animatronics

[coltonk]

Ive been trying to find out what type of controllers are used in animatronics. Are they PLC's, Stamps, Ect...

For some reason I can not find anywhere that talks about this. I did see a brief view on a controller while watching one of the many halloween show on TV.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[spookineer]

There are several different ways to control animatronics. It can be PC based or stand alone controllers. I personally use PC based control and have recently gotten into Basic stamps. Here is a brief list of products I have had experience with that may get you started. Hope this helps. If you browse the individual websites you'll find many more products.

PC control software
http://www.brookshiresoftware.com/vsa_overview.htm

Servo controllers
http://www.lynxmotion.com/Product.aspx?productID=395
http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/240
http://www.seetron.com/ssc.htm
http://www.parallax.com/Store/Robots...%2cProductName

Relay control
http://www.electronickits.com/kit/co...lec/ck1601.htm (also known as the kit 74)

Stand alone basic stamp components
http://www.efx-tek.com/topics/prop-1.html
http://www.efx-tek.com/topics/prop-2.html

[MindWerxKMG]

Also check out www.frightprops.com. They have all sorts of info on controllers, solenoid valves and pneumatics on their site.

[gadget-evilusions]

I personally use all EFX-tek controllers.

[JonnyMac]

In addition to our BASIC Stamp-based products (Prop-1 and Prop-2), we offer the Prop-SX which uses the high-power SX28 chip -- the same chip that is the "brain" in all of our accessories (e.g., FC-4, AP-8, etc.).

With the Prop-SX one is free to create high-power applications at a low price ($100, qty 1); things like lamp fading (in the middle of prop sequence), DMX and MIDI slaves, you can even use the Prop-SX as a smart node in a networked system. We're doing quite a lot with the Prop-SX, and more cool things are coming.

Jon Williams
EFX-TEK