[HomeyDaClown]

Nice vids.

Looks like the basic HalloweenBob setup with the HomeDepot L bracket idea that Captn Jack devised. Captn Jack used a 2 or 2½ inch hole saw in a drill press I believe to handle the neck opening, that is what I've been using all along. You have to flip the skull over and drill into the bottom.

I noticed the the servo plate servo cutouts goe to the outside edge. That's a good easy way to cut it out with a jigsaw and the material there doesn't really do anything anyway.

 

[Kammo]

Thank you, yeah its basic but works good.
I wish I had a drill press, that would make things MUCH easier.

 

[CaptnJackSparrow]

'ello 'mates! Aye, a terrific build ya did, Kammo! Try I did, ta see why yer nod linkage 'ad tha' play, bu' naught any movement.. Did ya set th' midpoint in the servo rotation before ya connected th' linkage? When I did th' servo testin', I made sure th' servo was at th' middle o' it's movement range, then connected th' arm so's tha' I 'ad th' same amount of fore-aft "rotation", an' concenquently, same amount o' 'ead nod..

Ya can use th' current amount o' nod fer a specific application tho if ya can't equal it out.. If ya put tha' particular 'ead on a pirate tha' needs ta look down more than 'nother, ya can use tha' "handicap" ta yer advantage, savvy?

Th' drill press I used was jus' a present from me favorite wench.. a $59 trinket from 'arbor Freight, bu' an' indispensible it is! Use th' Roto-zip-type o' bit an' ya can cut thru any material fer props.. Tried a 'ole saw on th' skull 'ole, bu' it kept meltin' th' plastic, even on slow speeds, so i switched ta th' Roto-bits.. worked after that..

Yer too kind fer th' kudos on me builds, bu', like you, I got nearly oll me ideas from others, as it were.. any changes I made ta th' builds were soley rum-induced hallucinations..

Notwithstandin', yer skulls make a fine 'ead fer any swab an' deck'and!!

Captn Jack

 

[Kammo]

Well thank you Captn, yes I did make sure the servo was set to middle before I attached it. I always plug my servos in to the airplane receiver before I install them for that reason (I saw your note about that)
I’m thinking the reason its not working right is because the servo arm is not long enough, It has a lot of space at the back before it gets anywhere close to the back of the skull. So I will try the longer servo arm first and if that don’t work I will call on you.
I might have to be getting me one of those drill presses from harbor freight here soon. Sounds like it would make my making much easier.

Your welcome on the kudos and I know it’s based off of others ideas also, but I used yours & Halloween Bob's design for mine for the most part so credit is due to you guys.

I don’t know if you remember talking to me about the usb to serial problem I had, but I did get another usb to serial cable and it don’t work either. Luckily I got a longer serial to serial cable and that works great. Kind of sucks though cuz I only have one laptop with a serial out, all my others are usb. So I can only use the one laptop for anything needing the SSC-32.
Any ideas please let me know.

Thanks guys

 

[CaptnJackSparrow]

Aye, did remember 'bout th' serial/USB thingy.. 'these days, computers bein' so cheap you could pick up an ol' Pentium 1 or 2 fer next ta nothing, 'ave 2-4 serial ports ta' run th' controllers..

I likes tha' bent linkage ya usin' fer.. looks like th' tilt servo.. wouldn't thot o' tha'.. an' solid brass rod be nigh likely ta bend/flex too much..

Aye, if ya adjust tha' nod link.. maybe swing th' servo arm forward a lil, make th' 'ead start up a lil 'igher, might naught tilt down so much.. I know th' biggest problem we oll 'ave buildin' these be th' pivot point too 'igh up inside th' 'ead, 'stead o' down at th' base o' th' skull like our own 'eads..

Good job tho.. 'know you'll find th' roight noddin' off point =)

 

[HomeyDaClown]

I don’t know if you remember talking to me about the usb to serial problem I had, but I did get another usb to serial cable and it don’t work either. Luckily I got a longer serial to serial cable and that works great. Kind of sucks though cuz I only have one laptop with a serial out, all my others are usb. So I can only use the one laptop for anything needing the SSC-32.
Any ideas please let me know.

Thanks guys

Kammo,

There are lots of those cables out there but the key is finding one that works and has decent drivers for virtual com (serial) ports.

Look for a serial to usb cable or adapter that has a FTDI FT232RL chip.

They work fine with VSA and the SSC-32, I'm using several right now and they work great. Make sure you get the latest drivers at the FTDIchip website: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ftdichip.com%2F&ei=9eCASujnFo-wtgfzjMTSCg&rct=j&q=ftdi&usg=AFQjCNGVhulwc59ZbdGlV9RLas0NEdNdxg


Captn,

I have the exact same drill press on my Haunt workbench, HF had em on sale for $39 and a whole set of hole saws for $3 so I just couldn't pass it up.

 

[Kammo]

Well thats true captn didnt think of that about the P1 or 2s, I got 3 of them in my storage. Didnt think I would use them for anything else ever again after getting the P4s.

