Jeepers Creepers Animatronic Project Page

This project was a request from someone I met at a car show, he owns the "Horror Jeep" here in Maryland. The Jeep is currently full of different static displays such as Freddy Krueger, Jason, the Jeepers Creepers monster, etc. We decided to make the Jeepers Creepers monster turn its head towards the crowd when triggered. Features such as remote control and "random" mode were added to improve versatility. The center, left and right stop positions, turn direction, trigger delay and "stare" time can all be configured by using the front display. The timeline on this is not typical of the normal turn-around. There were no car shows and other priorities took precident at the time. This one had to be completely fabricated from scratch, everything from welding brackets to 500+ lines of coding.

2/15/2020

Some parts arrived, and a weekend day good enough to get outside for some fabrication work!

Here is the Servo that will be used to move the head back and fourth:

Also found this small "Lazy Susan" mechanism that fits nicely on the mannequin:

Fabricated a neck mount so the new mechanism can mount to the mannequin body with only a tiny bit of modification:

Trimmed and re-drilled holes in "Lazy Susan" mechanism to fit on mannequin neck:

Here is what the new hardware fits on the mannequin neck: (fits pretty good)

2/17/2020

Had a couple of hours and a good day, so fabricated the servo mount:
(Note: the holes are tapped for easy servo mounting/replacement)

Here is the servo in the mount, this will be what turns the head:

3/7/2020

Was actually home when the weather was nice, finished up the neck adapter and welded
in an index so the servo mount would not slip when actuating the head

Also finished up the servo mount that attaches to the neck adapter, notice the
index cut-out that matches (mostly) the index on the neck adapter

Finally... cut out the 5 inch plate that will rotate the head. Was going to use
the lazy susan to support this, but the servo seems pretty strong by itself
so I may cut his down to 3 inches and loose the lazy susan mechanism. Also mounted
the servo mounting flange to the plate.

Here is what it looks like assempled and attached to the torso...

3/8/2020

More good weather, reduced the 5 inch plate to a 2 inch plate and reset the
mounting hole of the servo so the servo axle is inline with the mount bolt.
Here is a picture with the completed servo mount (no Lazy Susan)

When things look like they fit, I usually stop with the fabrication, this looks
simple and like it fits. I think it will be strong enough, but if not, I can
always add the Lazy Susan back in with a 5 inch plate.
Now to start on the micro-controller programming, lets get that servo moving!

4/11/2020

One good thing about this C.V. situation is no more trips! Got to work on some electronics...
Below is the first servo test! Have parts on order to make this a little more user
friendly. Goal is to have multiple modes which include manual control, trigger, random, etc.

4/19/2020

Newest iteration of the servo control prototype with digital display and rotary encoder.
About 450 lines of code and have all the settings subroutines complete along with manual control.
Just have to finish trigger, random and remote control. Remote control will be last since I
need to decide on Wifi, Bluetooth or another connection method. All-in-all pretty happy with the
progress! When car shows start up again, this should be ready!

4/20/2020

Finished the trigger subroutine. Takes into account set stop points, direction, speed
and "stare time" settings.

5/25/2020

Finished proto-typing the RF remote and the code! Now the head can be rontrolled remotely!
(The USB cable to the remote is just for power)

6/5/2020

Ordered a case for the remote control, it was a little smaller than I thought it would be, but
I like it. Found a smaller Arduino setup, so I used that to miniaturize the circuit. I was a little
worried that the low level pin read calls would require some re-programming, but luckily the registers
are the same with this Arduino. This also solved my 5v/3.3v issue with the transceiver, now I only need
3.3v for the remote

6/12/2020

Drilled/shaved the case for the control dial, indicators, power jack & on/off pushbutton.
Had to go with a smaller battery to fit everything inside of the case, should be OK.
Mounted all the hardware to the box, now I need to do all the internal wiring.

6/23/2020

Back from Diving trip! Prototyped the circuitry for the charge indicator light, it works!
Now need to incorporate into the hand held box circuit board.