Talking Scarecrow project

[livinlowe]

Jon ( or someone that can remember)-
I recall last year that there was a link to a halloween project that consisted of a talking Scarecrow and a talking Raven. The gentelman who built these props was, I think, a Parallax employee. Do you have the link to his project page?

Thanks
Livinlowe

[JonnyMac]

Peter is not a Parallax employee, but he does do some consulting for Parallax, including the maintenance of the SX-Key IDE which I use every day for programming SX chips (like in the AP-8, DC-16, RC-4, and a new product that we'll show-off [prototype only] at HauntCon.  You can find Peter's page here:

www.socalhalloween.com

Also at HauntCon we should have good news as to how you can use our Prop-SX and a free piece of software to drive up to eight servos and eight solenoid outputs in perfect sync with an audio track (like Peter is doing).  Like the VSA/PSC combination this will be PC-driven, but the cost is right and the results, with a bit of effort, can be spectacular.

[livinlowe]

That sounds cool! I'm looking forward to hearing about it! Thanks for the link!

[JonnyMac]

I can't wait to show everybody -- I'm have fun controlling servos with my PC right this second!

[gmacted]

Jon,

     Will the Prop-SX be available so that we can start and finish development before this Halloween?  I really want to build a talking skull for this year.

[JonnyMac]

Yes, John B is ramping up production now.  We'll have a few to show-off at HauntCon and when we get back we'll go into production when we get back.

[gmacted]

Great news!

[JonnyMac]

In the meantime you may want to have a look at Vixen (www.vixenlights.com).  I've been working with the developer, KC, and what he's working on for V2.0 will be really great for haunters -- that said, I'm controlling servos and digital outputs with a Prop-SX with the current version and a custom driver he created for us.

[gmacted]

Thanks for the link Jon.  I can't wait to get my hands on the new Prop-Sx.

[JonnyMac]

Turns out that you can use the Prop-1 as a [limited] Vixen interface as well -- see this post for details: http://www.efx-tek.com/php/smf/index.php?topic=96.0