Halloween hack ideas

It is time for scary hacks. Halloween is just around the corner. Hare are some hacking ideas for Halloween.

Arduino voice changer turns you into [Vader] article tells that Phil Burgess over at Adafruit put together an Arduino-powered voice changer to give his voice the gravitas of [James Earl Jones] or the lightheartedness of a member of the Lollipop Guild.

Halloween Props: a spooky mirror article presents an Android Haunted Mirror you can see on the video below:

Bottomless halloween basket is a pretty simple combination of some optical tricks and LEDs.

Math Class Fun article shows an awesome Hollywood prank.

My Mercedes uses LEDs to create invisible car post mentions iPad2 Halloween Costume- Gaping hole in torso.

Low hanging fog is a good effect for any scary display. Do not make the same mistakes as in Spooky Fog Machine Hack That DIDN’T work!. Instead rely on classic dry ice for at shown for example in Mighty Mini Fog Maker video.

Halloween Props: Ghoul in the box puts on a pretty good show has all the elements of a classic Halloween prop and some hight tech inside. Walk in front of the box and one of two modes will be triggered. the video gives you a look at the operation, as well as the components used in the build it.

A collection of hands to inspire your Halloween animatronics tells that one of the best choices for Halloween prop is a ghoulishly lifelike hand. You can draw some inspiration from this roundup of robot hands which Adafruit put together.

OpenPLC, for industrial automation to Halloween displays article factories have programmable logic controllers to take care of their automation tasks and they are also good devices to control your Halloween effects. open-plc project is an open hardware design to build your own programmable logic controller that is compatible with Arduino code sketches.

And if you want to see how a big Halloween attraction is built read Gravesend Inn postings at Control Geek blog. This show needs a pretty big control network to keep all the effect controllers in line with the planned show.

14 Comments

  1. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Pumpkin Tetris inspired by our own LED Jack-o-lantern
    http://hackaday.com/2012/10/29/pumpkin-tetris-inspired-by-our-own-led-jack-o-lantern/

    The kids (or maybe their parents) are going to be lined up at [Nathan's] front porch to get their turn at playing pumpkin Tetris. That’s right, he built a game of Tetris into a real pumpkin.

    Reply
  2. Tomi Engdahl says:

    DIY office door castle knocker
    http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/hackwire/4398668/DIY-office-door-castle-knocker

    Instead of the door making the standard boring door noise, I wanted my door to sound like the castle door knockers from Young Frankenstein.

    In order to do this, I would need a few things:

    something to detect the knock and
    something to play the sound.

    Large Piezo Vibration Sensor.
    This sensor is perfect because it’s cheap and only requires a resistor to be used with an Arduino ADC. The sensor outputs a small AC voltage when the film moves back and forth. All I have to do to use the element is solder it in parallel with a 1M Ohm resistor, connect one lead to an ADC pin and the other lead to ground.

    mp3 clip of the scene from Young Frankenstein
    The MP3 Player Shield is designed to play mp3s triggered by an Arduino.

    I powered the Arduino with 4 AA batteries in a battery holder with a barrel jack. I then used a 3.5mm audio cable extension to connect the MP3 Player Shield to my computer speakers. I attached the piezo sensor to the back side of the door, right about the height where someone would knock.

    Home> Community > Blogs > HackWire
    DIY office door castle knocker

    Chris Taylor, project manager, engineering, SparkFun Electronics – October 16, 2012
    inShare
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    Now to attach it to the door. For this, I special-ordered a precisely-machined custom attachment device from my local supply shop:

    Just kidding.

    I powered the Arduino with 4 AA batteries in a battery holder with a barrel jack. I then used a 3.5mm audio cable extension to connect the MP3 Player Shield to my computer speakers. I attached the piezo sensor to the back side of the door, right about the height where someone would knock.

    The final effect was pretty impressive

    Now when someone knocks on my door it sounds like they’re using a giant door knocker. This project is just one example of how to integrate sound into objects using our MP3 shield and a piezo sensor.

    Reply
  3. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Hack a Day claims that this Nyan Cat hat is the only part needed for a fantastic Halloween costume. Can you watch the video without letting a beaming grin creep onto your face.

    Nyan Hat is relatively simple electrically, at least compared to its mechanical bits.

    Nyan Hat
    http://hackaday.com/2012/10/30/nyan-cat-hat-will-the-the-hit-of-the-party-for-about-one-minute/
    http://build-its.blogspot.fi/2012/10/nyan-hat.html

    Reply
  4. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Halloween Props: Monster in a box
    http://hackaday.com/2012/10/30/halloween-props-monster-in-a-box/

    This furry Halloween decoration proves to be a simple build, but it’s still quite popular with the little ones.

    The enclosure is just a shoe box which has been covered in synthetic black fur. The lid was hinged on the back, and a hobby servo with a bit of an extension on the arm is used to lift the front which reveals the monster’s paper eyes. Inside you’ll find an Arduino, breadboard, and battery pack.

    Reply
  5. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Just winging it!
    http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/hackwire/4398695/Just-winging-it-?cid=EDNToday

    Maybe you’ve been looking for a good excuse to try out an e-textiles project because you just can’t see yourself wearing an illuminated business suit to work. I feel you. But it’s time to put the tweed behind us; it’s almost Halloween! What better time to try your hand at a twinkling, illuminated project? LED wings make an awesome accent to your costume or a fun project to share with your little fairy or dragon! (Just make sure you don’t let your kids do the melty bits!)

    Reply
  6. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Gadget Freaks That Go Bump in the Night
    http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1362&doc_id=253257&cid=NL_Newsletters+-+DN+Daily

    So, to get into the spirit, we have pulled together some of our freakishly (vintage, but no less) great Halloween-inspired gadgets.

    Reply
  7. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Computers Not Candy with The Geek Group
    http://hackaday.com/2012/11/02/computers-not-candy-with-the-geek-group/

    This year for Halloween, The Geek Group, decided to take a very different approach to outreach. Instead of making animatronics, or converting their giant (seriously HUGE) space into a haunted house, they held an event called “Computers Not Candy” where they teamed up with a large local company to bring 100 tablet computers to 100 youths.

    Reply
  8. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Thinking Cap is also Party Hat
    http://hackaday.com/2012/11/05/thinking-cap-is-also-party-hat/

    The Thinking Cap is a piece of wearable signage that lets you display what’s on your mind. The hat uses a Teensy 2.0 connected to a Bluetooth radio to allow the wearer to update the message on the fly, letting the room know what their thinking at that instant.

    The Teensy can receive messages using the Bluetooth serial port protocol.

    The result is a bright message circling around the user’s head, which can be updated with a smartphone over Bluetooth.

    Reply
  9. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Before you throw out that pumpkin, make a dragon-o-lantern
    http://hackaday.com/2012/11/06/before-you-throw-out-that-pumpkin-make-a-dragon-o-lantern/

    Yes, it’s a little late for Halloween, but before you throw out that rotting gourd sitting outside your front door, how about planning for next year’s festivities with a dragon-o-lantern?

    Reply
  10. Blogging says:

    You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this topic to be really something which I think I would never understand.
    It seems too complicated and extremely broad for me. I’m looking forward for your next post, I will try to get the hang of it!

    Reply
  11. clear says:

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    Reply
  12. Alberto Morales says:

    Hi guys. Sharing our techie Halloween craft for kids http://albertomorales.eu/kids-halloween-and-arduino/
    It’s an Arduino powered POV display. I hope it’ll be helpful for somebody. Cheers. Alberto Morales.

    Reply
  13. website says:

    Thanks, this can be the worst factor I

    Reply
  14. Florencia says:

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    Reply

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