# Brookshire's VSA software and Parallax USB servo controller



## Richie

I'm going to be modifying a Bucky skull soon in an attempt to get him talking. Originally I wanted to use a Prop-1 controller, but I saw a video online of someone that used the Prop-1 and I didn't like the movement to much. So I decided to give the Brookshire software a try using a Parallax USB servo controller. 

I haven't purchased anything yet, but I wanted to know if anyone has any experience with these components or any suggestions for me. Initially I want to simply get the jaw movement dialed in and perhaps, at a later date, try to upgrade it with additional animation such as panning, head tilting, and eye movement. From what little I know, the Brookshire software enables you to program movement using the computer mouse rather than having to actually write code. 

Lastly, is there a compromise when it comes to using high end metal gear, dual ball bearing servo's as opposed to nylon gear type servo's? The metal gear type seem to emit a high amount of gear noise, but also seem to be very smooth, which is essential when it comes to a talking character. What is the general consensus with servo type that most of you use? Thanks.


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## Dr Morbius

I just got the Parallax board and VSA for a similar project you are working on. After playing with it, I really like the VSA interface. Although a tad time consuming with regards to inputing the commands (yes, via mouse), it's fairly easy once you get going. Metal geared servos are stronger, but wear out and you get "play" int he gear mesh eventually. Composite gears and nylon gears aren't as strong, but if you aren't putting a heavy load on them they last longer. Titanium gears are the rolls royce of servo gears, but of course are most expensive. Really it depends on your needs. For your project, you can get away with nylon gears for everthing but the tilt mech. For that you should have a high torque metal gear servo, because the front face of a bucky is kinda heavy. Hope that helped.


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## Richie

Hi Morbius,

Glad to see you're doing something similar and are using the same components. Yeah, I have no doubt whether writing code or using Brookshire's software, it's a very long tedious process to do something like this, not to mention really getting it dialed in correctly. 

Rather than use one of my existing Bucky skulls, I'm going to order a 1st quality version off of Ebay since they are inexpensive. I'll also be purchasing the Parallax board too this week. Can you recommend a nylon gear type servo that is fairly reliable for the jaw movement? Thank again.


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## Richie

BTW...I take it the servo controller is simply just that, but do I need another basic stamp component that actually gets the code written and saved to it? I'm downloading the servo controller instructions now, I'll see if it mentions anything.


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## randyaz

You can download the demo VSA from www.brookshiresoftware.com. Its fuctional and you can see what it does. If you do the online purchase they will email the key to make it fully functional.

You wont need a stamp...just the servo controller. But keep in mind that the controller has to stay connected to a PC.


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## Richie

[QUOTEBut keep in mind that the controller has to stay connected to a PC.[/QUOTE]

I didn't realize the computer would have to be connected while in use. I do have a spare desktop that I could use. I'd just have to get a long enough USB cable to reach the prop. Thanks.


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## Dr Morbius

You could use a RAPU to store the program. It's made to hold programs like VSA so you can run it without a computer...you still need a PC to write the routine, but you can store it to a RAPU and run it without a computer.


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## randyaz

Yep...I forgot about about the RAPU

http://www.brookshiresoftware.com/rapu3_order.php?ct=yes&PHPSESSID=6a30a105f79f39ff104bff62221d3f5c

Its pricey... and you would still need a servo controller. Id sure like to have one.

Another consideration... With a USB servo controller (...and serial too) there are some distance limitations.

"The maximum length of a USB cable is 5 meters (16 feet). The maximum number of USB hubs that can be daisy-chained (connected in series) is five. Thus if a device is connected to a PC through 5 hubs, then the maximum distance from the device to the PC is 30 meters (98 feet) (6 cables @ 5 meters or 16 feet each)."

Im thinking the max run for a serial connection is 300 feet.

So, it would be less expensive to keep the servo controller (USB or serial) close to the PC and use a cheaper cable between the servo controller and the prop servos. Some use a heavy guage servo wire, shielded 3 wire cable, standard phone wire, CAT3/CAT5.

But then that presents another proplem...possible signal loss to the servos due to voltage drop over distance and/or induced noise on the cable. However, there are several people who have reported that they used standard phone wire or CAT5 to around 100 feet without problems. I've used CAT5 cable to about 30 feet and didnt have any problems with servo signal.


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## halloweenguy

The Brookshire VSA software / Parallax USB controller is very easy to use...A Laptop works best for props....We used a Rapu at the Haunt but it was buggy at best. After loading the VSA software and connecting the Parallax board you will need to load the FTDI drivers for the parallax board.

Connect a servo motor to port 1 on the Parallax card, make sure switch is in the on position, and the 5 or 6 volt dc adapter is connected.

1. Launch the VSA software
2. go to settings (f3) Make sure type is "parallax servo", com port maches your parallax usb port, and all port settings are 38400.
3.Load audio file (f2)
4 You can create a instant jaw routine using wavemotion analysis. hit enter to play it back.

or you can connect a joystick and use capture mode to do a jaw movement.

