Wednesday, October 28, 2020

HalloWing Flapping Bat

Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you're at!
Up above the world you fly, Like a teatray in the sky.

The Mad Hatter  
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol

Make a spooky bat out of chipboard and decorate it with your best Halloween colors, sparkles, and ribbons. A little hot glue and crafting, and you're ready to hang it above your door, where unwary passers-by will brush past and trigger your bats wings to flap up and down, scaring them out of their pants!

You don't need a fancy motion sensor to trigger this halloween effect. The bat wings are triggered by a strand of conductive thread tied to the Hallowing's onboard capacitive touch sensor. Anyone who comes in contact with the secret dangling thread will cause the bat to leap into motion.

The Hallowing board is the spookiest, creepiest, scariest microcontroller around. Its skull face and winking OLED eye are sure to frighten even the bravest of makers when you program it to go Bump in the Night.

Difficulty Level

This is a very easy beginner project. There is no soldering required - all the parts just plug in or tie onto one another. 

The bat shape is made from light chipboard, and can be cut out with a Cricut or Silhouette cutting machine or with scissors or a utility knife and a little patience. Final assembly makes use of a hot glue gun.

The software for this project is also very easy to install - just drag and drop the file onto the Hallowing and you're ready to go.

Additional Materials Needed

  • 12'x24" sheet of light chipboard - I'm using store bought, but you can also use a cereal box that's been sliced at the corner and unfolded so it's flat
  • About 18" of thin, stiff wire - I'm using 22g steel wire 
  • Hot glue gun
  • Glitter, paint, and sparkles for decorating
  • Fishing line or string for hanging your bat
  • Utility knife or vinyl cutting machine
  • Small Rubber bands
  • A small screwdriver to assemble the servo

If you're using a Cricut or Silhouette to cut your bat shape, you'll need a 12x24 firm grip cutting mat and some blue painter's tape.

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