Planet Arduino

We’re only a few short weeks away from Halloween and that means we’re starting to see the creative projects that makers come up with to celebrate the holiday. Movement, lights, and sound effects are the name of the game when it comes to Halloween decor and the Treat Trough of Terror is the perfect example.

Gord Payne’s Treat Trough of Terror is a fun and unique way to doll out candy to the kids on Halloween while practicing social distancing. Payne can stand on his front stoop and when a trick-or-treater comes along, he can drop candy down the chute to their eager little hands. To turn that into a fun experience, the chute passes through a decorative jack o’ lantern. As the candy slides down the chute, the whole thing lights up and places spooky sound effects.

The chute itself is just PVC pipe cut in half lengthwise and resting on a patio chair. The lights are WS2812B LEDs driven by an Arduino Nano board. The Arduino also controls the sound effects played by a small MP3 player module, with audio output going to a pair of powered speakers. An ultrasonic sensor detects the candy as it slides past on the chute, which tells the Arduino to activate the light and sound effects.

If you want to hand out candy while maintaining at least six feet of distance, this is the perfect project to work on over the next few weeks.

The post The Treat Trough of Terror spits out Halloween candy appeared first on Arduino Blog.

YouTuber Brankly is going to be giving out candy in style this Halloween. Or, more accurately, his automated pumpkin system is going to take care of the task for him.

His large fake jack-o’-lantern sits atop a hilariously smaller skeleton body, and hides inside a servo-driven turntable dispensing mechanism. As it rotates, treats are pushed out of a tongue-like slide mechanism, where it’s detected by two infrared sensors. This detection stops (and reverses) the dispensing plate, while the bowl in front illuminates.

Sounds and lighting are recycled from the modified bowl and pumpkin assembly, and LEDs under control of an Arduino Nano are added to a large button box that starts the cycle. Another Nano runs the rest of the setup, along with a stepper driver board and voltage regulator on a custom PCB.

More build specifics can be found on GitHub.

October 31st is almost here and we’re all super excited, because this is the perfect time for some DIY fun! Nothing to wear? Not a problem! Need a spook-tacular decoration? We’ve got just the thing.

To help get you into the spirit, we’ve selected a handful of Halloween-themed projects from the Arduino Project Hub that will surely catch the attention of trick-or-treaters (or send them screaming into the night.)  

Talking Triceratops Skull

Make your Echo Dot a bit more interesting than a hockey puck using an Arduino Uno, a Motor Shield, a 3.5mm TRS splitter, and an amplified speaker.

Animatronic Halloween Prop

This Arduino Mega-based robot can be operated remotely from your smartphone or move about autonomously, complete with creepy lights and a terrifying soundtrack.

LED Eye Mask

Stand out as you walk through the neighborhood by customizing a store-bought mask with an eye made of LEDs and a mouth that flashes red. 

Dropping Spider

Here’s a quick, last-minute scare prank for your porch. Drop a fake spider on anyone that tries to ring your doorbell via an Arduino Uno, an HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor, and a servo. 

Ultimate Dry Ice Machine

Add some special effects to your party with a 3D-printed, Arduino Nano-powered fog machine that’s controllable over Bluetooth. 

Have a project of your own? Be sure to share it with us! 

Halloween has become something of a hacker holiday, giving creative people the world over a chance to show off their spooky animatronic inventions outside without neighborhood scrutiny. This year, Instructables user “gocivici” created a display inspired by the doll in a rocking chair featured in the movie Annabelle, but decided to use an Arduino-infused teddy bear instead. 

The setup is simple but effective, using an Arduino Nano and solenoid to rock the chair. The bear’s head rotates using another Arduino board—an Uno this time—along with a second solenoid and 3D-printed assembly stuffed inside. Control is accomplished via a small wireless remote, though a motion sensor could also be employed.

The idea of a mechanized walking suit to carry you around seems like a great idea, but having a practical leg assembly for it is still a futuristic concept. As seen here however, if you’re still a kid, you might be able to get your dad to carry you around in a custom suit fashioned after a MechWarrior vehicle.

The suit is beautifully designed by creator Gridlock Cosplay, and features an Arduino-powered control system. This allows the little pilot to command the mech’s human “engine” via a joystick and system of lights. The suit also features exterior and interior lights, a pilot cooling fan, spinning “radar” assembly, retractable pilot cage, and of course a cell phone holder in the padded engine compartment.

Halloween is just around the corner, and to celebrate, fadecomic decided to set up a trio of singing animatronic pumpkins to belt out scary songs. 

The project uses a Raspberry Pi for high level control and browser interface, and sends animation commands to an Arduino Uno via USB serial.

The Uno takes this data and translates it into actual pumpkin movements coordinated with music. The resulting trio of pumpkins each use their own servo to lift the top of the foam gourd up like a gigantic mouth, and also feature PWM-driven LED eyes. A light show controlled by SSRs completes the spooky musical effect. 

Build info is available here and the Arduino code can be found on GitHub.