These steps are great for a test drive...When you install your servos in the skull you will have to set servo range limits before you finalize your routines

You are not limited to just servo's... there are PWM relays, relay driver boards, and DMX devices too.

As far as noise goes...you just turn up the volume on a good set of computer speakers and you wont even hear the servos operate.


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## Richie

Hi folks,

Thanks for all the great responses. While reading the downloaded instruction manual, I came across the RAPU. I remembered this was the same components recommended by the Skultronix people. I seem to recall the RAPU may have been like $300.00. For starters, I think I'm going to go with my spare tower computer that runs Win XP Pro. I can set the computer in my garage about 14 feet from where the prop would be placed outside. If it doesn't work, I can always consider the RAPU, which would be a great thing to have. 

I also seem to recall that the RAPU is not weather proof at all, so I assume mounting it in an enclosure, or even underneath a table of some kind to keep it away from the elements. Either way, I would just make installation of the RAPU a modular type so it could be removed and brought in the house at night. I'll keep you all posted as to my progress. I just ordered the servo controller from Parallax, so my parts quest has begun. Thanks again for all your help.


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## halloweenguy

The Skulltronix people have stop selling the Rapu unit for the same reason I described above. Save your money!!!


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## Richie

Thanks HalloweenGuy, I'm going to use my spare desktop computer to run the Brookshire software.


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## zeenon

Also, I would stick with the Hitec HS-425 servos. I use them in my talking skull and haven't had any issues.

Z

http://www.deadmansinne.com


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## Richie

zeenon said:


> Also, I would stick with the Hitec HS-425 servos. I use them in my talking skull and haven't had any issues.QUOTE]
> 
> Hi Zeenon,
> 
> It looks like your website was the one I was looking at the other day. I started this tread in an attempt to follow what you have done. By the way, great job on your props. If by any chance you decide to sell those neck brackets you installed in your skull, please keep me in mind. I've studied all your photos, but the process of actually creating that part so the skull can tilt and pan eludes me. When I get the jaw action to the way I want it, I'm going to move forward with it and try to get the eyes to flash to the audio phrase and also pan left and right. I'm just going to take it one step at a time. Thanks again for the information about the Hitec servo. I'll be sure to use them.


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## Brad Green

I was in the same boat as you Richie, I stared at Deadman's Inn for months trying to figure the pan/tilt mechanism out, and then one day it all fell into place and I built one! You can probably cheat and go to ServoCity.com where for about $35. they sell a pan/tilt setup that you might be able to adapt to your skull. Zeenon, I know you eventually went to a VSA system, but initially you had your skull running a ST100 and a Prop1 and had it all going pretty good. I'm trying the same thing with the Prop1 with Jon at EFX, but it's going kinda slow, and I was wondering if you might have any advice for setting up pan/tilt programming?


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## Brad Green

Just wanted to show you why I decided to go with the Prop1 vs VSA. I'm trying to keep everything tucked under the clavium with as few wires exposed as possible (sorta plug-n-play)


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## Richie

Brad,

You just overwhelmed me with that photo, holy cow! In addition to how impressive it looks, I never would have thought with so much electronics that it would be installed so neatly. You can do all that and you're still having issues? Looks like I have a very serious amount of work ahead of me. I can't wait to see a video of this.

Also, I was originally going to use the prop-1, but after looking at Zeenon's first two video links, the third one when he switched to the other software or servo controller, really appeared to be much smoother working. I think he mentioned it was also due to the limited memory of the prop-1. Speaking for myself, after seeing what the Skulltronics folks did, setting my sights on something at that level is the only way to go, and I know it'll be anything but easy.


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## halloweenguy

I'm pretty sure that the main reason Zeenon went with the VSA and parallax setup is limited space inside the bucky with all those servo's...when you go this route you can eliminate the Scary Terry audio boards. See his before and after pics. and you are also correct the prop1 is very limited in storage space.

I am not knocking the Prop1 or Prop2 boards....All of these solutions have thier place for the home haunter.


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## Brad Green

You may be right on that one Halloweenguy, I'm right at maximum capacity with 3 servos, pan/tilt device, ST100, Prop1, mp3 player and all the wiring, let alone trying to cram eye servos in place. Granted, I do agree with Richie that the action with a VSA setup is smoother, but, with alot of fine tuning, I think I can get pretty decent results with what I have, plus the fact that I'm bound and determined to get ALL of it inside this skull if it kills me! There's only two wires jacked into it now, and I intend for it to stay that way. If I'm not off the mark, the other reason Zeenon went with the VSA is the length of his dialogue was pretty substantial, whereas mine is just using the Stephen Lynch song "Halloween" (2min, 38sec) and then resetting.


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## darryl

Perfect timing guys!! Just got my servo board yesterday and am still working on getting all the servos mounted in the skull. Look forward to updates from all. Hopefully I'll get some time to experiment this weekend.


