[Mike O'Connor]

This was my Halloween display for 2015. It's an Arduino-controlled, motion-sensor-triggered, choose-your-own pepper's ghost experience, with an automatic candy dispensing machine at the end.


Here's the scary version:

Here's the happy version:

Candy Machine:

Exterior:

Inner Workings:

You can see the arduino (and a mess of wires) but the candy machine only needs the arduino, the red arcade button, the servo, and some MDF.

The resistance created by the stack of Hershey bars was too much for a regular servo so I bought a Hitec HS-322HD.

To get the most out of it I powered it separately from the Arduino at 6V

The candy machine worked but I'd like to make it more robust. I had to limit the stack to ~10 candy bars to get dependable results. I'd like to make the weight of the stack a non-issue. Maybe a stepper motor w/ big gear teeth could separate/support the stack? Any ideas?

 

[BobbyA]

Very cool. What did you have running inside it to move the candy ? Can you put video of that on your youtube channel ?

 

[weeping angel]

THAT WAS FANTASTIC!!! I love how you filmed it. I felt like I was a kid again, going trick-or-treating. Thanks for the treat!!!

 

[J-Man]

Very cool! Nicely done.

 

[jmalt31]

Very cool nicely done!

 

[chaoscat]

Loved this. I've thought about building a candy dispensing machine for years, but never followed through with it. What were you projecting onto? The see through effect was great. Really enhanced the ghost. I projected the atmosfearfx witch scenes on a shower curtain this year. Was really cool, but also obvious what it was. The younger ones loved it. Where was the projector and what kind was it? (I'm trying to determine if lower lumen cheap projectors are useful or not)

 

[wackychimp]

Love it! Well done.

I'd be interested to know how the candy machine works too. I'm looking at adding one of these next year.

 

[Mr_Chicken]

Very cool!

 

[Mike O'Connor]

Thanks. The screen was the only semi-see-thru mesh I could find at the fabric store. I hot glued it to a pvc frame that pressure fit into the door frame. The projector was placed down a hallway off to the right (~10'). You can see how severe the angle was by how the image projects through the scrim and onto the wall to the left of the door. The projector had a keystone adjuster that was good enough to straighten it out. I borrowed the projector so i don't know what model it was (Epson).

 

[Mike O'Connor]

Love it! Well done.

I'd be interested to know how the candy machine works too. I'm looking at adding one of these next year.

I'll post how it works this weekend.

 

[ddcampbell]

Amazing work! Very clever.

I noticed there was a "wait" button. How did the device re-set itself? Was there a timer or motion sensor that indicated the stairway was occupied, thereby triggering the red "wait" light?

 

[Ghost of Spookie]

Love the candy dispenser! Nice that you designed it with a scary/friendly choice. Interested to hear how the candy is dispensed as well. So what kind of response did you get from the ToTers this year?

 

[JCO]

Very imaginative! Nice work!

 

[minksocks]

Mike o'conner i loved the videos. Will you be putting a tutorial on how to do this set up? I'd love to give the whole thing a go. Pleassssssse....... Well done.

 

[Mike O'Connor]

Amazing work! Very clever.

I noticed there was a "wait" button. How did the device re-set itself? Was there a timer or motion sensor that indicated the stairway was occupied, thereby triggering the red "wait" light?

Basically, yes. The Arduino code was a big switch case sequence. When you triggered the first (of 3) motion sensors, the video #1 would fire and the "wait" red light would turn on. Triggering the 3rd sensor would fire the "startle" video and activate the candy machine. This would loop until the 1st sensor was tripped again, the "we'll save a plot.." audio would fire and the whole thing would reset.

 

[Mike O'Connor]

Mike o'conner i loved the videos. Will you be putting a tutorial on how to do this set up? I'd love to give the whole thing a go. Pleassssssse....... Well done.

I edited the original post to include video and description of the inner workings of the candy machine.

 

[matrixmom]

Pretty original display! plus.....if you don't want to come out to hand out candy or you are tot yourself, it does it all! I'd be afraid someone might fall down the steps though if they jumped when the ghost screams. But thats the worry wort in me... Awesome idea and full size bars!!

 

[oaklawn Crematory]

WOWSER ! That was impressive !

 

[halloween71]

holy crap!!!Love it!!!

 

[jirpel]

This is excellent. Saw this a few days ago and got the wheels turning for next year. How did you setup the Arudino to play the movie file, I assume on the PC.