Three Stooges Pneumatic Pop-Up Display with EFX ProductsThis project was submitted to Parallax by our EFX Team
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Click on Image for a close-up | The new Parallax EFX products lend themselves to creative mechanical props and displays, such as this pneumatically driven “pop-up” featuring Curly, Larry and Moe. When activated by pushbutton or various wireless object detection methods of your choice (ultrasonic, infrared or PIR), each of the stooges consecutively pops up and sings “hello”. When they’re done they sing the same greeting together. The pop-up display consists of 3/8” welded aluminum tubing with a scissor-style lift. A pneumatic cylinder provides approximately one foot of travel up and down with a fair amount of open-loop control for in-between positions.
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Click on Image for a close-up |
The electronics for this display are astoundingly simple. A Prop-1 is connected directly to three 24V relays which activate solenoids on the pneumatic cylinders. The Prop-1 also has a serial interface to the AP-8 Audio Player. The AP-8 allows you to record and playback up to eight sounds totaling 60 seconds. With a single serial I/O command from the Prop-1 these sounds are played through the AP-8’s amplifier and external speaker.
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Click on Image for a close-up |
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Click on Image for a close-up | |