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## Dr Morbius

Well guys, I'm working on the same project..with a few of my own personal twists(heheh) And I know you need an AC adapter plugged into the wall no matter what. Soooo Running a USB cable down the neck with it makes me wonder just how self contained the skull can be, and if working to cram everything in it is really worth the trouble..don't get me wrong Brad..I'm impressed with your accomplishment, but 1 wire, 2 or 4, ....wrapped around and hidden down the neck, what difference can it make? Anyways, That's why I'm using VSA and a Parallax. Besides, I can use the PC to play the WAVs through VSA and I need to run speakers outside the skull anyways, so I didn't even consider trying to fit everything in the skull...I WILL mount the Parallax board up under the Clavium though. Nice work man!


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## Brad Green

Hey Doc, thanks for the compliment. I won't have a USB coming out of the skull with this setup, and the reason for all the fuss is that it will be a free-standing skeleton with no outfit or other cover, so for me the less the better. I've gotten it down to 2 thin wires that should be easy to make "disappear", plus I can just pop everything out of the jacks, spin off the skull and store it easily.


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## Dr Morbius

I see.. Mine will have basically two wires too..the power and the USB. Do you have speakers in the skull too?


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## Brad Green

No speaker inside,(that will be inside the tombstone he's seated on), the green line jacked into the base runs to an amplified speaker that has been converted to mono. The song that I'm using is only running on one track with the second track operating the ST100 board for the jaw servo (that was what you were helping me with on Audacity). So, only 2 wires, power in and audio out.


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## Dr Morbius

Really? How is that Mic "lala taptap" working for ya? LOL!


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## Richie

Brad Green said:


> You can probably cheat and go to ServoCity.com where for about $35. they sell a pan/tilt setup that you might be able to adapt to your skull.


Hi Brad,

That pan/tilt component looks great but they don't supply dimensions. I'm going to have to contact them and see it if can be used. I also have some components on hand from the days I used to fly real helicopters. Some of the actual control linkages, such as for the cyclic (stick) controls, operate just as you would need for a fully animated skulls head to pan and tilt in any direction. The easiest way to describe it would be a very fancy super smooth ball joint. I'm digging them out of storage to see if they are small enough to adapt into a skull.


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## darryl

I'm already fustrated!!!!!! Hooked everything up properly, I think, but servos won't move. The only thing I think might be wrong is I'm using a 4.5 volt wall wart putting out 5.1 vdc but only 700 ma. And the directions call for at least one amp. Will probablly not be able to get something for another 2 or 3 days due to getting off to late from work. Level of fustration: 9 out of 10!! But I will make this work darnit, I'm ready to make the cool stuff I see on others websites.


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## Richie

Darryl,

What brand and model servos are you using and how many of them do you have installed? I have parts on the way but haven't done anything about powering them yet. The Cowlacius website sells wall wart at 12Vdc and 500mA that seems to work with the HS-425-BB Servo, which only requires 4.8vdc to operate. I'm going to have to take a careful look at the HiTec servo specs and see exactly what these servos, whether one or multiples of them require.


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## Dr Morbius

I used a 3 volt wart, and it did the same thing. Then I stepped up to a 9v 150mA and it worked, but buzzed a little. Try a 6 volt adapter..that should be just right.


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## zeenon

Wow I forgot about this thread....

Brad, that is a work of art!!!!! You should encase that in a clear box. I have never seen so much cramed into a bucky skull. That was one of my other reasons to get away from all those boards....if a servo went bad,I wanted to be able to quickly replace it. I love it though!!!!


Z


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## Dr Morbius

Zeenon, I'm basing my bracket assembly on your idea, but I'm adding another "twist" to it. The problem I have been running into was the more "stuff" you put in the skull, the less room the skull has to move around all the stuff, which it's what it's doing. I've had to move some things around to accomodate the extra servos I am incorporating, but it's working out. I'll post a vid when it's finished. Great enginerring on your part! Terrific idea making the bracket out of aluminum "L" brackets and making it all one piece.


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## halloweenguy

darryl said:


> I'm already fustrated!!!!!! Hooked everything up properly, I think, but servos won't move. The only thing I think might be wrong is I'm using a 4.5 volt wall wart putting out 5.1 vdc but only 700 ma. And the directions call for at least one amp. Will probablly not be able to get something for another 2 or 3 days due to getting off to late from work. Level of fustration: 9 out of 10!! But I will make this work darnit, I'm ready to make the cool stuff I see on others websites.


Darryl, What setup did you go with??? VSA & Parallax or Prop 1 route???

The 5 volt or 6 Volt DC wall adapter should work fine....Just Make sure its beefy enough !!! Anything above 2 amps output should be more than enough for a Skull Project. The one I use is 5volts @3.7amps


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## darryl

Richie said:


> Darryl,
> 
> What brand and model servos are you using and how many of them do you have installed? I have parts on the way but haven't done anything about powering them yet. The Cowlacius website sells wall wart at 12Vdc and 500mA that seems to work with the HS-425-BB Servo, which only requires 4.8vdc to operate. I'm going to have to take a careful look at the HiTec servo specs and see exactly what these servos, whether one or multiples of them require.


