Where to Start with Real World Animation (on a Budget)

I'm thinking about playing around with animating real world objects, for example animating seasonal decorations for fun. I'm going to have a lot of time on my hands soon, but of course not a lot of money to throw at it.

I've done a bit of due diligence searching around, most of the resources relate to computer animation (in programs like Blender, which I already work with) or high end robotics which run into the thousands for basic stuff. There are a few kid-sized hobby kits that do useless things like creating cars and electronics projects, not really a good fit.

My initial thought is learn how to program an Arduino for a controller, add a cable interface, and cobble together a lot of RC servos, but I'm not finding a lot of info on how to get started in that. (Pretty adept at programming languages.) Most Arduino projects, books, and tutorials relate to computer stuff, maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree and Arduino is not the way to go.

There are a lot of members here who have shown their engineering and real world tech experience so I though I would ask. Has anyone got ideas how a complete newbie to robotics/animation can start toying around with real world animation?

 

An arduino would work fine. Any development board should be good as long as you can program the inputs and outputs. I’ve used C for programming the boards. Most boards are low voltage and may not run a servo very well but a low voltage output can toggle a relay connected to a higher power source very easily.

Out of curiosity, what have you done with programming languages?

 

Thanks! And yes, I would think I'd need to power servos and motors externally, just using the output ports to trigger/send signals.

Been coding since the late 90's, all of the web languages (perl, PHP, SQL server, DB coding, some not even around any more,) Basic/Vbasic, Some C, even some RPG spaghetti code on an IBM mortgage system. Most of the compiled projects I got into because an employer or client said "this is broken and we need you to fix it" so I crash coursed it LOL

There are so many books on the subject, does one come to mind as a winner?

 

Sounds like the software part will be pretty simple for you then!

I’m not sure if a specific book to make a project like this. If I were to start something like this, I’d probably pick a board that will do what I want it to do based on processor requirements, i/o ports, and maybe power requirements if you need to run it off of a small battery.

Once you choose that board, read the manual that covers it. Since you’re already smart on the code, the manual will tell you whatever built in functions are already in it, how to call the ports, etc. from there it should be pretty simple to program a specific port to go high and activate a relay or whatever you are controlling.

There’s a lot of good raspberries out there that have a ton of documentation and example projects. Good thing about those is they come in a simple dev board or a full blown Linux machine like the pi.

If you really wanna have some fun with your project, you can do it all hardware based with logic gates annd clock circuits to make your own board.

 

Wouldn't say that smart, just know how to code enough to get 'er done . . . case in point, today I don't even know the difference between an Arduino and a Pi other than their names LOL . . . I did say complete newbie, maybe that was an understatement. I have used Linux exclusively for 8 years or so now, that might be fun.

I'll start there, do the work to understand the hardware and maybe buy one of those kid-sized projects to get my hands dirty, guess I'm getting ahead of myself.

For the actual project I was thinking there should be a way to create an array of servos powered by a switch (there is probably a proper name for it,) the programming sends signals to the switch. In the same way RC remotes send variable signals, the program would send signals variable in speed and distance to each servo independently and collectively, so multiple servos could operate concurrently. Probably need less than 5 amps at 12 volts to power them. At some point different ports or channels could send signals to sound devices and auxiliary devices like fog machines. Waaay ahead of myself ....

 

I would use whatever language you’re most familiar with to start. I’ve only used C for dev board and the pi so I don’t know exactly what languages they are compatible with. I will tell you that the pi is basically a Linux machine. You can load various Linux os’s to it and plug in peripherals such as a keyboard, mouse, and a monitor. Some even have Bluetooth and a ton of other features I believe.

I think there’s several versions of the raspberries and arduino. However, I’d start with something simple like a basic raspberry or arduino bird that you can write simple code to in order to control a few ports.

You definitely seem like the kind of guy who can figure it out and I think you can pick it up quickly. Once you do one small project with some cheap stuff, you’ll realize that you can do anything. Grab a small board of some type, wire in some led’s, a potentiometer, and write a code that will cycle the led’s based on the potentiometer. That project will cost you all of about $15 or less and you’ll learn a lot and will nail down the basics quickly.

 

I used to help a guy with a haunted garage setup. Mark's Haunted Garage (msa-mraz.com) Several items were motorized, mostly using cheap windshield wiper motors. Several items were triggered by motion or light sensors, so they would start as the people moved through the garage and stop when they left.

Arduino controlled some of them, others were just triggered by breaking a beam, such as used in a garage door safety system. As far as I know, everything was powered by 12V or less.

 

So I just went through 5+ hours of online tut's, this is going to be a blast. :-D I skimmed over most of the coding parts, mostly because I kept wanting to point out what's wrong with the code LOL . . . .

I have one question for anyone that knows: I'm getting one of those "super starter kits" and one recommendation is the Elegoo super starter kit which uses an Arduino R3, but I see lots of variations from companies like Sunfounder, SMraza, etc. Are there any kits I should specifically avoid? Most of them have tons of sensors and come with a breadboard, they're mostly $60 or less.

This thread could get interesting in a month or two as I progress.

 

Arduinos and Pis are cool but I would recommend looking at the Teensy boards. Way more computing power than a basic arduino, but you don’t have to fiddle with Linux. I’ve used them in the past and quite enjoyed them.

If you really really want to nerd out and learn some assembly, then the Beaglebone Black is for you, the PRUs on them are really cool.

