches 7 and 8 matches 8, it works. Once the last wire is in, it should look like the image below.
Double-check everything, and if it’s all correct — congratulations, the wiring is done!
Unpack the two 9V batteries and put them in their slots, as shown.
Use the five provided zip ties to tidy the wires and finish the build — I’d use two for the servos and 9V connector, and three for the joysticks. Place them however you like, but be careful trimming the excess so you don’t cut a wire.
Guess what? You just built a really cool robot! Finishing a project and seeing it work is a genuinely great feeling — and it’s what robotics is all about. Stick around for the last section to learn how to control it.
How to Operate
Now that your robot is fully built, it’s time to bring it to life! Below you’ll find instructions on how to power it on, operate it, and keep it running smoothly, along with some helpful tips.
Quick question
Which kit do you have?
Your Robotic Eyes kit came with either two physical joysticks or a wireless WiFi control board. Pick yours below and we’ll show you the right instructions.
Joystick-Controlled Kit
Powering On the Robot: Start by plugging BOTH 9-volt battery connectors into the batteries. Using both batteries is important—if only one is connected, the robot will be underpowered, which can cause poor performance or unexpected shutdowns. Once both batteries are connected, the robot will be ready to use.
Operating the Robot: You will use the two joysticks to control the robot. Joystick 1 controls the neck movement, allowing it to move up, down, left, and right. Joystick 2 controls the eyes, including blinking and eye movement. Take your time and experiment with the controls to get a feel for how the robot responds.
Operation Notes: The robot is designed to be operated in a calm, controlled manner. Rapid or aggressive inputs can cause it to draw too much power too quickly, which may result in a temporary shutdown. If this happens, simply wait a few seconds and the robot will power back on. This behavior can also occur when the batteries are starting to run low.
Screws & Maintenance: With anything that moves, screws can occasionally loosen over time. If you notice any parts feeling loose, just tighten the screws back down snugly. The most common screws to loosen are the two 16 mm screws that hold the eyes in place, due to frequent movement.
Battery Information: The two included 9-volt batteries will last a while, but they will eventually need to be replaced. You’ll know the batteries are running low if the robot starts moving more slowly or randomly shuts off. When this happens, replace them with two standard 9-volt batteries. We recommend the Amazon Basics 9-volt batteries that came with the kit.
You Did It! Guess what? You just finished building a really cool robot! Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, completing a project and seeing it actually work is an incredibly rewarding experience. This feeling—turning an idea into something real—is what robotics is all about, and it’s a feeling many people end up chasing once they discover a passion for it. Enjoy your robot, and have fun exploring what it can do!
Wirelessly-Controlled Kit
Powering On the Robot: Start by plugging BOTH 9-volt battery connectors into the batteries. Using both batteries is important—if only one is connected, the robot will be underpowered, which can cause poor performance or unexpected shutdowns. Once both batteries are connected, the robot’s WiFi will switch on and it will be ready to use.
Connecting to Your Robot: Once everything is wired up, your board should look like the picture below.
To control your robot, you’ll need a device with WiFi capabilities — most likely whatever you’re reading this tutorial on right now, like your phone, tablet, or computer.
Open your device’s Settings app. This tutorial uses an iPhone for the screenshots, but Android and Samsung devices work exactly the same way — just look for the Wi-Fi setting instead. From Settings, navigate to Wi-Fi.
You should see a network called “RobotEyes” in the list. If this is your first time connecting, it will likely be listed under “Other Networks.” Tap on it and wait a moment for a control screen to pop up.
If you’ve connected to “RobotEyes” before, that pop-up screen won’t appear automatically. In that case, just open a web browser and type 192.168.4.1 into the address bar.
Once you see the control page below, you did it — you’re connected! The controls are pretty intuitive, but if you ever need a refresher, tap the “Tutorial” button at the top of the page for a full explanation of every control.
Operating the Robot: The control page has two tabs. The Pose Page gives you a slider for each motor, so you can pose the robot exactly how you want and save named positions to recall later with one tap (a built-in “Center” pose resets everything to neutral). The Live Page gives you a slider to move the eyes side to side, an on-screen joystick to aim the neck, and a Blink button, all in real time. Tap “Tutorial” at the top of the page any time for a refresher on the controls.
Operation Notes: The robot is designed to be operated in a calm, controlled manner. Rapid or aggressive inputs can cause it to draw too much power too quickly, which may result in a temporary shutdown. If this happens, simply wait a few seconds and the robot will power back on. This behavior can also occur when the batteries are starting to run low. When you’re finished, disconnect from the “RobotEyes” network to get your phone’s normal internet access back, and unplug the batteries to save power.
Screws & Maintenance: With anything that moves, screws can occasionally loosen over time. If you notice any parts feeling loose, just tighten the screws back down snugly. The most common screws to loosen are the two 16 mm screws that hold the eyes in place, due to frequent movement.
Battery Information: The two included 9-volt batteries will last a while, but they will eventually need to be replaced. You’ll know the batteries are running low if the robot starts moving more slowly, disconnects from WiFi, or randomly shuts off. When this happens, replace them with two standard 9-volt batteries. We recommend the Amazon Basics 9-volt batteries that came with the kit.
You Did It! Guess what? You just finished building a really cool robot! Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, completing a project and seeing it actually work is an incredibly rewarding experience. This feeling—turning an idea into something real—is what robotics is all about, and it’s a feeling many people end up chasing once they discover a passion for it. Enjoy your robot, and have fun exploring what it can do!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use it from another device?
Yes, but it must be connected to the “RobotEyes” WiFi network before you can control it. Only one device can be connected at a time.
Can I use it in another browser?
Yes — just make sure you’re connected to the “RobotEyes” WiFi network, then open your preferred browser and type 192.168.4.1 into the address bar.
Can I access the internet while connected?
Simple answer: no. However, if you’re on a mobile device with cellular data, you can keep using cellular data as normal — the robot doesn’t provide internet access, and it doesn’t even connect to your home network.
Can I reprogram it or modify the kit?
Our policy is that we want you to get the original kit fully working first. After that, we can’t tell you what to do — you’re curious and want to play around, and that’s exactly why you’re here! But once a kit has been modified in any way, we’re no longer able to provide support, help fix it, or send replacement parts. Thank you!
Troubleshooting
Running into an issue? We’ve put together a full troubleshooting guide covering wiring problems, power issues, loose screws, and what to do if a part arrived damaged.
View the troubleshooting guideBonus Content
The official tutorial is officially over… so why are you still here? It’s because you’re one of the curious ones. You didn’t just want to build the robot—you want to understand how it works. And honestly, that curiosity is one of the most important skills in engineering and robotics.
Below is the exact code that comes pre-programmed onto your kit’s board. If you’re a beginner and want to learn more about coding and engineering, one great way to do that is to copy this code and paste it into an AI, then have it explain what each part does. It might feel like cheating at first, but in reality, this is how many real programmers learn and improve.
So go ahead—dig in, explore the code, and see what makes your robot come to life!