RSSHalloween Haunted House Controller
Read this article in MAKE:
03: Cars and Halloween, Page 86.
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Subscribers—read this article now in your digital edition!Build a relay board that sychronized lights, motors, and other electrical devices to a scary soundtrack playing on a computer, and create spooky haunted house special effects!
 The controller can be used to drop a guillotine blade, in case you'd like to stage a beheading. |
 In the article, Eric describes how to make your baby Furby moan and scream like it's been skinned alive. |
Materials List
Nearly all of the electronics can be obtained from Digi-Key.
120 VAC solid state relays: logic-compatible input voltage (range should include 3.3-5 VDC), screw mount, with load voltage and load current ranges sufficient for any AC devices you expect to control. Get one for each device; I used three Crydom D1225 relays.
DC solid state relays: single-pull single-throw, logic-compatible input voltage (range should include 3.3-5 VDC), screw mount, with load voltage and load current ranges sufficient for any DC devices you expect to use. I used two Crydom D2D12 relays.
Terminal block for 16- to 22-gauge wire: I used a 12-position barrier screw terminal strip.
25-wire flat ribbon cable
25-contact male D-subminiature connector with “displacement connection” that crimps onto ribbon cable
24-pin DIP (dual inline package) plug with displacement connection, for connecting ribbon cable to breadboard. These may be called either “IDC DIP plugs” or “DIP plugs,” but don’t confuse them with plain DIP plugs that don’t bite into ribbon cable.
470-ohm resistors: one for each relay, plus one extra.
LEDs (standard 2V is fine)
Small plugboard (solderless prototyping breadboard)
Four stand-offs or some hard plastic or metal tubing that’s wide enough to accommodate your screws. These need to be long enough or cut to sufficient length to clear height of relays plus some extra headroom for wiring; I used 1.25-inch for relays 0.9 inches tall.
Cable ties
Non-conductive base: I used plywood.
Non-conductive transparent cover: I used a small sheet of hard acrylic.
Grounded extension cords: Get one for each AC relay. One should be at least 6 feet long; the rest can be any length because you’ll be cutting them and only using the ends.
Wire: 16-gauge stranded for AC devices, 22-gauge solid core for DC and signals.
Tools
- Windows-based laptop (or a desktop computer, but those are less convenient and harder to conceal)
- Wood screws
Extras
Additional content for this article, available only online.
Kid-Tested Haunted House Tricks
Eric Wilhelm's Halloween Haunted House Controller project in Make 03 explained how to build a multi-relay controller board that synchronizes lights, sounds, and other effects with soundtracks playing through Winamp on a laptop. This article describes some of the scare scenarios that Eric has staged using this controller, plus some other kid-tested tricks from haunted houses he's built.
by Eric J. Wilhelm;
October 07, 2005 | Technorati | del.icio.us
Links
- Controller used for music synced Christmas tree lights
Use the controller to control Christmas tree lights. - "lpt.exe" parallel port monitor
- Hear my guillotine soundtrack
- Download Borland's free C++ Compiler
- Model your code on my sample
- Winamp plug-in for the controller code
- My Winamp plug-in
- Using a wiper motor in your Halloween projects
Scary Terry on using wiper motors in Halloween devices.
Make: Noise — Discuss this article
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Showing messages 1 through 13 of 13.
