Halloween is coming, so here are some interesting links to decoration hardware hacks.
Gravesend Inn is an attraction that mainly instead of scaring the audience, it’s meant to inspire high school students to go to college and study technology. CNN has made video report The haunted hotel that breeds engineers. Control Geek blog has lots if information on that attraction and technology behind it.
Shocking Halloween Decoration posting at Hackaday gives tips how to build simple Halloween decoration. Of course you could animate some Halloween lights using a microcontroller and some LEDs, but there are simpler old tricks: Halloween Pumpkin Decoration 2016 video shows how AC powered incandescent decoration lamps can be made to flicker r in a spooky way with fluorescent starter.
For or smoke machine is nice device for Halloween decorations. There are cheap mains powered, but what if you would like to have a small battery powered? Battery Powered Fog Machine Just in Time for Halloween article tells how to build a cheap battery powered fogger using technology from e-cigarette. Read Battery powered fog machine Instructable for detailed instructions (where I found this animated gif).
For more Halloween hardware hacking idea, check other Halloween postings in this blog.
13 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Pumpkin Noti-Fire
http://hackaday.com/2016/10/28/the-pumpkin-noti-fire/
a carved pumpkin that spits fire as a notification signal when a text or an email is received.
https://punchthrough.com/bean/guides/projects/fire-pumpkin/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Don’t Make Your Battlebot Out Of A Pumpkin
http://hackaday.com/2016/10/28/dont-make-your-battlebot-out-of-a-pumpkin/
It’s that time of year again. The nights are getting longer and the leaves are turning. The crisp fall air makes one’s thoughts turn to BattleBots: pumpkin-skinned BattleBots.
If you’re asking yourself, “could a laser-cut plywood bot, sheathed in a pumpkin, stand up against an all-metal monster”, you haven’t seen BattleBots before.
Pumpkin Combat Robot
http://www.williamosman.com/2016/10/pumpkin-combat-robot.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Easy UFO Lights on your Drone for Halloween
http://hackaday.com/2016/10/29/easy-ufo-lights-on-your-drone-for-halloween/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Halloween Robots: Trick or Treat?
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/anablog/4442947/Halloween-Robots–Trick-or-Treat-?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20161031&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20161031&elqTrackId=6455410993e948ca8d0bb9a72f32f147&elq=b4592b6695b348739a43d99bcb0f5c71&elqaid=34591&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=30186
It’s Halloween and as you are working in your office or lab, you hear behind you the soft whir of a motor and then are startled by a voice that says “Happy Halloween! Please take some candy, then press the done button.”
In research supported by the National Science Foundation, three members of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University sent their CoBots on an experimental Trick-or-Treat romp through each floor of an office building. This experiment with a pair of costumed, autonomous robots was designed to observe human behavior in the presence of robots.
The CoBots carry Sharp IR distance sensors with a range of 10 to 80 cm.
This experiment showed some interesting results of human behavior in the presence of robots. Robots do not have to act like a human if they are operating in an activity that humans are, by nature, motivated to complete.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Using automation to scare the neighbors on Halloween
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/using-automation-to-scare-the-neighbors-on-halloween/56d68efb4e02295ecec69649f8eae486.html
Automation is used in ghoulish and frightful ways by one particular sales manager on Halloween who is determined to satisfy his children’s urge and desire to scare. See video for more frights and scares.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The drunken history of theatrical fog effects
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bySTH6H_REs
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fog fluids have two primary ingredients – an active one and deionized water. The active ingredient can be propylene glycol, triethylene glycol, glycerin or a mixture of these.
Smoke particles settle on all surfaces and may leave a residue. Whether that residue is enough to cause a problem is dependant upon the density of smoke, the duration of the effect, the type of fogger or hazer and the type of fluid used.
With fogger if you use a large amount of fog fluid you may end up with a slight residue on some of your surfaces (floors, windows). Some of the low level residue can evaporate off surfaces over some time.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Portable Smoke Machine for Cosplay and Props!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b581gVb34AQ
Adam and Norm unbox the Smoke Genie portable fog machine, a handheld device that puts out a surprising amount of haze and thick fog for photography and filmmaking. This production unit shows refinement from a 3D printed prototype we previously tested, and Adam shows how this example of miniaturization in practical effects technology can be an awesome tool for prop makers and cosplayers.
Smoke Genie:
https://pmigear.com/collections/smokegenie
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vape pen as a small smoke machine
https://youtu.be/TnWdFDv7Rkc
Tomi Engdahl says:
Paulo Cesar Saito “The PG in Smoke / Fog / Haze fluid is industrial grade (I know, I use a lot at work). It’s not a good idea to vape it. You really need pharmaceutical grade PG”
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/threads/fog-machine-juice-possible-vape-base.39314/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Both fogger fluid and vape fluid consist of propylene glycol, or glycerin and water mixture. Vape fluid has typically also additives nicotine and flavoring.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How To Make a Cheap Fog Machine 10 Times More Powerful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NxTmHc27Hw
If you know the reason why commercially available fog liquids use so much water, please let me know in the comment section below, I would love to read your suggestions!
Making the Monster Fog Machine – Nicolas Salenc PBP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpGjBgnpZC8
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fog machine pushes fluids through a heat exchanger/block then pumps it out, takes longer to heat up, great for outdoor crowds, way denser smoke.
Oil base hazers use a different fluid which doesn’t need to be heated, it just compresses the fluid from the get go. Great for rooms and lighting and when there arr screens or projected visualdls, way more subtle and expensive.
Fazers act like hazers, use the same fluid and act the same way with heating process but instead of the big Woooosh, you can control Tested burst output