Jump to content
43oh

It's Halloween Again


Recommended Posts

It's Halloween again... Is anyone else going to do a project?  Since the airplane from last year was a hit I have received new requests.  I've been asked to update the airplane with more lights, sounds, and switches. I also have a request for a princess tiara and magic wand from my favorite 3 year old and a blinky wagon to pull a one year old who will be dressed as a killer whale (orca).  I ordered a sound board, various LEDs, and switches from Aliexpress and am hoping they get here on time.

Link to post
Share on other sites

1st let me introduce myself - I am pretty new to the TI Launchpad boards, even thou I own 3 or 4, I've not really done much in the way of projects.  I was given a MSP432 and I have a lot of ideas for that.  But currently most of my projects are done with either an Arduino board, or one of the NodeMCU (ESP8266) boards or clone.  So....My halloween project this year is based on the NodeMCU, a MP3 player, and a neopixel ring.

It checks the cheerlight lights color, changes the colors of the neopixels, plays spooky sounds, and is in a pumpkin head. Easy project to do.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Halloween-NodeMCU-ESP8266-Cheerlights-Project/

 

I'll need to hunt up my launchpad   CC3200 board - it shouldn't be too hard to get the Arduino code working on the CC3200 board I don't think - I've been surprised before thou. :-) 

Link to post
Share on other sites

My grandson and I have been upgrading the airplane from last year.

post-45284-0-40291800-1476404087_thumb.jpg

 

In addition to the existing jet exhaust, spot light, and voice feature we have added lots more LEDs and changed the power supply to two C batteries.  Now that 1 watt spotlight on the nose can really shine.  There is a new G2553 to play a song and make space noises- we are calling it the radio - through a piezo crystal while a RGB LED provides synchronized visuals.

post-45284-0-67206500-1476403533_thumb.jpg

 

I designed a simple G2553 PCB for wearables which will be used for my granddaughter's costume.  It uses a coin cell for power and the plan is to blink LEDs.  The in thing for wearables seems to be a circular shape with gator holes but having made this one I think I'll try something different next time.

post-45284-0-69716900-1476403789_thumb.jpg

 

Last years post:  http://forum.43oh.com/topic/9004-potm-blue-angels-f-18-costume/

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

 

Nice wearable pcb! Would you consider replacing the 6-pin header with the 0.05" 4 pin header, or maybe even a tagconnect? then it would be even better looking and less susceptible to getting stuck to clothing with the header. You might even squeeze in one or two extra pads!

Tagconnects are a good idea.  I have some pogo pins on order and see what I can do with those first.  The gator holes are large and awkward for what I want to do so I am thinking about some kind of snap connect to replace those.

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm a fan of the 0.100", 4 pin programming connector setup.

 

During debugging, I can solder in a header so I can connect to it easily to a LaunchPad Debugger.

 

During production, I can leave it empty and use pogo pins to connect to it easily to a LaunchPad Debugger.

 

Sure, I'll need a production fixture underneath it but that's on the regular production todo list.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

Here are my finished projects for the season...

 

This is a princess tiara made from the wearable G2553 I posted above.  It drives 3 WS2812 "neopixels" on a tiara that I bought at the dollar store.  The WS2812 were ordered from Aliexpress and I find them difficult to solder up in a chain by hand.  I need to put together a jig or something to hold things in place and make it easier.

post-45284-0-24078100-1477848679_thumb.jpg

All princesses need a magic wand and this one came with the tiara.  I cut out a star shape from some 4x6 cm 0.1" pitch PCB and soldered a blinking RGB LED, coin cell holder, and a tilt ball type switch to it.  The wand turns off when pointed down and on when lifted up while blinking different colors.  Because of bounce in the switch it kind of randomly blinks itself when shaken which is interesting.  I took a number of pictures to capture the 3 colors shown.

post-45284-0-12211800-1477849054_thumb.jpg

The big project was the ferry boat.  Here is a photo of one of the many ferry boats that run in the Seattle area:

post-45284-0-36633300-1477849528_thumb.jpg

I start by choosing a main box to work from and shape it.

post-45284-0-81470400-1477849651_thumb.jpg

Then lay out more pieces to get an idea of what it will look like.

post-45284-0-93448000-1477849756_thumb.jpg

Then cut to shape, glue everything up, and paint.  The electronics are more WS2812 and another G2553 wearable.  I had planned to add more electronic gizmos to this but ran out of time.  I guess that leaves me with something to do next year though.

post-45284-0-91696300-1477849887_thumb.jpg

My grandson has been helping a bit.  He is really into Lego.  He built this pumpkin and then we put an LED into that is just taped to a coin cell.

post-45284-0-72831500-1477850512_thumb.jpg

Finally, some satisfied customers at the local fall festival parade...

post-45284-0-16341300-1477850268_thumb.jpg
post-45284-0-78380200-1477858796_thumb.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...