I likes tha' bent linkage ya usin' fer.. looks like th' tilt servo.. wouldn't thot o' tha'.. an' solid brass rod be nigh likely ta bend/flex too much..

Not sure which linkage your speaking of???
I know what you mean about the pivot point being so high though, getting use to it though.


Im gonna check on the chip and drivers on this one Homey, thanks for bringing that to my attention. I have 4 P4 laptops all running 3 GHz so I would really like to use them for my controls, much easier to fit in my control rack.

Thank you guys very very much for your input!!!!!

 

[Kammo]

Make sure you get the latest drivers at the FTDIchip website: Redirect Notice

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Homey!!!!!! Got it working and even got the one that I thought was junk working as well, Just got the drivers and poof the usb com ports work... U ROCK!!!! Now I can use the usb cord on any of my laptops. WHOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[HomeyDaClown]

Well thats true captn didnt think of that about the P1 or 2s, I got 3 of them in my storage. Didnt think I would use them for anything else ever again after getting the P4s.

Not sure which linkage your speaking of???
I know what you mean about the pivot point being so high though, getting use to it though.


Im gonna check on the chip and drivers on this one Homey, thanks for bringing that to my attention. I have 4 P4 laptops all running 3 GHz so I would really like to use them for my controls, much easier to fit in my control rack.

Thank you guys very very much for your input!!!!!

I've got an ancient Toshiba laptop running Windows 98SE on the workbench to do testing with.....has a usb port and runs great with VSA. That's pretty much what FTDI is all about, they specialize in supporting USB on old hardware along with just about any microcontroller out there today.

 

[Dr Morbius]

I have the same situation, I have 2 older computers running Win'98SE and they work great with FTDI drivers. Of course the older PCs needed graphics AND audio drivers too, that was fun to hunt for but I DID eventually find them on the net. It's just too cool to find older PCS for next to nothing and turn them into kickass microcontrollers for servos, relays, DMX, they store any routines you need, AND they are a great sound source. I have about 10 older PCS all working all with VSA installed. I'm thinking of taking the boards out of the cases and mounting them to individual props, just the motherboard and hard drive. After installing a macro on each, they will start, boot OS, load VSA and routine and play with just turning on the power, no monitor or keyboard/mouse needed.

BTW, Nice to see you back, Capt!

 

[HomeyDaClown]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Homey!!!!!! Got it working and even got the one that I thought was junk working as well, Just got the drivers and poof the usb com ports work... U ROCK!!!! Now I can use the usb cord on any of my laptops. WHOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!

You are welcome... Just glad you got it going....drivers can be a real pain in the rear sometimes. I remember once (many years ago) that Bill Gates said everything would be PLUG AND PLAY..... Well it's still PLUG AND PRAY for a lot of devices. Never believe anyone that names an operating system Bob.

 

[scubadog]

Aye, did remember 'bout th' serial/USB thingy.. 'these days, computers bein' so cheap you could pick up an ol' Pentium 1 or 2 fer next ta nothing, 'ave 2-4 serial ports ta' run th' controllers..

I likes tha' bent linkage ya usin' fer.. looks like th' tilt servo.. wouldn't thot o' tha'.. an' solid brass rod be nigh likely ta bend/flex too much..

Aye, if ya adjust tha' nod link.. maybe swing th' servo arm forward a lil, make th' 'ead start up a lil 'igher, might naught tilt down so much.. I know th' biggest problem we oll 'ave buildin' these be th' pivot point too 'igh up inside th' 'ead, 'stead o' down at th' base o' th' skull like our own 'eads..

Good job tho.. 'know you'll find th' roight noddin' off point =)

I just bought this to run a second set up IBM Netvista Pentium 4 2.4GHz 512MB 80GB CD FDD XP PRO Operating System - Tower $83.99 heres a link to the site I bought it from GearXS can't buy XP for that.

 

[Dr Morbius]

I just bought this to run a second set up IBM Netvista Pentium 4 2.4GHz 512MB 80GB CD FDD XP PRO Operating System - Tower $83.99 heres a link to the site I bought it from GearXS can't buy XP for that.

You can't buy a controller for that that does as much. Great find on that website..Bookmarked!

I forgot to say before..Awesome job on that skull!

 

[Kammo]

Thank you Morbius!

 

[Kammo]

Hey Captn, I was wondering if there is a place that I could get some VSA routines for the 3 axis skull?
I need some welcome messages, and warnings and what nots. Even just vocals would be sweet....

 

[goin2silent]

Kammo
Just FYI, we have always had problem with usb to serial. I use a keyspan (USA-19HS) adapter. It has always worked for me for diffrent types of programming. It simulates a com port so the software you are using thinks its using pne of the computers com port.

I too would like to get some simple VSA test programs. It would be much easier to learn the software if you can see an example.

 

[HalloweenBob]

Looks like your doing good work.

Thanks for all the props in the Videos.