Halloween animatronics using pneumatic actuation

Home
Halloween animatronics using pneumatic actuation
hallowAnima_1.jpg
hallowAnima_2.jpg

If you need any inspiration for your Make: Halloween DIY Haunts project, check out these props that were on display at World Maker Faire, made by the folks at Halloween Animatronics. The rather slender gentleman above is named Marvin and is what they call a “grave popper.” They explain how he was built:

We had a grave popper (Marvin). A small skeleton sold at a local party store that had three or four audio comments. He was designed to use a push button or a light sensitive resistor to detect someone close to his face and then say something funny. I hacked the circuit board, added a transistor, and wired DC voltage back to a PICAxe carrier board. The PICAxe could control when he said something. I then built the lift mechanism with angle stock and pressure treated lumber. The lift arm was actuated by a pneumatic cylinder. A Passive Infrared sensor in a plywood gravestone detected movement and the PICAxe fired a relay to the solenoid valve and waited a few hundreds of a second and then fired the transistor to make the skeleton talk.

Photos by Blake Maloof.

More:
DIY Haunts: A Halloween contest sponsored by Jameco Electronics

2 thoughts on “Halloween animatronics using pneumatic actuation

  1. hawkinsrn says:

    “angel stock” — hahaha! Took me a second to realize what that meant. :D
    Nice work, btw.

Comments are closed.

Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!
Tagged

Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

View more articles by Gareth Branwyn

ADVERTISEMENT

Maker Faire Bay Area 2023 - Mare Island, CA

Escape to an island of imagination + innovation as Maker Faire Bay Area returns for its 15th iteration!

Buy Tickets today! SAVE 15% and lock-in your preferred date(s).

FEEDBACK