# 3 More Skulls Are Ready To Speak



## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

I've just finished adding the servos to these 3 skulls so that they can talk and sing this year. I followed Scary Terry's excellent tutorial which worked perfectly - http://www.scary-terry.com/buckyservo/buckyservo.htm
Although I have 3 axis skulls, they are much more complicated and require being hooked up to a computer. These can be stand alone props and can even run on batteries although I've found that they eat them up in a hurry. This really is an easy project and having your skeleton talk can really take your haunt up another level.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Holy moley, Halstaff, you are a prop making machine! Do you ever rest?

Stand alone talkies are a great idea. I'm sure a lot of folks don't feel they can handle dealing with the computer end of setting up a 3-axis skull, so this is a nice alternative. Now all you need to do is figure out how to make those batteries last longer:jol:


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

That doesnt look as bad as I thought it might be. What kind of cost are we talking about?


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

If you don't have any of the parts, you can buy a kit from Cowlacious that comes with everything you need for $80. I already had the skulls and servos and hope to build my own audio controllers, so I just used Terry's how to. Cowlacious also has a tutorial for the build that has more details. You can find the kit on the website here -http://cowlacious.mybigcommerce.com/products/Scary-Terry-Talking-Skull.html and his tutorial here - https://cowlacious.mybigcommerce.com/content/Manuals/Talking%20Skull%20Kit%202010%20v1.pdf


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## TheOneAndOnlyKelly (May 7, 2009)

Do the eyes move too, or just the jaw? Can you hear any kind of buzz from the servos?


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## Jaybo (Mar 2, 2009)

halstaff said:


> If you don't have any of the parts, you can buy a kit from Cowlacious that comes with everything you need for $80. I already had the skulls and servos and hope to build my own audio controllers, so I just used Terry's how to. Cowlacious also has a tutorial for the build that has more details. You can find the kit on the website here -http://cowlacious.mybigcommerce.com/products/Scary-Terry-Talking-Skull.html and his tutorial here - https://cowlacious.mybigcommerce.com/content/Manuals/Talking%20Skull%20Kit%202010%20v1.pdf


Ok, I know you are a converted Picaxe fiend, so does that mean you have a Picaxe sound/servo circuit working? I know hpropman was working on one. Did he get one working?


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

MacabreRob said:


> Do the eyes move too, or just the jaw? Can you hear any kind of buzz from the servos?


The eyes don't move on these but they can be set to be always on or if you use the Cowlacious board, you can have them flash with the audio.
You can hear the servos but with everything else going on and the audio being run through a pair of powered computer speakers, it's not that noticeable.


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

Jaybo said:


> Ok, I know you are a converted Picaxe fiend, so does that mean you have a Picaxe sound/servo circuit working? I know hpropman was working on one. Did he get one working?


Yes, I do like the Picaxe but unfortunately, I still lack the skills to design something like the audio circuit from the ground up. I know hpropman is working on it so I put these together so they'd be ready when the circuits done. I have 4 more 08 boards and 10 chips coming Friday so I'll be set to build.


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## fritz42_male (May 5, 2009)

I'm in the UK for a month but will be back mid-June. I've bought the op-amp and other bits to begin development of my own Picaxe-based Scary Terry equivalent if Joe (hpropman) hasn't released his documentation by then.

I hope that with Halstaff, we can come out with a Picaxe 18M2 based solution that not only includes 3 axis head control but the Audio circuit and trigger in/out as well.

I'm also taking delivery of some hardware from a friend who is very experienced in CNC work that will be basically a low cost 2 Axis eye kit. We hope to make this out of pre-cut parts in either coated steel or aluminium that can be bent or connected together very easily. However, this might be overridden by Homey's new kits.


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## kprimm (Mar 14, 2009)

Nice work halstaf, there is no rest for prop makers, Halloween waits for no one.


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## fritz42_male (May 5, 2009)

Still reckon Halloween ought to be a week long thing.


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## fritz42_male (May 5, 2009)

I've just received a circuit diagram and program for a Picaxe based audio to servo setup. I'll be trialling a VLC and Picaxe 18m2 version as soon as I get back from the UK. I suspect the cost of the 18m2 version will be under $25 for jaw + 3 axis servo control.

Steve - will forward the email on tomorrow!


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

I'll second the Scary Terry talking skull. It takes maybe 3 hours to make the bracket, mod the skull and mount the servo. Even the simple single-servo skull really gets the TOT's attention.


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

Awesome! Those will be fun!


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

Thanks everyone.
I'm really looking forward to trying the new Picaxe audio/servo driver. 
I've got a new, very inexpensive Picaxe based prop controller almost ready to test. Just waiting for UPS to deliver the last 2 components.


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