Halloween1997
From Simreal
Every year here in Oregon, we have a rampaging hoard of pumpkin smashers come through our domain. I donít like that. The kids work hard on their pumpkins, and I find it unspeakably rude that these rats trash them.
I don't think Iíll have any problems next year though.
This year, well... I have a microcontroller, some SCRís, some this, some that... I saw some great fire-alarm bells at the surplus place earlier. I can get a nice electrical water-valve... the hose is right there... lights... switches... Pumpkins.
Lift a pumpkin, get an alarm, sprayed, and well-illuminated. Heh heh. Caught in my trap...
Oh, and that corner of the deck is where we have the trash cans.
I think a trash-monster that jumps out (heck, I have all this pneumatic gear...) on my signal would be handy, too. Automatic for the pumpkin trashers, but on manual too... just ëcause I can.
Here are the photographs. Click on the picture to see the large version.
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Walking up to the house, there is little to indicate the terrors that await (though, in this picture, the monster is shown up). With the car moved to the side, the approaching visitor must ascend the narrow stairs by the bale of hay. There is a nice pumpkin with "Welcome" carved into it on the bale, casting its cheery glow about.
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This is the trap (less the welcoming pumpkin) as it looks closed. The pizza box was a last-minute addition to hide some of the hardware on the lid and a gap where you could see into the can. Besides, how scary is a trash can with a pizza box balanced on it? Well, not really balanced -- more like wired to the lid.
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A close-up of the monster. This was actually mostly invisible in the dark, but I didn't mind because I never filled out the body.
Next year, I will spend more time on my monsters (yes, the plural is on purpose!) and provide good lighting so they are seen. I just love Halloween!
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Zooming in on the mechanism here... the lid is driven up by the hardware, carrying the head and body with it. The lid is tied at both the front (through the monster head) and back to provide the proper motions and angle.
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Final zoom... hardware in the can. Note how it is held in place by friction only, through the big rings. The lid was bolted onto the top, though.
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Here is the lifting mechanism out of the can. The cross-bar at the left pivots freely on the upright. The cylinder is range-amplified due to its connecting position.
First Trick-Or-Treater came up a bit after 6:00... a little kid, so I canít run the monster for her. Next up, maybe 12 year old boy... almost jumped off the deck! I got clumps of kids every, oh, 15 minutes or so for a while after that.
A couple of great reactions! Jump, screech, giggle ñ the girls had the best responses. Guys had to look cool, so they didnít jump much (but I saw them twitch). A couple of groups... after the jumper did his thing, waved their hands around the can, walked up and down the steps, and generally tried to make it trigger again. Sorry, kids, only one show per group.
The general reaction (when I got one) was a quick startle when the alarm started, staring to find the noise. But before that settles in, whoosh! The garbage can explodes open with something inside it. They canít really see the monster, but the lid flies up, the can shakes, and it's the overall motion that makes the second startle the big one. Yup. Definitely was worried I was going to lose some kids off the deck, but they all made it in one piece.
I'll have to work harder next year ;-}