Using Hi Tech servos, one I got with the Cowlacius Scarry terry board(which I'm not going to use in this skull now.) And a high torque, metal gear one I got at a local hobby store. I know mine operate at 4.8 or 6 vdc and the higher volts the more torque. Using two so far, tilt and mouth. Once I figure out to get the software working I want to add pan and maybe eyes, it just always seemed a little odd to have eyes in a skull, but then again so is a talking dead guy.


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## darryl

halloweenguy said:


> Darryl, What setup did you go with??? VSA & Parallax or Prop 1 route???
> 
> The 5 volt or 6 Volt DC wall adapter should work fine....Just Make sure its beefy enough !!! Anything above 2 amps output should be more than enough for a Skull Project. The one I use is 5volts @3.7amps


Used Vsa and a miniscc board, not the Parallax. I already am in way over my head, didn't want to worry about trying to learn how to program a Prop 1.
I have some wall warts at home, was just worried about using something to powerful for fear of ruining the servo board, but from peoples response it looks like everyone is using something way more powerfull then what it calls for.
What I would like to do is get this down and then create a few different scenes. One with my talking skelleton and one with 3 zombies (turning heads with sound) around a pop-up coffin prop. I would like to trigger them manually so I can decide who gets scared. These will be in my front yard so I don't want to scare the real little TOT's.
I know I can run the 2 servo boards, one for each scene, but can I do that with just the one software program? I'm curious if I can choose which board to activate seperately or if I need 2 computers, each loaded with the VSA software to operate each board seperately or can I load a VSA program on each one of my harddrives and operate them seperately? Hope this makes sense, it's hard to explain when I don't even really know what I'm doing!!!


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## Richie

Hi folks,

I'm having trouble getting in touch with Cowlacious to place and order for the actual mechanical parts for the jaw animation on my Bucky skull. Can anyone recommend how to make the parts and what I may need. I'm going to Home Depot today, so I'm going to pick up some aluminum angle stock for the servo bracket, but what about springs and such that I'll need to connect to the jaw? Any recommendations would be appreciated. I did order 2 Hitec HS-425 servos, one for the jaw and one to have on hand for later on, which will arrive in about 3 or 4 days.


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## zeenon

darryl,

I don't think you can run two VSA programs at the same time only because your using the computer as a sound source so the audio would step over the other. You can preload two VSA programs, and start either one but not at the same time. I guess if you really want to be creative and daring you could record a left channel for one scene, and a right for another. Using a splitter off the sound card......VSA program#1 will play the left sfx, and VSA program#2 will play the right sfx??

Richie, 

There are no springs in the jaw?? (You actually take the springs out on a bucky jaw) Unless your talking about the counterbalance spring then HD or Lowes usually carries them in the small parts draws. The rods you can get at any Hobby shop that sells model airplanes...ask for push rods.

Z


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## halloweenguy

Darryl, I have used VSA and the MiniSSC combo and it works just fine. The only thing I didn't like was the Split board battery saver option. making this a stacked board setup...Other than ( the servo ranges being different) that it's the nearly the same as the parallax board.

If your computer is beefy enough you can run multiple instances of VSA at the same time...Just launch multiple routines and go to window and select "cascade" for the view ---> then you can go to each one and press enter to start each one. This will allow you to run more than one skull or scene at the same time.
As Zeenon stated correctly ...running audio to multiple scenes from one computer can be tricky!!! You could use Special PWM relays to trigger your sound cards devices on queue from VSA or maybe use these relays to do some audio switching?

These relays can be controlled by giving a start a stop commands using a specific PWM values....MiniSSC values differ from parallax.

Links to relays:
Universal Switch
http://www.hobby-lobby.com/unusual.htm

Pico and Battle switch
http://www.lynxmotion.com/Category.aspx?CategoryID=106

or you could use the Kit74 or the Kit 108 for control of up to 8 relays with VSA?
http://kitsrus.com/kits.html

Now for the last part Triggering VSA manually!!! Can be done with PC/laptop in cascade mode with the audio triggers as mentioned above.

I hope this helps!!!


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## zeenon

While we are on the topic, is there an easy way to trigger a VSA routine off a pressure mat?

I was thinking of taking an old mouse apart and soldering a pressure mat to one of the buttons, then there is a freeware program that can assign a mouse button to a command (you can start a VSA routine via a command)

I think randyaz was working on a Prop-1 interface with VSA but, I only need the program to start when someone steps on the mat or even a PIR sensor nothing complicated.

