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

Looks like fun. I haven't etched a board in decades though, it's a ton of work! If that's part of the fun for you, well, then more power to you! However, if you didn't know, it is super easy and cheap to order pcbs online now. You just upload the Gerber files, most places give you and instant quote and a preview.

A great domestic pcb house for hobby projects is OSH Park. I use them all the time... probably have a dozen or more of my own pcbs in my truck at this point. They are top quality, I have flown them in space.

You can go even cheaper if you order from China. And if you stay within a certain parts list on your BOM, you can even get dirt-cheap assembly, e.g., at JL PCB. I wouldn't put those boards on a spacecraft, but for hobby stuff it is shockingly cheap and easy.

Just offering my opinion that there is no money or time to be saved by etching your own boards, even if you only need one of them. And at this point, even assembly is sometimes within reach, for even the most inane hobby projects. And those of course are the most fun.

Edit: I'll second the Teensy recommendation too. They are fully supported in the Arduino environment, and you will be able to use more pins and fit more complex code. Buy them directly from the folks who make them, not scalpers and counterfeiters on Amazon.

 

So here's where we are: using ISD1820PY modules*, I've figured out how to get sound, it works perfectly, fires with the lights. I just have to common-sense amplify it. Only green signal connected for a test, I can update/improve the sound any time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU1LY_0ZJQU

I have 3 channels (digital 5,6,7,) a simple sound mixer like this would allow me to input the three channels without stepping on each other and only require one amp and one speaker afterward. This would make setup a lot easier. I considered doing it on board with amp chips etc. but this would be faster and easier, not to mention the learning curve LOL.

I'm probably doing it all wrong but so far so good.

* I have bare ISD1760 chips but couldn't get them working per the data sheet, they seem far more robust and hope to deal with them later.

 

Well, I'm back and the first part is done!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0Qqo2TOx_I

The only thing I need to change is to "advance" the light firing a little and extend the LED wires left and right, I made them a tad too short.

Out of all of it, audio was the biggest challenge. I dumped the ISD1820 approach. I was able to de-solder the microphones and figured out how to directly load files from my system, but I just wasn't happy with the sound. I went with DFPlayerMini's which presented plenty of challenges on it's own. The DfPlayerMini is supposed to function over the serial port, but it's a software serial approach. It works great for one player, but when you try to drive three players concurrently there are all sorts of issues with the DfPlayer object (in the code.) I farted around with it for a week or two then devised a unique, but reliable, approach.

The DFPlayers have AD_KEY functionality, meaning by button presses with various resistors you can control the play (FF, REW, replay, etc.) by a set of switches. What I did was set up Mosfets to "trigger" AD_KEY_1 to emulate "push play" which is all I needed. Works perfectly and is reliable, unlike Software Serial.

A few pics:

The enclosure is a Goodwill Phillips subwoofer with a (very) burned out amp and 30 watt speaker. Gutted all. I used a 200 watt Pyle PLG-54 marine speaker, as this is going to be outside and exposed to moisture and this speaker will stand up. The control panel (rear) is easily popped off using regular window sash latches, so I can reprogram/tweak without turning 4 screws every time I want to look.


The control panel: I can see if the fog machines are ready, adjust the duration between cycles, between each boom, and "fire length." These are all randomly set in the code but the controls tell it "by how much." This is why the third cannon has a longer delay in the video.



It ain't pretty, but it all works. :-D Here is the board with players, fog relays, and Nano all good to go. I rebuilt this board 3 times; the first I used a much smaller board and realized I'm nowhere cool enough to consider efficiency. :-D



I used a 100 watt cheapo mono board amp after trying several. The lowpass filter on a bass boost board was too aggressive, this one gave me a clear (and loud!) boom.



Here's a peek at the power: a 24VDC 6A PS for the amp, a 5V 500mah PS for the Arduino and related circuits, and a fuse block for the 120VAC in. Currently I'm using a 2.5 amp fuse and it's holding up nicely, if it ever blows I might bump it up to 3 or 4, but don't think I'll need to.



Here it is all connected, a note on triggering the fog machines . . . you don't want to drive a relay directly from the Arduino. I used some transistors to switch the relays on and off, which trigger the pumps in the fog machines. Think of the hand-control fog switches - that's all it is but automated, with the "ready" lights connected to LED's in the enclosure unit as shown above.

The top row of plugs are the LED's, the bottom row are the fog machine controllers.



I've learned a lot of stuff but if anything it demonstrated how little I know, especially when it came to the audio. Now for my next project. . . . . animate the skeletons. :-D

 

Well, the skeleton animation will have to wait until next year. Electronics are all good, I ran into physical issues. Not giving up on it!

We've added the synchronized cannons and an animated crow on the crow's nest, happy Halloween everyone!


https://rumble.com/v5j2oud-black-betty-halloween-2024.html

https://youtu.be/NG8aqjCzmKI