Animating a static, commercial snowman - Revision history

Dirknerkle at 16:23, 10 May 2020

2020-05-10T16:23:04Z

Dirknerkle at 13:36, 30 April 2020

2020-04-30T13:36:07Z

Dirknerkle at 13:34, 30 April 2020

2020-04-30T13:34:58Z

Dirknerkle at 13:33, 30 April 2020

2020-04-30T13:33:48Z

Dirknerkle at 13:29, 30 April 2020

2020-04-30T13:29:12Z

Dirknerkle at 13:26, 30 April 2020

2020-04-30T13:26:29Z

Dirknerkle at 13:25, 30 April 2020

2020-04-30T13:25:40Z

Dirknerkle at 16:37, 29 April 2020

2020-04-29T16:37:44Z

Dirknerkle at 16:36, 29 April 2020

2020-04-29T16:36:53Z

Dirknerkle at 16:34, 29 April 2020

2020-04-29T16:34:47Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:23, 10 May 2020
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	::*'''Video of the above electronics in action: [https://vimeo.com/413300187 CLICK HERE]'''		::*'''Video of the above electronics in action: [https://vimeo.com/413300187 CLICK HERE]'''
		+
		+	::*'''Video of the fully completed project: [https://vimeo.com/416930435 CLICK HERE]'''

	::*'''Video of another conversion''', using a continuous motor and eccentric for head motion: '''[https://vimeo.com/221832131 CLICK HERE]'''		::*'''Video of another conversion''', using a continuous motor and eccentric for head motion: '''[https://vimeo.com/221832131 CLICK HERE]'''

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 ::::A section of scrap metal was chosen as the bracket material and hammered flat. A piece of cardboard was cut to match the width of the metal and marked with locations of parts of the wire frame. After some trial-and-error folding the overall shape of the bracket started to take place.
-::::[[File:IMG_1459.JPG | 350px]] [[File:IMG_1458.JPG | 350px]]
+:::::[[File:IMG_1459.JPG | 350px]] [[File:IMG_1458.JPG | 350px]]
 ::::Trial-and-error also showed it would be possible to bend the ends of the bracket around parts of the snowman's wire frame, solving the problem of physically mounting the bracket onto the frame! Oh... the things you'll learn with DIY engineering!

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:34, 30 April 2020
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−	::So you picked up a wire frame snowman at your local home improvement center and now that you've plugged it in, it glows nice and bright but it just stands there. And you want to make it interact a bit more with your viewers by adding some motion. It's not as hard as you might think, but it does involve a bit of DIY engineering, and truth be told, sometimes it turns out to be the ''one-of-a-kind-I-hope-I-never-have-to-do-this-again'' kind of engineering! But stick to it, and it'll come together. Here's one way to do it... (~~Forum~~ thread here: https://diychristmas.org/vb1/showthread.php?10500-Another-snowman-conversion&goto=newpost)	+	::So you picked up a wire frame snowman at your local home improvement center and now that you've plugged it in, it glows nice and bright but it just stands there. And you want to make it interact a bit more with your viewers by adding some motion. It's not as hard as you might think, but it does involve a bit of DIY engineering, and truth be told, sometimes it turns out to be the ''one-of-a-kind-I-hope-I-never-have-to-do-this-again'' kind of engineering! But stick to it, and it'll come together. Here's one way to do it... (The original forum thread is here: https://diychristmas.org/vb1/showthread.php?10500-Another-snowman-conversion&goto=newpost)

	[[File:Snowman.JPG \| 250px \|center]]		[[File:Snowman.JPG \| 250px \|center]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:33, 30 April 2020
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−	::So you picked up a wire frame snowman at your local home improvement center and now that you've plugged it in, it glows nice and bright but it just stands there. And you want to make it interact a bit more with your viewers by adding some motion. It's not as hard as you might think, but it does involve a bit of DIY engineering, and truth be told, sometimes it turns out to be the ''one-of-a-kind-I-hope-I-never-have-to-do-this-again'' kind of engineering! But stick to it, and it'll come together. Here's one way to do it...	+	::So you picked up a wire frame snowman at your local home improvement center and now that you've plugged it in, it glows nice and bright but it just stands there. And you want to make it interact a bit more with your viewers by adding some motion. It's not as hard as you might think, but it does involve a bit of DIY engineering, and truth be told, sometimes it turns out to be the ''one-of-a-kind-I-hope-I-never-have-to-do-this-again'' kind of engineering! But stick to it, and it'll come together. Here's one way to do it... (Forum thread here: https://diychristmas.org/vb1/showthread.php?10500-Another-snowman-conversion&goto=newpost)