Z


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## halloweenguy

Z....You could take one of those USB keypads for about $12 and hack the "enter" key. I used this freeware program with a mouse and reassigned the "right mouse key" last year in our haunt for the kids to press to start the routines. Crude but is does work. Lessons Learned: assign both mouse buttons to avoid to protect your routines from accidently being dragged around!!! To quit autohotkey you have to go into services and stop it....or you have to reboot which kills your routine.

http://www.autohotkey.com/

...Or just wait a couple of months for a new product that will come out for full control of external triggering of VSA routines. I am currently beta testing this now....Sorry I can't give you much information, but I can tell you it's definately worth the wait.

This product was designed by a fellow Haunter, with VSA in mind...You should see details posted within the next couple months.


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## darryl

So I get out the skull to try it out. Went out and bought the right wall wart and even a tester to test the output. I go to try it and I see that I forgot to unplug the battery which is dead, this gets me mad. So I get another wall wart I have, the directions say anything from 7vdc to 15vdc. I test the wall wart, less than 12vdc. PERFECT!! I cut off the battery snap and go to atach the leads, the frickin' wire comes off the board!!! Now I'm really p*** off!!
So I take the leads off, attach the wall wart directly to the board and plug it in and IT STARTS TO SMOKE!!!!!
I think I might have to give up. I then go upstairs and look at the directions and on one of the diagrams it says to not hook anything over 10v to the battery leads!! Which is it?? Apparently the 10v because 12v fried the dumb thing!!! $50 down the drain and still no talking skull!!!
I might order a parallax one and try that but right now I'm not to enthuised to go try this agian.........


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## randyaz

bummer darryl...but dont give up. Your not the first let the smoke out and you wont be the last. Consider it tuition on the course.

Im not positive, but having a voltage range of 7-15v implies the ssc has an onboard voltage regulator. If thats the case your 10v wart went over 15v when the load was placed on it. Or you might have got the polarity switched...

reguardless... it sucks


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## halloweenguy

Sorry Darryl about your mishap....I remember using this battery booster card to take the place of the 9 volt battery. I always thought it was a bad design on the Minissc. Maybe going to the parallax servo contoller board might be a better idea
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=28823

Just make sure you dont go over 6 volts DC to the board and it can supply at least 2 amps. The other thing I found is don't try to stuff too thick of wire into the power input connectors.


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## Dr Morbius

zeenon said:


> While we are on the topic, is there an easy way to trigger a VSA routine off a pressure mat?
> 
> I was thinking of taking an old mouse apart and soldering a pressure mat to one of the buttons, then there is a freeware program that can assign a mouse button to a command (you can start a VSA routine via a command)
> 
> I think randyaz was working on a Prop-1 interface with VSA but, I only need the program to start when someone steps on the mat or even a PIR sensor nothing complicated.
> 
> Z


YOu could always hack a keyboard circuit board. I did that with my homemade arcade machine (MAME) and it was free...I just ripped the board out of an old junked keyboard and used a program (free) called Keyhook to draw a table laying out a grid that used to determine which wire activated which character on the screen.


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## Dr Morbius

darryl said:


> So I get out the skull to try it out. Went out and bought the right wall wart and even a tester to test the output. I go to try it and I see that I forgot to unplug the battery which is dead, this gets me mad. So I get another wall wart I have, the directions say anything from 7vdc to 15vdc. I test the wall wart, less than 12vdc. PERFECT!! I cut off the battery snap and go to atach the leads, the frickin' wire comes off the board!!! Now I'm really p*** off!!
> So I take the leads off, attach the wall wart directly to the board and plug it in and IT STARTS TO SMOKE!!!!!
> I think I might have to give up. I then go upstairs and look at the directions and on one of the diagrams it says to not hook anything over 10v to the battery leads!! Which is it?? Apparently the 10v because 12v fried the dumb thing!!! $50 down the drain and still no talking skull!!!
> I might order a parallax one and try that but right now I'm not to enthuised to go try this agian.........


I like the parallax board, because it uses the 5 volts from the USB port directly to power it. Can't fry it if you tried.


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## Dr Morbius

halloweenguy said:


> Sorry Darryl about your mishap....I remember using this battery booster card to take the place of the 9 volt battery. I always thought it was a bad design on the Minissc. Maybe going to the parallax servo contoller board might be a better idea
> http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=28823
> 
> Just make sure you dont go over 6 volts DC to the board and it can supply at least 2 amps. The other thing I found is don't try to stuff too thick of wire into the power input connectors.


I went 9 volts in the parallax to power the servos...no probs.


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## darryl

thanks guys think i'll order the parrallax today. thanks for letting me vent, i know once i figure this out i'll be glad i didn't quite. maybe i'll get the usb, i have a card with 4 usb hookups, i could run more things that way, maybe try dmx???


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## halloweenguy

Dr Morbius said:


> I went 9 volts in the parallax to power the servos...no probs.


Not sure why you haven't fried your servo's yet....But here is a some info right from the Parallax manual.

