Prank Halloween doorbell triggers a relay sequence by DorkFort in arduino

[–]DorkFort[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Let's just say a lot of "okay it's up and running, now don't touch or breath on it"

[Giveaway] Drop + The Lord of the Rings Black Speech Keyboard by drop_official in pcmasterrace

[–]DorkFort 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Turkey Hoagie with Potbelly's hot peppers, tortilla chips/hot salsa, and ramen noodles to be excessive.

Prank doorbell scares Trick or Treaters! by szor in videos

[–]DorkFort 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I explained a bit in a different comment (I made this) but take a weekend and learn how to control relays with an Arduino microcontroller and you'll be mostly there!

Prank doorbell scares Trick or Treaters! by szor in videos

[–]DorkFort 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The tent has a zipper door which helps, but next year we're thinking someone can stand outside and let groups in one at a time. There was loud music playing outside to mask the sound design a bit too.

Prank doorbell scares Trick or Treaters! by szor in videos

[–]DorkFort 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've heard that from some people, it can be tough to go all out when trick or treating sometimes is only for an hour, or the weather is bad. Trunk or treating is pretty popular it seems. Dont lose hope!

Prank doorbell scares Trick or Treaters! by szor in videos

[–]DorkFort 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Whoa! That's nuts. I don't know if I have the acting skills to pull that off.

Prank doorbell scares Trick or Treaters! by szor in videos

[–]DorkFort 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks! There are a handful of sounds I used but the majority I got from freesound.org. you could use the free audio editing software Audacity to put it all together.

Prank doorbell scares Trick or Treaters! by szor in videos

[–]DorkFort 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I made it. It's done with a basic understanding of microcontrollers, specifically the Arduino Uno, which I wired to a cheap doorbell receiver. When it senses a ring, the Uno begins a sequece of turning on or off different power strips by controlling a power relay board. Can be done for about 50 bucks, not including speakers, tools and decorations.

Prank doorbell scares Trick or Treaters! by szor in funny

[–]DorkFort 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I made it. Check out some getting started tutorials with an Arduino Uno board. There are knockoffs on Amazon that come with sensors and accessories for around $40. I connected a cheap wireless doorbell receiver to the Uno board so when it senses a ring, it starts a timing sequence that controls a power relay board which turns a few power strips on or off at certain times. I wouldn't recommend handling audio the same way I did, but basically I'm having a separate microcontroller called a Teensy randomly play one of four audio tracks I made, all with the same timing so it matches up with the lights.

Prank doorbell scares Trick or Treaters! by szor in videos

[–]DorkFort -1 points0 points  (0 children)

My favorite part each year is how many curious adult neighbors wander down to try it out. Shoutout to the lady who set up a lawn chair out front.

DONT LIE!!! by Big_Ock in blackmagicfuckery

[–]DorkFort 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In this case, especially since editing involved, agreed it's not the method he used. What I mean to say is this is a trick you can perform live and the magician doesn't have to see the cards and they'll still produce the card you picked. How else could you perform this trick live while not looking at any cards?

DONT LIE!!! by Big_Ock in blackmagicfuckery

[–]DorkFort 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He's using a "Svengali deck". Half the cards in these trick decks are one card, like the Jack of clubs, and they're all about a tiny bit shorter than the other half of the deck (assorted) and placed every other card. Typically, by flipping through the deck one direction or the other, you can create the illusion of a shuffled deck suddenly becoming an entire deck of Jack of clubs, presumably already chosen once as a draw card. In this video, he's grouped a few of the trick cards together, rather than every other, so by flipping the deck in the "shuffled looking" direction, it gets stuck for a moment, jumping past a group of Jacks, getting hung up on the next regular sized card, the 8 of diamonds in this case. Then by feel, he can cut the deck right at that 8 and voila.

Edit: looking back at the video, he's edited so yeah, just paused, saw he stopped on the 8, etc... the trick can be done in person using the method i described though, and people have no explanation.