Another Animatronic Cannon!

[Honus1]

I was contacted by my friend Carl to build this for the Monsterpalooza Jamie Hall Predator tribute suit build. My job was to add movement to this beautiful prop replica. Once I received the necessary parts to build the mechanism and electronics I had four nights and one day to build the animatronic mechanism and electronic control system w/ sound effects. There is a single fingertip button that when pushed causes the cannon to move through a pre programmed routine. This is quite a bit different from my previous head tracking setup and it's arguably more screen accurate as the suit performer has to move his/her head in sync to the cannon movements- which is the same way it would be if someone off screen was pupeteering the cannon. There are two other buttons trigger Predator sounds.

Unfortunately it was damaged during shipping (broken linkage and cracked gear drive) so it was only partially functional for the suit up. Note to self- use metal gears next time- LOL! The linkage breaking was actually a good thing as if it hadn't broken the servo gears probably would have been damaged given the hit it took.

There will certainly be quite a few changes on future builds to make it more screen accurate. I would have liked to mold a cover for servo in the arm and added the arm side details but there just wasn't time.  On future builds I'll use a smaller digital servo in the arm so I can make the arm a bit smaller- this one is too wide and is about 1/8" too thick. I'll also use a more powerful digital servo to raise the arm mechanism so I can change the gear reduction ratio. That way I can use a larger stronger metal pinion gear and the arm will raise a bit faster.

Enjoy!

Video- Animatronic Predator cannon - YouTube

 

[seahunterr]

Amazing work Jerome, very professional and clean. Having this all self contained and operated by the wearer was a complex task, especially given the few days notice

 

[Honus1]

Thanks Gene! That's very kind of you to say. Can't wait to see pics from the show- wish I could have gone. I heard the suits were just beautiful. I know everyone really pushed themselves for this event- lots of late nights so have a cold one on me everyone!

On the next version I think I'm going to integrate the electronics quite a bit along with using digital servos and a LiPo battery pack. That will leave room for a larger speaker and amp and make my messy wiring a lot cleaner. I only had two speakers on hand and the the other one I had was just too darn big. I'll be curious to know if the med kit fits in there as it sits now.

 

[AlphaTech686]

Dude that is fantastic craftsmanship. Just plain beautiful. I'm not seeing how you get the side to side movement. Is there a servo in the cannon also?

 

[Honus1]

Dude that is fantastic craftsmanship. Just plain beautiful. I'm not seeing how you get the side to side movement. Is there a servo in the cannon also?

Yep- there is a servo inside the cannon.

 

[seahunterr]

The action on the cannon is very screen accurate, from the position at rest, to rotating up, side to side, up and down, etc, then back to resting position....all with light flash and synced cannon blast sounds!  I understand he's able to calibrate the movements with the head movement as well.  Jerome should be doing film animatronics, unless his day job is better?

 

[ThePriest]

can you make another one and how much ? really i want it !

 

[Honus1]

The action on the cannon is very screen accurate, from the position at rest, to rotating up, side to side, up and down, etc, then back to resting position....all with light flash and synced cannon blast sounds!  I understand he's able to calibrate the movements with the head movement as well.  Jerome should be doing film animatronics, unless his day job is better?

I can make the cannon do whatever people want. It can be pre progammed movement or head tracking like I did in this video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYScDwP3v8w. Both methods have their benefits and drawbacks.

I actually have a pretty cool day job as a jeweler. Been at the same shop for fifteen years. I get paid to play with fire and dangerous chemicals, plus I get to beat metal with a hammer!

Here is a rose Gold pendant I made for a customer- it has a 30 carat red Zircon surrounded by champagne and white Diamonds.

 

[Honus1]

can you make another one and how much ? really i want it !

Yes I can make another one- that is the plan. I don't yet know how many I'm going to offer or what pricing will be- I'm working on that now. I'm seriously thinking the next time I ship one it'll be in a large Pelican case- LOL!

 

[Honus1]

So I did all the calculations for parts, labor, shipping, etc. and the complete animatronic setup will cost $1600. Future versions will have LiPo batteries, high end digital servos, metal gears, machined Aluminum parts, sound effects board, speaker and amplifier, supplied cable and jack for helmet laser integration, fingertip control buttons w/ cable and cannon LED. Full assembly, programming (movements and sounds of your chioce) and shipping withing the continental U.S. will be included (I'll have to calculate overseas shipping)-  all you need to provide is Carl's backpack/cannon kit. This will be a complete assembled and tested turnkey solution- I will not be providing kits as it's just too complicated. I want to offer the highest quality, most accurate and durable rig possible and I just cannot do that with a kit.

Jerome

 

[Honus1]

So this is what the controller board looks like now. This will get a complete revamp and will be much more integrated.

 

[AlphaTech686]

Incredible!!

 

[Honus1]

So after thinking about it for a bit I think what I'm going to do is offer a custom control setup so each buyer can have the choice of what type of control input they want. I'll offer the choice of fingertip buttons or bend sensors as well as RFID. For RFID the tag reader will go in the palm and small RFID tags will go on each fingertip and different tags are sssigned different functions- this is how I did the control system for the animatronic Iron Man suit. I can even do a gauntlet button if people want that instead of having control through the gloves. I can even do wireless if people want but a wired setup is less expensive and more reliable.

 

[MEANGENE83]

Not ready now Honus. But when I am I will be sending a P2 cannon with Back pack. Thank you for putting up the price, I am sure it is more than fair considering the expertise and labor costs. 

 

[Honus1]

It's always a challenge for me to come up with what I consider to be fair and resonable pricing. To make the entire animatronic setup it's a minimum of 40 hours work for someone that has the tools and knows how to make it- it's just a boatload of work to make and there's no good way to mass produce the parts in this small quantity ( and mass production is one thing I know very well- LOL! ) Parts and materials alone are silly expensive but I really want to make a top notch rig that is a complete plug and play solution. I hate it when things break or don't work as advertised and what matters to me most is that I am able to meet everyone's expectations.

 

[Biggdaddy]

Honus what would I need for a P2 setup. Can you send me a list of what might be needed. My e-mail is bondwarren@att.net

 

[Lflank]

I actually have a pretty cool day job as a jeweler. Been at the same shop for fifteen years. I get paid to play with fire and dangerous chemicals, plus I get to beat metal with a hammer!

Sorry to go OT, but in my younger days I had a friend who was a professional blacksmith (making horseshoes), who got to play with fire and beat metal too.  (Me, I was utterly shocked to find that there still ARE professional blacksmiths.)

 

[Honus1]

Honus what would I need for a P2 setup. Can you send me a list of what might be needed. My e-mail is bondwarren@att.net

I haven't made a P2 cannon yet.

 

[Biggdaddy]

I just need to know what to purchase to get the cannon to move like yours with sound and lights. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Honus1]

I just need to know what to purchase to get the cannon to move like yours with sound and lights. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Again, I have not built a P2 cannon so I can't tell you what servos to purchase. The P2 mechanism is completely different.