	[[File:Snowman.JPG \| 250px \|center]]		[[File:Snowman.JPG \| 250px \|center]]

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 :::::Note: An actuator was chosen over a servo or continuously rotating motor for multiple reasons, the most important of which was sheer power. The head-turning motion need not be super fast but snow and ice can collect on outdoor props where the author lives, adding to the difficulty of making the props move. A servo could certainly be used as well, but a servo with sufficient force to move the head is more expensive and overall, more difficult to control. Also, servos must be continuously powered and usually have a return-to-center function when power is applied. An actuator stays put until told to move. The automatic end-limiting of an actuator produces a finite amount of motion and automatically disconnects motor power, so no monitoring of full motion is necessary. To sequence the actuator's in/out direction, two control channels are required to trigger the electronic H-bridge to reverse the polarity of the actuator's motor. And if the full range of motion requires 1 second of time, applying power for a half-second results in half the motion (either in or out) so it's possible to move the head only slightly and thus, controlling the prop's motion is a simple on/off function -- similar to turning lights on/off -- although two channels are used instead of only one. It's important to note that actuators generally do not enjoy waterproofing, so some care must be taken to weatherproof them. Another considering can be operating temperature and duty cycle. The inexpensive ones such as this example (about $20 US) are designed for about 10-20% duty cycle and continuous use will likely burn them out. Turning the snowman's head is an intermittent, gradual action for perhaps 1/4 to 1/2 second at a time about every 5 to 10 seconds and the auto-limiting switches turn it off anyway when it reaches either end of its throw. Operating temperature in extreme climates -- either cold or hot -- can become more of a problem and may require additional attention.
-::*'''H-bridge electronics.''' An h-bridge is a circuit that switches the polarity of a voltage applied to a load, which then allows a DC motor to run forwards or backwards. It's named because the switching mechanism looks like an "H" around the central DC motor. It's normally used with a microcontroller of some type to trigger the h-bridge to do its work, similar to turning a light on or off. Here's a manual circuit diagram and a sample of a commercially available product. A suitable h-bridge for this project costs about $5 from Amazon or other sources. '''Here's a quick video of the H-Bridge, power supply, controller and actuator in action: [https://vimeo.com/413300187 CLICK HERE]'''
+::*'''H-bridge electronics.''' An h-bridge is a circuit that switches the polarity of a voltage applied to a load, which then allows a DC motor to run forwards or backwards. It's named because the switching mechanism looks like an "H" around the central DC motor. It's normally used with a microcontroller of some type to trigger the h-bridge to do its work, similar to turning a light on or off. Here's a manual circuit diagram and a sample of a commercially available product. A suitable h-bridge for this project costs about $5 from Amazon or other sources.
 ::::::[[File:Hbridge_circuit.png | 250px]]  [[File:Hbridge-sample.png | 350px]]
 ::*'''Video of the above conversion''', triggered manually before adding the control electronics: '''[https://vimeo.com/412973118 CLICK HERE]'''
 ::*'''Video of another conversion''', using a continuous motor and eccentric for head motion: '''[https://vimeo.com/221832131 CLICK HERE]'''

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 ::*'''Video of another conversion''', using a continuous motor and eccentric for head motion: '''[https://vimeo.com/221832131 CLICK HERE]'''
-::*'''Video of another snowman with two actuators, one for the head, one for the arms: '''[https://vimeo.com/274259822 CLICK HERE]'''
+::*'''Video of another snowman with two actuators''', one for the head, one for the arms: '''[https://vimeo.com/274259822 CLICK HERE]'''
 ::*Additional lights for the eyes and/or mouth can certainly be added to the project at the whim of the DIY'er, as can additional motor devices for moving the snowman's arms -- only limited by your creativity and effort!

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:34, 29 April 2020
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	::*'''Video of this conversion''', triggered manually before adding the control electronics: '''[https://vimeo.com/412973118 CLICK HERE]'''		::*'''Video of this conversion''', triggered manually before adding the control electronics: '''[https://vimeo.com/412973118 CLICK HERE]'''
		+
		+	::*'''Video of another conversion''', using a continuous motor and eccentric for head motion: '''[https://vimeo.com/221832131 CLICK HERE]'''
		+
		+	::*'''Video of another snowman with two actuators, one for the head, one for the arms: '''[https://vimeo.com/274259822 CLICK HERE]'''

	::*Additional lights for the eyes and/or mouth can certainly be added to the project at the whim of the DIY'er, as can additional motor devices for moving the snowman's arms -- only limited by your creativity and effort!		::*Additional lights for the eyes and/or mouth can certainly be added to the project at the whim of the DIY'er, as can additional motor devices for moving the snowman's arms -- only limited by your creativity and effort!