DorkTronic 10000

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Introducing the DorkTronic 10000

Dave & Meredith Suter have a new kind of display coming this Halloween and it's going to feature a bit more interactivity than in years past - the kids in the area are going to love it!

To help pull this off I'm building the DorkTronic 10000. At the heart of the DT10K is a Raspberry Pi 3B (RPi), a credit-card sized computer that costs about $35.  It's about as powerful as an iPhone 6 or a Pentium 4 computer running Windows XP, making it more than capable of running all sections of the display.  Part of the interactivity will include telling a visitor their fortune or providing a damned good joke - and I know how much all of you love a good joke. 

Prototype 

The display will allow a visitor to start the show by either standing in front of a Sonic Sensor, or by pushing Big Button (which also flashes).  From there, the RPi will activate strobes, fog machines, a soundtrack with sound effects, and glowing eyes.  

Below is a simple block diagram showing what input and outputs are affected by, and affect, a visitor.  The other inputs and outputs are for control by the display operators (Dave, Meredith and myself)
There really isn't much to see right now.  From left to right:  Breakout board with some test switches;  20x4 LCD screen hooked up via I2C; RPi itself with a USB drive sticking out of the top



Ultra-sonic transducer for detecting objects

The component at the upper left of the breadboard is an ultra-sonic transducer that constantly sends a distance measurement back to the RPi.

If the measured distance is below a certain amount, then that means an object - or kid - has stepped in front of the mirror.   That will signal the RPi to start reading off fortunes...


I've since mounted (glued) the Ultra-sonic sensor into a project box.  I'll hardwire a cable with five conductors into it, with the other end pig-tailed to a 5-conductor DIN plug.

Moved everything out to the pool table for more work space and added my larger breadboard plus my El Cheapo Power Supply.  It's kind of hard to spot, but there is a little relay on the larger bread board that is intended to control a strobe or fog machine when the time comes.


pool table
Update: I had a bezel 3d-printed at the library to shroud and hold the 20x4 LCD display.  Then a good friend of mine used his milling machine to cut a nice, rectangular opening into the door to mount it.


LCD with bezel

July 18, 2018 update

The power supply and RPi3 have been mounted on the chassis panel with power ad LCD wiring in place.  There is a terminal "hat" attached to the top of the RPi which makes wiring a bit easier.

The power supply and RPi3 have been mounted

Video of test run for the DorkTron10K.  Chris's narration has been altered somewhat lower the pitch and slow down the speech.  The "eyes" are mounted on a mock-up board for testing.

In case you're wondering, the first clip says "We don't know the future, but here's some candy" while the next one is "The world may be your oyster, but that doesn't mean you'll get it's pearl"

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