# Haunted Mansion Raven- Servo driven beak movement?



## HalloweenRick (Nov 25, 2005)

Hey guys need some input on this one. I would like to duplicate the ravens from Disney's Haunted Mansion, specifically the ones from the Madame Leota's crystal ball seance with the red eyes and movement. I have a HS-311 servo to work the base on a 4" wheel, and red LEDs for the eyes. All will be driven by a Prop1 board. My problem is I also have the new B-8 micro servo for the beak, but I can't see an easy way to work it. Jon at EFX-TEK has been kind enough to write the code, but I thought I'd call on the expertise of the good people here (Bourno and Otaku I'm looking your way again.) Should I get a small spring? Should I decapitate the bird? Here's a picture of the raven:








Its hollow inside completely. I was hoping to just have the lower beak move, but I'm open to suggestions. I was almost thinking I should cut the beak off and make one out of aluminum flashing, but what would I use for a hinge? The B-8 moves counterclockwise only 90 degrees. Jon has written the program with random movement which should look pretty cool. Thanks for all your help in advance!


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

http://www.deadmansinne.com/

http://www.socalhalloween.com/Project_Raven.html


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## HalloweenRick (Nov 25, 2005)

Thanks Doc! Although those will be far more complicated than mine, I think I'm going to do like the SoCal guy did and mount the servo in the head, so I'll try to slice open the raven at the neck and see what happens. Thanks again!


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

No problem!


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

I'd go for the body-mounted servo - lots more room to work with. You should be able to part the beak and remove the lower portion easily. Use a short piece of piano wire as the hinge, with a loop in the center to attach the link to the servo. Attach two small tabs to the back of the lower beak to run the wire through, so that it can move up and down. I don't know how big your servo is, but if you mount it inside the body you should have plenty of room.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

I'd slice the whole raven in half lengthwise and do what Otaku said. You may even be able to make the wings flap.


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Yes, slicing the bird lengthwise will work best. I think your crow doesn't have much in the way of wings, but there are others that have spread-out wings that you could get to flap like the one at HM. Look up some pics of crow skeletal anatomy to see where to hinge the beak for the most realistic movement.


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

True, but you could ADD wings to the wingless body. I agree, look at anatomy books for the beak.


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## bradbaum (Jul 26, 2008)

Here is another anamatronic raven:

http://csiliva9.741.com/crypt/crow.html


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

bradbaum, nice link, but the popups on that site make nearly impossible to read it!
Another cool raven for sure though.


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## bradbaum (Jul 26, 2008)

yeah, my popup blocker was having trouble with them as well.


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## Lotus (Nov 12, 2004)

bradbaum said:


> Here is another anamatronic raven:
> 
> http://csiliva9.741.com/crypt/crow.html


Seen that bird in real life looked amazing


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