Dinosaur Robot, Dilophosaurus

Daniel J. Triplett, PE
583 South 225 East
Providence, UT 84332
(435) 787-2833 Home
(435) 764-2136 Mobile
djtriplett@comcast.net
Danieltriplett.com
Jurassic Park, The Ride Dinosaurs – Psittacosaurus
Dilophosaurus was a theropod dinosaur from the
Early Jurassic Period. The name (pronounced
/daɪˌlɒfəˈsɔrəs/ ("dy-LOH-fo-sawr-us") means 'twocrested lizard', because the animal had two crests
(Greek di meaning 'two', lophos meaning 'crest' and
sauros meaning 'lizard'). The first specimens were
described in 1954, but it was not until over a
decade later that the genus received its current
name. Dilophosaurus is one of the earliest known
Jurassic theropods, but also one of the least
understood…Dilophosaurus was prominently featured both in the 1993 movie Jurassic Park and in the
original novel by Michael Crichton. In the film version, Dilophosaurus has a retractable neck frill around its
neck (much like a frill-necked lizard), and spits blinding poison, aiming for the eyes to blind and paralyze
its prey. There is no evidence to support either the frill or the venom spitting, which was acknowledged by
Crichton as creative license. In the film, Steven Spielberg also reduced the size of Dilophosaurus to 3 feet
(0.91 m) tall and 5 feet (1.5 m) long, much smaller than it was in reality. Jurassic Park merchandise,
including toys and video games (such as Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis and the arcade games The Lost
World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III), often include Dilophosaurus. 1
This figure was a head and neck only. As shown
in the pictures, the illusion was that of a dinosaur
sitting between the seats of a wayward ride boat,
feasting on the unfortunate passengers. In the
grand scheme of the project, this was a complex
figure with a large number of degrees of
freedom. These included:
Motion Base Degrees of Freedom:
1. Side to Side
2. Body Rotate
Hydraulic Degrees of Freedom:
1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilophosaurus
Daniel J. Triplett, PE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Neck Forebend
Neck Side/Side
Head Up/Down
Head Side/Side
Head Tilt
Mouth Open/Close
Pneumatic Degrees of Freedom:
1. Eye Blink
The original scene called for the figure to be placed between two
boat seats. Because the motion base included rotation, software
and mechanical locks were required to prevent the torso
forebend from creating a collision between the figure and boat
seats. Because the scene called for the figure to be closely
bounded by seats, the visual part of the figure was assumed to
extend to just above the shoulders. The completed attraction
pictures in this note were taken in the summer of 2008 and show that the surrounding seats have been
removed, showing much more of the figure than originally expected.
The second photo shows the completed mechanical structure in process of plumbing and wiring. One
surprising fact about the build process for this figure was that from the time that the last part cleared
incoming inspection to the time that it was on the truck, complete, tested and skinned was a total of ten
days. With few exceptions, everything fit and worked just as it was designed; a rarity in the world of
custom, one off, builds.
The third photo shows the figure installed in the bunker awaiting the scenery. The final two pictures show
the figures as they were in the summer of 2008.
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