Animated Dracula Project

If you’ve been looking for inspiration or ideas for your next Halloween decoration, then consider this fun project idea. I’ve been looking for ways to make a simple and inexpensive project that highlights our Limited-Availability Parallax Animation Kit (#910-28088). Turns out that Halloween naturally provides a great setting for this type of application. So, I made a trip to the dollar store and purchased an inexpensive felt prop with movable joints. Standard servos provide a perfect means to add some movement to the prop and adding a speaker allows it to play a song (or whatever spooky sound you have in mind).

For this project each servo moves one limb and I decided to provide movement to each limb (arms and legs) so I needed 4 standard servos. The Animation Kit comes with 2 standard servos, and the code I used can easily be modified to work with just two servos for the arms or possibly the head and one arm. Ok let’s have some fun!

Parts List:

• (1) – Animation Kit – Limited Edition (#910-28088)
  • Includes:
    • (2) – Parallax Standard Servo (#900-00005)
    • (1) –  PIR Sensor with LED Signal (#555-28027)
    • Jumper Wires
• (1) – Felt Prop with moveable limbs (From the Dollar Store or other hobby store)
• (up to 3) – Additonal Parallax Standard Servo (#900-00005) (optional, needed if your project will move all limbs + head)
• (1) – Activity Board WX (#32912)
• You could also use the Propeller FLiP as an inexpensive alternative to the Activity Board WX; however, if you plan to add sound by having it play a WAV files the Flip does not come equipped with an SD card socket.
• (1) – Veho 360 or Portable Mini Hamburger Speaker (#900-00018)
• (1) – 5-Cell AA Battery Pack (#753-00007)
• (1) – microSD card (#32328)

Tools Used:

• Philips screw driver
• Hot glue gun
• Box cutter
• Drill or Dremel tool

For your protection, practice safe handling of sharp tools like box cutters. When working with hot glue and tools with moving parts, always wear safety glasses!