- Can't match pins
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I am VERY new to this stuff. I seemed to have followed everything to a "T", but the LEDs won't light up. I figured I don't need to have the controller board's AC side wired up and I should be able to control the LEDs by wiring up the board's signal side. Am I right?I don't know what it means to use the multimeter to determine the pin-to-pin relationship of the D-submini and the DIP plug. What do I set the multimeter to? 200V or 2K Ohm or what? And what I am attaching the leads (red and black to) - on each of the pins on each side? I tried moving the wire from terminal 3 on the relay to every pin and nothing lit up. Even pin 2 didn't light up. Any suggestions?Posted by dasmanin on October 31, 2005 at 00:39:56 Pacific Time
- USB interface
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can this be implimented with a USB interface?Posted by thomascherry on October 14, 2005 at 07:08:32 Pacific Time
- Halloween Haunted House Controller
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Ok, I'm way new to this stuff. If I rig this thing up will it run off of a 12volt car battery?Posted by CritterJones on September 19, 2005 at 19:35:05 Pacific Time
- Cost
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Having just done a cursory net search for the relays in this project, I'm a bit disappointed. These are pricey! The lowest price I found was $24 each!
I've no problem with using pricey components if they are the only option, but at typical prices, this project could easily reach $200!
Assuming there are some less expensive relays out there, it would have been nice to see an alternate part referenced.
I was excited to see this article to feed my recent interest in using relays on AC circuits. The concept is simple enough, but only having experience with 12-volt relays, I'm glad to have the confirmation that there are no twists when you move to AC.Posted by Deanm on September 16, 2005 at 03:51:15 Pacific Time
- Cost
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sorry for dub post
Posted by kszors on December 11, 2005 at 17:15:15 Pacific Time
- Cost
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All most better off buying one of these, http://store.lightorama.com/lor800w.html.Posted by kszors on December 11, 2005 at 17:13:43 Pacific Time
- Cost
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All most better off buying one of these, http://store.lightorama.com/lor800w.html.Posted by kszors on December 11, 2005 at 17:13:41 Pacific Time
- Cost
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Check out Crydom's CX240D5R. Digikey has them for approximately $12. If that's still too pricey, look for used ones on Ebay, or consider building your own from schematics on the web, such as http://www.discovercircuits.com/PDF-FILES/lowssr2.pdf.
Posted by ewilhelm on September 16, 2005 at 13:10:42 Pacific Time
- pin voltages
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I see a delta of .1 volts between turning pin 2 off and on (0 volts and 0.1 volts). The LPT says it's an ECP (though I changed it in the bios). When I turn auto line feed on, I get -4.7 v (toggled with -4.71 when I turn pin 2 off and on)
This is a relatively old dell laptop (5 yrs/600mhz pentium)Posted by specialkt on August 29, 2005 at 21:05:45 Pacific Time
- pin voltages (nevermind)
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Nevermind, I managed to figure out that I was looking at the wrong pins (had them backwards).
Mea culpa. This will be great fun now!Posted by specialkt on August 30, 2005 at 09:01:27 Pacific Time
- Parallel port and laptops
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One problem with using parallel ports is that newer laptops (and some PC's) don't have parallel ports that can supply much power. We see this with some of the JTAG interfaces (also uses the parallel port). The solution is to use a buffer chip (to protect the parallel port) and an external power source (to provide the necessary driver for the board and to drive the relays). Also the schematic (from the article) lacks the proper diodes to kill the back EMF that may occur when the relays are de-energized. I don't know if they are built in on the relays you use or not but if not they need to be there otherwise electronics will die mysteriously.
Posted by linuxha on August 10, 2005 at 07:22:49 Pacific Time
- Parallel port and laptops
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I just had a conversation with Eric and he points out that he's using SSR (Solid State Relays). These don't have coils so no EMP. Sorry about that if you use other relays check to see if they require the diode. Some may have them built in, or don't have them at all (non SSR's).
Sorry for the confusion.Posted by linuxha on August 10, 2005 at 09:31:31 Pacific Time
- Parallel port and laptops
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Solid-state relays are optically coupled triacs with a logic-compatible input. While not a relay in the traditional sense, they do perform the same job. I used Crydom D1225’s for AC switching and D2D12’s for DC. You can find these for $25 on eBay, or it is straightforward and cheaper to build your own from schematics on the web: http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/circ/solidstate.html, for example.Posted by ewilhelm on August 11, 2005 at 11:11:14 Pacific Time
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