Eric Roberts Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 (edited) Not so much a display, but part of a haunt.This guy is my first attempt at the Servo Dog... also the first attempt at building a 3 axis skull.... man would I do things differently!The soundtrack is kind of a place holder as we write an original script. P.S. skip to 0:38 if you want to skip the intro soundtrack. http://youtu.be/aMcYsWklQhY Fun project - surprisingly easy to program the puppet animation. Edited August 10, 2013 by Eric Roberts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75redman Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 NICE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckeyelights Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Outstanding!!! Is there a "how-to" that you used to build that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caniac Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 cool, I am guessing you used RGB's for lighting and eyes? Is there a how to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Very cool Eric. Definitely love the RGB eyes in the skull. Wish I could still build and construct things, but no longer able to do that. Do they happen to sell those skulls already pre-assembled and tested? Would love to have 1 or 2, maybe more {depending on their cost} for putting in my windows for an attention grabber. And if they do sell them assembled and ready to go, is there a website for them somewhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilM0nkey Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 If you don't make it say "Silence" "I keel you" You will have missed an opportunity. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsachs82 Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 very cool would love to know how you did this as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalSouthBay Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Very Cool! This looks like a Skulltronix Skull and sequence to me (The LED Eyes give it away) . They are amazing but come with a hefty price tag $$$. You should get the animated torso too! This is their Site.... http://www.skulltronix.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debtoews Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 that's awesome! I have the original singing quartet done my Graveyard skulls..the kids love it every year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Roberts Posted August 18, 2013 Author Share Posted August 18, 2013 Well darn, I had a long write up done a few days ago and it seems I didn't hit post before shutting down the computer. Thank you for the compliments! As I figured that this project wouldn't actually work, I didn't bother with a how-to. I can do a behind the scenes tour after Halloween. This guy is not a kit! Definitely not a Skulltronix head. This skull is about the size of a child's. It's a prop I've had for 11 years or so. It had a simple and unreliable mouth movement that could use a line in or a Mic input. No other movements. This year I decided to breathe new life (or new death?) Into this guy. I watched vids online but didn't like the nod movement that much.... And I definitely did not have room in the head for all the servos. The nod and roll movements are shared by 2 servos mounted on his neck. Thr linkage is in a "V" configuration....think Johnny 5 from Short circuit. The eyes are plastic eyes I got from eBay. Search for "Lifesize Pair Eyes Eye Balls Brown Mannequin Halloween Prop" and these are the eyes I used. The LEDs are from Radio Shack, part #276-0028.I drilled a hole in the back of the eyes and popped out the iris, scraped off the brown paint and reassembled. Then uncerimoniously shoved the LEDs in the back of the eyes. I am flattered you think its from Skulltronix. The audio is a Skulltronix routine, but there will be 3 skits this guy will do in rotation as I get a lot of repeats, this offers a chance for a different show. I will try to get some pics up soon, Thank you all for reading! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalSouthBay Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 That is very impressive dude! I definitely thought it was a Skulltronix but the fact that you were able to recreate it at ( I'd Say ) 1/4 the cost is awesome! Can't wait to see him in action this Halloween. The great thing about animatronics is they always show up for work on time and they never get stage fright ; ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitriy Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 I wish u can share how-to! Great job. Or post some pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a31ford Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I gota say, simply AWESOME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Would love to see a how to, or behind the scenes about it, even a DIY. Are you using a servo-dog to control it ? Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Excellent programming and hardware engineering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a31ford Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 GAWD, I should READ the title more often.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyjr127 Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Great work Eric! I have read a lot on the three axis skull and yours is amazing. My question is what is your setup like when your recording? Is it Servo connects to servo dog which is connected to power supply, then when recording you are using brookshire vsa and monkey basics? you don't have to use an sd card if your syncing to music? Any info you have would be appreciated. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rednosetbird Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Wow Dude what a great job! I am not into the Halloween stuff yet but going to be working on a show for this year coming up I hope. I want to put fire cannons into pumpkins and sequence them to some music. Keep up the Great work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nam1956 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Wow, great job, what's your back ground? doesn't look like something you just pick up one day and decide to build,,,, yeah like a boat/arc. a very difficult process I'm sure. Again great job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgs Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 did u record the sound track yourself or was this a pre-recorded one if so where did u get it from many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Roberts Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 (edited) I apologize for the delay in posting. Right after Halloween, I decided to try my hand at a Christmas display - whew! talk about time crunch! A bit about Phil (The puppet took on the name Phil after the Fill command - the most frequently used command for programming him). It was difficult to film in such low lighting, but his eyes now have 2 axis of movement. I didn't come up with a truly original script as I had hoped. I had to work out some bugs in the SD card/mini-director and ran out of time. We did manage to get a second show put together by editing the ride audio from Haunted Mansion. The Séance audio was actually a track from Skultronix - since that was the first one I saw, that is the one I taught myself to sequence to. As far as the movement, it is 100% hand programmed. Since I don't have a traditional 3-axis setup, I doubt any of the mimic software would work for me. For example, in order for Phil to look down, his left neck motor has to rotate counter-clockwise while at the same time his right neck motor has to rotate clockwise. If they do not synchronize perfectly you get a slight tilt to one side or the other.... which is good! it give a rather organic feel I think. My background? I have a degree in engineering electronics, but the day I started to get paid to work on such projects was the day all the fun got sucked out of it. LOL. Now I just tinker for my own enjoyment. Since I also build and automate model coasters, this project was not too bad of a leap. I will probably do a behind the scenes of Phil - a video disassembly of his head. Also - I am open to any ideas of how to further use Phil in my haunt... I am handy at building, but tend to hit a wall when trying to create a story or scene. Ok, I've talked enough, here are the 2 show that were used on Halloween:Feel free to look at my other vids as I am slowly posting the Christmas display too. GHOST HOST:http://youtu.be/URBgJeLaqKQ SEANCE:http://youtu.be/0xU4vE5alVY ***For the life of me I cannot remember how I embedded the first video*** Edited March 4, 2014 by Eric Roberts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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