Trashcan Monster, Part 2

Moving to 1/2" tubing and fittings definitely sped up the prop.  I think as a general rule of thumb you should go up a size or two on the fittings and tubing.  Even though the cylinder, valve and accumulator all have 1/4" NPT connections, look at the difference between these two fittings:

Trashcan Monster, Part 1

For Halloween 2016 I'm going to try to build a "trashcan monster" shock prop, using a metal trash can from Home Depot.

After getting tired of hooking up a laptop to my Jack in the Box prop to tweak settings, I decided to see what I could do with a small backlit 16x2 display and a pushbutton menu design.  Anything that needs to be adjustable could be done through this interface, simplifying things.

Big Blue Clear-Com Call Light

Rather than flashing every time a station presses their CALL button, this light only comes on when a CALL button has been pressed four times quickly. It starts out solid, then after a while starts blinking.

Perfect for getting a specific person's attention and ONLY when you need that specific person. I use this for the conductor in the orchestra pit. They just can't see the little call light on their intercom station.

This project uses a couple of modules and minimal soldering.

Wired remote volume control for ClearOne Gentner AP800 matrix mixer

How to use the Arduino microcontroller to remotely control this matrix mixer.

Pneumatic Jack in the Box, Part 3

To support the mask I built a frame out of perforated metal tape. I basically fit each piece into the mask from the inside, then attached the pieces together with small nuts and bolts. The frame was then screwed into a stand made of three pieces of 1x2 wood left over from the torsion box coffin lid project.

Pneumatic Jack in the Box, Part 2

Make sure you view all the videos posted in Part 1 before continuing.

The ELK-120 sound board can pull up to 2A@12VDC and the mouth servo may require more current @5VDC than the Arduino's voltage regulator can support, so I went with a dual-output power supply that provides 12VDC and 5VDC outputs.

However, the Arduino and the DF Robot Relay boards all need 9VDC.

Pneumatic Jack in the Box, Part 1

This year's new prop is a large Jack in the Box - a two foot cube, powered by the Arduino microcontroller. It will have an Insteon InlineLinc relay module inside so that the prop can be controlled with a hand-held remote or an Insteon motion sensor. When the Arduino sees that the InlineLinc has been activated, it will execute the following sequence of actions:

1. Turn on a spotlight aimed at the prop so people pay attention to it
2. Spin crank handle (powered by motor) while playing a sound effect
3. Open the top lid
4. Pop up a large scary clown head
5. Play a sound effect while moving the clown's lips with a servo
6. Lower the head
7. Close the lid
8. Turn off the light