The processor used on the PSCusb requires 5 VDC which is supplied by the USB port. Servos require far more power than the USB port can supply. *Therefore you must use a separate power supply for your servos. In general, servos require 4-7.5 VDC.* Be sure that the servo power source can supply ample current at the proper voltage and will not damage the servos.

Here is some info from Hitec Servo's FAQ's
Q. What is my Hitec Servos input voltage range?
A. All Hitec servos can be operated within a 4.8 - 6V (4 or 5 cells) range. Only the HS-50 operates exclusively at 4.8 volts (4 cells). Be aware that "coreless" and digital servos often perform poorly when alkaline batteries are used.


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## Dr Morbius

Yea, I saw that too..The current I use is 150 mA. I dunno. I'll try switching to a 6 volt, only because you scared me. LOL!


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## halloweenguy

The AC adapter we use on the Skulltronix talking skull is 5 volts DC @3.75amps...No problems with them so far.

I have been helping my friend Jerry Jewel with his Skulltronix business. That's where I have been learning most of this stuff from...Some of the new things we are developing for future products so I can't post pics of them or go in to specific details...

But I am willing to share help where I can!!!


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## Dr Morbius

Thanks HGuy! I'll go dig out another adapter.


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## Dr Morbius

Ok, Found one from an old sony PS1...7.5 volts, 2 amps. And my servos don't get hot now! LOL!


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## Richie

Just received my Parallax servo controller and the 1st quality skull I'm going to use. As soon as the Hitec servos arrive, I'll be able to start on this project. I'm also really glad a few of you posted about the external power source for the servos. I was going to use a 12v 500mA transformer and most likely would have burned up a few things.


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## Richie

Quick question...even though this Parallax servo controller is very small, is it possible to locate it outside the skull, say in the rib cage of my Bucky skeleton along with the speaker I intend to use? The controller came with a single cable for a servo at about 9" long. Is there such a thing as a servo extension cable available to make this possible for the Hitec HS-425BB? I'd like to only have the servos inside the skull, which should make future animation easier. 

For now I'll just be animating the jaw, but I think it also makes good sense to start thinking about strain relief for the USB wire and other wiring that'll be coming out of the head. Eventually when this thing starts panning and tilting, I'd hate to have wires get damaged.


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## randyaz

you can find wire and connectors at

http://www.servocity.com/html/servo_extensions___leads.html


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## Richie

Thank you Randy, exactly what I need.


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## randyaz

zeenon said:


> ...I think randyaz was working on a Prop-1 interface with VSA but, I only need the program to start when someone steps on the mat or even a PIR sensor nothing complicated.
> Z


I was only able to get a signal from the VSA to start a Prop1/Prop2/BS2 routine. VSA signals a servo swing to the servo controller. The Stamp can read a PULSIN off a signal pin on the the servo controller jumpered to a pin on the Stamp. Im sure some programing wiz could write a program for the PC to start VSA with a serout cue from the stamp...but thats way beyond my skills.

Here's an example code for reading the signal:

'{$STAMP BS2}
'{$PBASIC 2.5}

'this uses a jumper from a servo controller signal pin to pin 6 on BS2
'when pin 6 receives a pulse greater than 200mS (like servo arm far left)
'it switches PIN 15 HIGH

x VAR Word

main:
PULSIN 6, 1, x

IF x < 200 THEN HIGH 15 ELSE LOW 15
DEBUG CLS, ? X

PAUSE 1500
GOTO main


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## Richie

I received my servos today and tested the controller and servos on a table using the PSCI software. I haven't installed them in the skull yet, but everything worked perfectly during the test sequence I put together. I'll have to try out the Brookshire software and see which I like better. I will say one thing, these Hitec HS-425BB servos are really quiet. I'd bet installed a bucky skull, you'd barely be able to hear them. Thanks guys for recommending them to me.


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## Scary Jerry

*VSA software, talking skulls and servo notes*

Hi all, I have pretty extensive experience with VSA and with servos since I started leaving my real life behind to develop the SkullTroniX product.

VSA is a great low cost package for animation but you have to be a patient person to sit and drag out a command for every syllable in your dialog. We typically spend 5 hours for each minute of animation to get the servo movements to look realistic. You may have to decide if you want to spend your time and money developing the skull or developing the animation and buying a commercial skull.

As far as what servos to use: Buckys can be very heavy so stay away from the low-end nylon gears. You'll just break them and hear a lot of whining noise instead of seeing animation. The metal gears are the strongest by a huge margin (48 times stronger than nylon) but are noisy. The Karbonite gears in the Hitec product line are also stronger than nylon but are quiter.

Servos also come in high-torque and high speed versions. Mostly you need torque, not speed. Servos also come in right hand and left hand rotation. Futaba and Hitec are opposite of each other. So even though the servo size is the same they may not be interchangeable, especially if you have already created your animation file and want to replace one servo with a different brand. We stick with Hitec mostly.

Expect full size servos with high torque and Karbonite gears to run over $20 each. Don't buy digital servos or super high-torque servos for use with the Parallax board. The board just won't handle the power requirements.

