Thread: Motion activated sound in coffin

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Hi All,

New to this forum and looking for some suggestions. I built my first Halloween prop, a Toe Pincher coffin and need some help with motion activated sound. I am using an outdoor motion light to provide power to a red flood lamp, wiper motor (for lid action) and to a sound device (?). I will have a fog machine inside that will have continuous power to it.

Here is my problem. I thought I could just use a CD player inside for the sound, but found that the play button needed to be pressed each time power was supplied to the CD player. As that would not work, I was thinking of putting powered speakers in the coffin and attaching a MP3 player. I would have the MP3 player play a loop of evil sounds, but the speakers would only come on when the motion sensor was activated. Seems like this should work, but wanted to know if anyone had any better ideas. I am trying to stay low budget, so please keep that in mind.

Thanks for your help!!!

That's a good low-cost solution. If you need a specific type of sound, not just a loop, you can use one of these:
http://www.electronics123.com/s.nl;j...8?it=A&id=2841
You'll need to attach a speaker jack - the little speaker that comes with the module sounds crappy. Wire a 110 volt relay in series with your floodlight and trigger the module with the Common and Normally Open terminals.
Good-looking coffin, BTW.

I can't help with motion activated sound issue, but that is a great looking toe pincher you've built.....nicely done there matey....!!!!

Alot of people just leave the cd player on and use some powered computer speakers and turn them on and off. This works will if you're sound is screams, creaks or some other creepy noise. It does not work will with dialog as you can't turn it on or off in the right spot.

Thanks for the comments. The coffin has changed a little. I found that the fog and light was not coming through very well so I used a jigsaw and a Dremel to make cracks in the lid and sides. I'll try to post more pictures when done.

Keep the suggestion coming!!

I pretty much did what Otaku*suggested only I used a cheap $10 MP3 player and ran wires from common to the normally closed contacts on a 12V relay and the normally open contacts for the play button. That way every time the motion sensor is activated the "play" is pressed and when the power turns off the "stop" is pressed to make sure the track goes back to the beginning and is ready to play again. Looping the sound on an MP3 player of course is the easiest way, but I didn't like how it would kick in in the middle of the track . I also just used an old guitar amp that I had laying around plugged into the outlet I wired to the motion sensor. Good luck hope you find the right effect. That is a really cool coffin BTW!

All,

Thanks again for the comments. My Toe Pincher MIB is pretty much done. I do need some suggests on one last thing. For the motion of the lid, I am using a piece of PVC connected to a wiper motor. The action works fine, but it is a little rough when the PVC comes in contact with the lid. I'm looking for something to put on the PVC to make it smoother when it rubs against the lid.

Thanks!!

Just put a PVC cap on the end of the pipe and see how well that works. If it is still a little rough you can put a piece of plastic or tin on the inside of the top of the lid to reduce the friction.

Originally Posted by kimcfadd

All,I'm looking for something to put on the PVC to make it smoother when it rubs against the lid.

I had run into a similar problem. I solved it by taking 2 L brackets and a bolt to connect the PVC pipe to the coffin lid at all times. This allowed the pvc pipe to rock back and forth as the motor reached the bottom of its rotation.

Dminor,

Do you happen to have a picture of your setup?