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291 Posts
Starting the plans for my next project! I probably won't get this one done lol or even started before Halloween this year. I got the idea from another member earlier in the year.
http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/173041-sitting-scarecrow-spirit-make-your-own.htm
I got this scarecrow last year and it was my favorite prop. So many kids flung hand fulls of candy across my garage when he went off and I loved every second of it!!!
I'm not quite ready to dive into pneumatics just yet so I'm going all electric for this build. My plan so far is to build a two spine PVC body similiar to this one but making the neck the same as a cauldron creep. As in that the neck will be a 4 way cross with the shoulder connections drilled out into a slip fitting with a single pipe connecting the shoulder joints.
http://www.spiderhillpropworks.com/Twin-Spine-Body-Hardware-Kit_p_21.html
A wiper motor will be connected to one of the spines of the frame with a two part linkage controlling the up and down movement of the neck.
Here's where my plans get a little fuzzy. I'm thinking about controlling it one of 2 ways. 1 with a picovolt or 2 with a picoboo.
With the picovolt I can use the wheel to make the motor move to the top position making the head look up and stopping it. I could then use the direction controller to make the head nod up and down like he's laughing. The only problem with this is that I still need another controller for the sound and any lights I want to use.
Now please correct me if I'm wrong since the wiper is DC powered if I want the motor to change the direction of rotation all i need to do is switch the pos and neg wires? I was thinking that I could splice the motor into two of the relays with the pos and neg opposite of each other. If I'm correct to program it all I would need to do is activate the forward moving relay will the head is in the full up position and let go of the button. Then activate the rear moving relay moving it down and let up with the head in the full down position. This controller will also activate with sound and still have room for two more lights if need be.
If you have any ideas or suggestion please let me know.
Now that the project is basically done I got a few build updates.
I used an Octobanger for the controller. Here is the link to my build.
http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/179633-arduino-build-first-try.html
Here is how I used the Octobanger to make my motor park.
![Parking Wiper Motor.JPG]()
You can find a bit more info on this here.
http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/183473-how-park-motor-arduino.html
The programming was easy. When my scare track gets triggers relay #1 opens for .5 of a second to allow half of a rotation of my wiper motor. This makes the head go from looking down to looking up. I then let the head sit there for a moment while the zombies noises play. Then when the laughter starts I open relay #1 again letting it cycle till the laughter stops. This gives him a head bobbing motion so it looks as if he laughing. Lastly I open relay #2 for just a moment to allow the motor to park so hes looking back down again.
http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/173041-sitting-scarecrow-spirit-make-your-own.htm
I got this scarecrow last year and it was my favorite prop. So many kids flung hand fulls of candy across my garage when he went off and I loved every second of it!!!
I'm not quite ready to dive into pneumatics just yet so I'm going all electric for this build. My plan so far is to build a two spine PVC body similiar to this one but making the neck the same as a cauldron creep. As in that the neck will be a 4 way cross with the shoulder connections drilled out into a slip fitting with a single pipe connecting the shoulder joints.
http://www.spiderhillpropworks.com/Twin-Spine-Body-Hardware-Kit_p_21.html
A wiper motor will be connected to one of the spines of the frame with a two part linkage controlling the up and down movement of the neck.
Here's where my plans get a little fuzzy. I'm thinking about controlling it one of 2 ways. 1 with a picovolt or 2 with a picoboo.
With the picovolt I can use the wheel to make the motor move to the top position making the head look up and stopping it. I could then use the direction controller to make the head nod up and down like he's laughing. The only problem with this is that I still need another controller for the sound and any lights I want to use.
Now please correct me if I'm wrong since the wiper is DC powered if I want the motor to change the direction of rotation all i need to do is switch the pos and neg wires? I was thinking that I could splice the motor into two of the relays with the pos and neg opposite of each other. If I'm correct to program it all I would need to do is activate the forward moving relay will the head is in the full up position and let go of the button. Then activate the rear moving relay moving it down and let up with the head in the full down position. This controller will also activate with sound and still have room for two more lights if need be.
If you have any ideas or suggestion please let me know.
Now that the project is basically done I got a few build updates.
I used an Octobanger for the controller. Here is the link to my build.
http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/179633-arduino-build-first-try.html
Here is how I used the Octobanger to make my motor park.
You can find a bit more info on this here.
http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/183473-how-park-motor-arduino.html
The programming was easy. When my scare track gets triggers relay #1 opens for .5 of a second to allow half of a rotation of my wiper motor. This makes the head go from looking down to looking up. I then let the head sit there for a moment while the zombies noises play. Then when the laughter starts I open relay #1 again letting it cycle till the laughter stops. This gives him a head bobbing motion so it looks as if he laughing. Lastly I open relay #2 for just a moment to allow the motor to park so hes looking back down again.