Since servos are the majority of the cost of developing a reliable animatronic, spend your time learning about the different sizes, brands, torque, speed and power requirements. Otherwise, like me, you'll waste hundreds of dollars trying different servos.

As has been mentioned here and elsewhere, Bucky skulls are heavy and difficult to hollow out. Look for some other alternative as a starting point. The weight will cause sluggish performance, broken gears and generally disappointing results.

And when all is done you still have a doorstop without some really cool animation and sounds.

Talking skulls are cool though so good luck on your projects. I enjoy watching the videos!

Scary Jerry
also known by my wife as "that guy who molds plastic in my kitchen"


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## Dr Morbius

You're advice is sound, SJ, but I disagree about the bucky being a doorstop. I got some very good results using one. Yea, they're heavy, but properly balanced, they are no less animatable than a 200 pound teetertotter. The stress comes from trying to push the front heavier part of the Bucky up against the neck folcrum. When a counter weight is applied to the rear, a slight wind can raise it. This only creates a downward weight, so the brackets have to be sturdy enough to handle that. Otherwise, a Bucky is a terrific skull to animate.


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## ScareFX

Scary Jerry said:


> Hi all, I have pretty extensive experience with VSA and with servos since I started leaving my real life behind to develop the SkullTroniX product.
> 
> VSA is a great low cost package for animation but you have to be a patient person to sit and drag out a command for every syllable in your dialog. We typically spend 5 hours for each minute of animation to get the servo movements to look realistic. You may have to decide if you want to spend your time and money developing the skull or developing the animation and buying a commercial skull.
> 
> As far as what servos to use: Buckys can be very heavy so stay away from the low-end nylon gears. You'll just break them and hear a lot of whining noise instead of seeing animation. The metal gears are the strongest by a huge margin (48 times stronger than nylon) but are noisy. The Karbonite gears in the Hitec product line are also stronger than nylon but are quiter.
> 
> Servos also come in high-torque and high speed versions. Mostly you need torque, not speed. Servos also come in right hand and left hand rotation. Futaba and Hitec are opposite of each other. So even though the servo size is the same they may not be interchangeable, especially if you have already created your animation file and want to replace one servo with a different brand. We stick with Hitec mostly.
> 
> Expect full size servos with high torque and Karbonite gears to run over $20 each. Don't buy digital servos or super high-torque servos for use with the Parallax board. The board just won't handle the power requirements.
> 
> Since servos are the majority of the cost of developing a reliable animatronic, spend your time learning about the different sizes, brands, torque, speed and power requirements. Otherwise, like me, you'll waste hundreds of dollars trying different servos.
> 
> As has been mentioned here and elsewhere, Bucky skulls are heavy and difficult to hollow out. Look for some other alternative as a starting point. The weight will cause sluggish performance, broken gears and generally disappointing results.
> 
> And when all is done you still have a doorstop without some really cool animation and sounds.
> 
> Talking skulls are cool though so good luck on your projects. I enjoy watching the videos!
> 
> Scary Jerry
> also known by my wife as "that guy who molds plastic in my kitchen"


Welcome Scary Jerry. It's great to see the creator of the SkullTronix here on HauntForum.

We appreciate your tips and comments.

.


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## Richie

Hello Jerry,

I echo ScareFX's comment, it's great to see the brains behind the Skulltronix line pop in to the forum. Thank you for the advice. I also suspect the bucky skull could be to heavy, but also feel as Dr. Morbius, balancing it correctly is a must. Hey, if you find you have a few of your skull's not being used, feel free to sell them to us  

Also, don't be a stranger, we hope to see you pop in every now and then.


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## halloweenguy

Hey Guys, I was talking to Jerry yesterday afternoon, and mentioned how impressed I was with your Talking Skull Projects with the Bucky''s. He mentioned that the main reason he abandoned the Bucky Skull was limited interior space and excess weight. I know he has hallowed out buckys and is very familar with counter balancing , and even adding springs to take strain off the servo's.

Thanks Jerry for freely sharing your Talking Skull knowledge and experience with us!!!! Hopefully we can all benefit from your lessons learned? 

The most servos I have seen in a bucky was 5 by zeenon...Well done by the way!!! The trick is fitting the sixth servo and still have room for *full range motion with good performance. *

I don't think anyone here is saying it can't be done with a Bucky Skull...But its not as easy as people think.

Other options could be:

1. Try to find a way to mount some of the servos outside the skull? This might require cabling used in rc servo models.

2. Start with a lighter larger skull?


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## Dr Morbius

I've got room for 6 servos in my Bucky. Yea, it's not easy, but it aint that difficult either, once you figure out the layout. It's just a matter of good engineering, and utilization of space. For most folks, I agree that using your alternatives may be more viable. Thanks for the tips! Very informative.


