AGxM
Well-Known Member
I wish I was more technically-minded so I knew what I was looking at! Always envious of those who got this animatronic-robot-gizmo stuff!
This......but looking forward to the updates regardless! Working my way through SG1 from Season 1 again as we speak.
ThePropBox
Active Member
I'm amazed how this looks... I'm amazed how this mechanism works... I'm amazed how you came up with that...
For the love of god, please upload a short video showing it in action!
For the love of god, please upload a short video showing it in action!
Honus
Sr Member
Wow, this is truly impressive I would kill for one of these, I was thinking about buying the Chronicle replica myself but it wont even come close to comparing with this. Any chance you want to make another? Now that you have it engineered the parts could be cncd and made as a kit. Where did the actual head/ helmet assembly come from though?
Anyways cant wait to see the video !
Now that you have it engineered the parts could be cncd and made as a kit. Where did the actual head/ helmet assembly come from though?Anyways cant wait to see the video !
Honus
Sr Member
Finally getting back to work on this! Wired up the eyes tonight and holy crap are they bright. They're perfect.
My old variable power supply died so I quickly put one together using parts I salvaged from circuit boards in my scrap bin. For a power source I used an old power brick from a HP printer. At some point I'll probably break down and buy a proper bench power supply...
My old variable power supply died so I quickly put one together using parts I salvaged from circuit boards in my scrap bin. For a power source I used an old power brick from a HP printer. At some point I'll probably break down and buy a proper bench power supply...
Looking great!!!
Holy crap that is AWESOME!!
Honus
Sr Member
Thanks guys!
I had a bit of trouble getting the eyes to dim properly. Yep- I let out the magic smoke. While getting ready to do a test with the radio transmitter I accidentally reversed the power wires to the FemtoBuck and smoked the driver chip. I ordered a replacement AL8805W5 chip, removed the blown one using a hot air tool and soldered the new one in. Note to self- ALWAYS use polarized connectors!
As soon as I was back in business I set about making the RC radio receiver signal work with the FemtoBuck. The FemtoBuck is able to dim the LEDs by applying a voltage range of .5V to 2.5V to its control pin. The problem is that my RC receiver doesn't output a compatible signal so a fix is needed.
Arduino (Pro Mini) to the rescue! At the beginning of this project I thought I'd finally build something animatronic without an Arduino in it but the little bugger managed to work its way in there...
Using this code the Arduino was able to take the output of the receiver and turn it into something useful-
const int inputPinA = 2; // The pin connected to the RC receiver's servo output A
const int outputPinA = 3; // Output PWM pin A
void setup() {
pinMode(inputPinA, INPUT);
}
void loop() {
unsigned long pulseLength;
pulseLength = constrain(pulseIn(inputPinA, HIGH), 1000, 3000);
analogWrite(outputPinA, map(pulseLength, 1000, 3000, 0, 255));
}
And with that I was able to get a full range dimmer for the eye LEDs using the RC transmitter.
I had a bit of trouble getting the eyes to dim properly. Yep- I let out the magic smoke. While getting ready to do a test with the radio transmitter I accidentally reversed the power wires to the FemtoBuck and smoked the driver chip. I ordered a replacement AL8805W5 chip, removed the blown one using a hot air tool and soldered the new one in. Note to self- ALWAYS use polarized connectors!
As soon as I was back in business I set about making the RC radio receiver signal work with the FemtoBuck. The FemtoBuck is able to dim the LEDs by applying a voltage range of .5V to 2.5V to its control pin. The problem is that my RC receiver doesn't output a compatible signal so a fix is needed.
Arduino (Pro Mini) to the rescue! At the beginning of this project I thought I'd finally build something animatronic without an Arduino in it but the little bugger managed to work its way in there...
Using this code the Arduino was able to take the output of the receiver and turn it into something useful-
const int inputPinA = 2; // The pin connected to the RC receiver's servo output A
const int outputPinA = 3; // Output PWM pin A
void setup() {
pinMode(inputPinA, INPUT);
}
void loop() {
unsigned long pulseLength;
pulseLength = constrain(pulseIn(inputPinA, HIGH), 1000, 3000);
analogWrite(outputPinA, map(pulseLength, 1000, 3000, 0, 255));
}
And with that I was able to get a full range dimmer for the eye LEDs using the RC transmitter.
