Honus
Sr Member
I just started working on this project this weekend. I always try to push myself to do something different every year for Halloween so given the complexity of this project I figured I'd better start a little early this year. What started this is that I won a MAKE microcontroller in a Halloween contest last year ( I made a Boba Fett costume out of cardboard)-
http://www.instructables.com/id/EYA7U14EM9ETVPKGR4/
I had a bunch of old servos so I figured what the heck why not.......
Here's what I'm going for
It will be intended as a Halloween costume so I'm not too worried about screen accuracy- however I do want it to still look presentable. My budget is spend as little as possible as per usual. The costume will be made mostly from blue foam and cardboard too keep the weight and cost down.
I built this test rig for the head just to make sure the servos would be strong enough to move everything. I tested it with my regular radio and so far so good. The motions for the head are up/down, tilt right/left, swing right/left, have the "fans" move up and down and have the eyes light up. The head attaches to the long brass plate.
There is a test video here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyCSuTtODlM
Here's the controller
Movements will be grouped together to simplify things: up/down movement will be grouped with the fans and as the head shifts left/right it will tilt accordingly. The controller will be wired to the servos using flex sensors on my arms to control inputs- at least that's the plan! Time will tell how well this will work.... it's my understanding that flex sensors lose resolution with long lead wires so I'm trying to keep everything as short as possible. I'm an electronics newb so I'm figuring out things as I go along....
I've got a looong way to go.....:wacko
http://www.instructables.com/id/EYA7U14EM9ETVPKGR4/
I had a bunch of old servos so I figured what the heck why not.......
Here's what I'm going for
It will be intended as a Halloween costume so I'm not too worried about screen accuracy- however I do want it to still look presentable. My budget is spend as little as possible as per usual. The costume will be made mostly from blue foam and cardboard too keep the weight and cost down.
I built this test rig for the head just to make sure the servos would be strong enough to move everything. I tested it with my regular radio and so far so good. The motions for the head are up/down, tilt right/left, swing right/left, have the "fans" move up and down and have the eyes light up. The head attaches to the long brass plate.
There is a test video here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyCSuTtODlM
Here's the controller
Movements will be grouped together to simplify things: up/down movement will be grouped with the fans and as the head shifts left/right it will tilt accordingly. The controller will be wired to the servos using flex sensors on my arms to control inputs- at least that's the plan! Time will tell how well this will work.... it's my understanding that flex sensors lose resolution with long lead wires so I'm trying to keep everything as short as possible. I'm an electronics newb so I'm figuring out things as I go along....
I've got a looong way to go.....:wacko
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