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## darryl

Well, got my new Parallax servo board today, and a new-to-me laptop to run everything. Tried it out and was excited to actually fumble my way through to getting the ports configured, software downloaded, etc.... Kinda works, actually it works fine, I just need to spend ALOT of time figuring out how it works. But I'm excited and think this is going to be great for making cool props!! Time for bed!!


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## Dr Morbius

Has anyone had problems with VSA lag? I use Parallax servo controller, but the monologue finishes way ahead of the routine, then it plays catchup and speeds up the servos at the end of the sound. I played with the FPM at its lowest, but it still does it. Any suggestions?


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## randyaz

I noticed if I had a program(s) running when I synced the routine or had a program(s) running during playback that weren't running when I synced that it would make a difference in timing. It was due to demands/no demands on system resources...

It could also be due to the audio file...
http://www.halloweenforum.com/showthread.php?t=60532


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## Dr Morbius

I had no other programs running, and it still happened. Thanks for the thread link, Randy. I'll try converting it to a WAV file and see how it goes.


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## darryl

Success at last, kinda.......
I have the tilt and jaw servos mounted and they work okay. I rebuilt the inner mechanics today and helped balance the skull better but still need a spring to get it working. Need the right spring, the servo is still working harder then I think it should. I would be willing to work on the balance more, but the skull is so cut up now I don't think I can redo much more without making it useless.
But I did get it to work good enough to play around with the VSA software. It's great, hoping to have the money to get the actual software next week and not just the demo.
The only problem I had is when I loaded the wave file and played it back all it did was throw the jaw open and keep it there!! Any ideas??
Looking forward to mounting the pan servo soon so I have a complete package.
Nothing as cool as either Skulltronix or Dr Morbis but it will be awesome for me. Can't wait to get everything worked out so I can build a better version using all the knowledge I've learned from all my mistakes!!!


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## halloweenguy

Darryl, Congrats....Sounds like your making real progress with the VSA/parallax and the servos. With the jaw it sounds like you need to set your servo range limits so the servo is not overdriven outside its range??? Just a guess are you using the wavemotion analysis for your jaw movement?

1. I would try to set your min/max jaw sevo range ---> reload you wav file and run wavemotion analysis again.


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## darryl

Thanks, I'll try that.


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## darryl

Tried that but still couldn't get it to work. It just throws the jaw open and then stays there. Tried unhooking the servo horn so the servo could center itself and then reattached it but still wouldn't work. Tried everything I could think of, works fine when I take the servo horn off, the servo just goes to town. Do I maybe need to narrow my servo settings maybe, like instead of 1250 to 250 to 500 to 250? Any ideas will be appreciated.
I did start programming the jaw manually, and can see that will take some time, but the more I did the more i got the hang of it and the faster it went. Just didn't spend to much time since I just have the demo version and can't keep the routine anyways. Need to get the pan working to because just the tilt isn't to exciting!!
Ritchie, any luck on your end? Have you been able to start?


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## darryl

Oh another ? My friend owns a computer recycling store. Does anyone know if I were to put, say 3 hard drives in one tower, would I be able to take my one purchased copy of VSA and put it on each hard drive and then save one routine to each drive? Or due I need to purchase one copy for each drive? Can I even transfer one copy of VSA from one computer to another or do I need to download it to the computer I'm using on Halloween? I know they wouldn't all play at the same time due to the sound card not being able to play 3 different wavs at the same time. Or maybe I could put in 3 soundcards and assign each drive a different default card? He always has tons of extra stuff he's tossing and I get it cheap or free.


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## halloweenguy

halloweenguy said:


> Darryl, Congrats....Sounds like your making real progress with the VSA/parallax and the servos. With the jaw it sounds like you need to set your servo range limits so the servo is not overdriven outside its range??? Just a guess are you using the wavemotion analysis for your jaw movement?
> 
> 1. I would try to set your min/max jaw sevo range ---> reload you wav file and run wavemotion analysis again.


Do I maybe need to narrow my servo settings maybe, like instead of 1250 to 250 to 500 to 250? Any ideas will be appreciated.

exactly!!! Set your range first!!!

VSA Tip...If you have your servo horn disconnected and press "backspace" in VSA your servo's will reset to home position, then reconnect your horn.


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## darryl

Amen!!! I read all the directions but didn't see that!! And I tried to set my servo range once, but couldn't figure out how to get to that window again!! Will try again tomorrow, Thanks for the tip. 
EDIT: Now that I've thought about it, I think I know how to change the settings: the tab under Tools> settings, then just double click the number.
After thinking about it I didn't listen to directions very well, I did wave analysis and then set the range!! I'm sure it was to late a that point and probably just made the matter worse.


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## ScareFX

The discussion about TwistedDementia's skull deserved it's own thread so it was moved here:

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=6400


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## TwistedDementia

Thanks ScareFX, much appreciated. I don't know if it's just me but I can't access that link. I've been having alot of problems since the hosting move . Hopefully they will be cleared up by this weekend.

Just found the problem I was having took out the 'www.' in the address.


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