If you’re driving motors, and you don’t have a lot of money, invest some time in learning transistors and diodes. You can do a lot on a budget with those if you know what you’re doing.

lastly, do some digging on the chief Delphi forums. That is where the FIRST robotics teams hang out and there’s a lot of creativity in that community. You’ll also find vendors like AndyMark that build parts for that community.

 

Thanks for that, but at this point most of it is over my head. Baby steps . . . I've been playing with electronics since I was a kid and am pretty familiar with components, just diving in. Case in point, this came today, Elegoo Super Starter Kit for R3, I will use this thread to chronicle both costs and progress. I chose this one because it has such a huge selection of hardware including an external power board, breadboard, sensors, motors, IR board, remote, and more. I'm thinking my first real project should be synchronizing sound, light, and fog blasts for next year, fog billowing out of the cannons just looked lame to me (kids loved it though.)

Elegoo Super Starter Kit for R3, $31.79 to my door.

 

good deal! everyone’s gotta start somewhere and that looks like an excellent value. that said, once you wanna go bigger, that’s where my note about transistors might come in handy - they’re really pretty simple and can manage big power for cheap.


can’t wait to see where ya go, loved the steering wheel!

 

$31.79
+ $22.79 for pack of M to M jumpers, prototype boards, copper clad PCB boards.

I'm using single strand insulated copper wire for jumpers and they work but let's get serious about it. Halfway through tut examples. Ferric chloride is the recommended etch for copper but 2/1 hydrogen peroxide and muriatic acid will also work, going to run some tests.

 

Post pics of what you’re making. You may motivate me to start doing stuff.

I have had a project that I’ve been wanting to do. My license plate on my Jeep is 0100 LO. So… to match my nerdy plate, my 3rd brake light consists of 4 round led’s. My intent is to design a small circuit to make the LED’s cycle from 1-15 and stay solid on 15 in binary whenever I hit the brakes.

 

Something tells me this is going to be a loooong thread and don't want to clog it up with useless examples lol . . . definitely will if it's something worth seeing. Picking up two fog machines tomorrow from craigslist and have been re-learning servo torque brands, have my eye on some lots. I'll need at least a couple 47 oz/in or better but most can be micros, I think.

 

$31.79 Super Starter Kit
$22.79 pack of M to M jumpers, prototype boards, copper clad PCB boards.
$17.93 lot of 4 brand new Futaba S3003 servos - these are "legacy" servos but boast up to 47 oz/in torque and .12 speed (most servos are around .20) Back in the day we'd pay almost $50 for them, they are not the strongest but will suit my needs. $16 (+ tax) for 4 is a deal and a half.

In other news, the M to M jumpers came today and I received a "Lucky customer gift." Does anyone know what the heck these are? Yes on the left is a penny, for scale. :-D On the oval-ish one the center part slides from one end of the oval to the other.

 

Those caps are webcam covers.

 

HAHA thanks, guess I can get rid of the electrical tape.

 

Flash was the shit in the early 00s, I learned how in high school with it

newgrounds memories are flooding back in

 

So it's been since November and my spare time has been filled with relearning electronics, fiddling about, and buying s**t. I have had to buy storage containers for the dev boards, sound boards, resistors, capacitors, input sensors, pots, relays, servos, and tons of other stuff I've acquired since November. Some of it came from Goodwill (speakers and hardware) and a lot of it looked a hell of a lot bigger online than in reality . . . look up the 2N7002 MOSFET, I now have acquired skills in surface mounting (they would fit under your fingernail.) I 'been at it.

Quick review, the first project is to animate/control the three cannons. This requires some programming and hardware for lights inside the cannon, BOOM's, and a burst of fog at pseudo-random intervals to emulate the function of cannons. These will be realized by LED lights inside the cannons, sound chips/modules, and relays for the fog machines. All devices are powered externally so there should be no draw on the Arduino (which will probably be replaced with a Nano - I now have 3 of those.)

Part 1, lights, is below in concept. Fully functional though I have some issues with the way randomizing works in this environment.
<TL;DR>
The hardware is driven by 2N7002 MOSFETS on recommendation from some awesome Arduino forum people, they are a good dive in to mosfets/transistors. I was using a shift register due to the amount of signal pins I'll need but using the MOSFETS allows me to minimize the pins 'll need. The biggest advantage is I may be able to piggy-back the sound and fog signals on this circuit alone, only needing three pins. I learned a little bit about drain circuits vs. source circuits, still working on that . . .

I'm using the analog inputs to read the potentiometers. The pots are used in the code to vary the random delays for flash length, delay before next "boom," cycle length. random() gives you a min and max, the pots are used to vary the max to slow down or speed up the intervals of each. It sorta works . . . it's doing what I tell it to, just not expressing myself right LOL . . . This is what bears more experimentation, the pseudo-random numbers don't vary enough for my liking and aren't all that random.
</TL;DR>



The breadboard is here, in an acceptable cycle tuned by the pots. I have some copper-back PCB boards and have experimented with etching (**see note) but don't think I'll get past proto. I mean . . . I only need one LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7SmiCA3qQQ

** If you've ever etched or deep cleaned concrete you probably have some muriatic acid in the garage. Muriatic acid and hydrogen peroxide works great for etching PCB's, and it only took a few hours.

https://mad-science.wonderhowto.com...utomatically-improves-after-each-use-0135192/

 

This is awesome, thanks for sharing!