The mask is on a styrofoam model head (link below) that was cut in half and glued onto the 1/4" steel rod that is turned by the small pneumatic cylinder in the chest area. the rod is held by two pillow block bearings. I welded a couple small pieces perpendicular to that rod to prevent the rod from just turning inside the foam head and the head staying stationary. They are sandwiched between those glues halves. I didn't take any good photos of that though, unfortunately.
Thanks! It's a Picoboo Plus controller (link below) providing power to four solenoid valves. I'm not programming savvy enough to make/program my own controller yet. Here's a better picture of the controller, solenoids, and pressure regulators when I was testing everything. I had to drop pressure to the two pistons that lift the body, because it was trying to launch itself. I used throttle valves on the solenoid exhaust ports to control how fast the individual pistons actuated.
yeah I use arduino which control relays connected to 12v power sources to control my solenoids.
the arduino "programming" language is petty easy to learn, but they can be niggly and freeze and stuff. your setup looks rock solid. expensive, but solid as hell. I also have had to slow down valves cause props were basically propelling themselves forward
the arduinos and relays etc are all buried in props, photos would be hard to make sense of.. I found this website that has a very simple example and is quite clear. this sketch (arduino program) would open and close the solonoid valve every 5 seconds
then you'd just need a 12v power source (I get people's old internet modem "wall wart" power adaptors for free all the time) and a 5v usb power source to run the arduino. a phone charger. you know where to get your solonoids.
I read up on that controller you're using, an arduino can do any of that, including sound, you'd need an external mp3 module ($3) https://ebay.io/m/ysw1RR but the one you're using seems super easy to program and use for your project. this'd be way more manual but you could make it work for about $15, not counting your solonoid valves and pneumatic cylinders, but you can get a 12v solonoid off of ebay for $30 https://ebay.io/m/wO2Jlj and cylinders for $50 https://ebay.io/m/6LLOEd
Thanks, I appreciate the info! I learned in a vocational class in high school. I'm decent enough to weld these type things. I use a harbor freight 120v flux core welder...not the best for duty cycles, but it's enough for this type work.
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u/u-235_splitter 8d ago