Robotic Toaster

Other Hardware Robotics
1

Hello everyone! Before I begin... I'm new to Arduino's ( two years in and feel I know nothing). I mainly use Arduinos for my act. I am a magician and have created some fun things for my show such as props that light up and objects that spin and move

Here is my new project.... During my show I will perform a card trick with my robotic toaster.. The toaster will have eyes and mouth which allows it to interact with me.

I'm building the eye's and mouth using the ADAfruit LED backpacks and this layout : Overview | Animating Multiple LED Backpacks | Adafruit Learning System

My question... is there a way to remotely trigger different sequences/loops instead of relying on delays?

Typically I would set the timing on my Arduino to match what I'm doing in real time. For example...If I needed something to light up after I walk across the room I would build a delay of 10 seconds in after a button is pushed. I would walk from point A to Point B before said action ( lights going off etc) takes place.

This project is a bit different I can't rely on timing. I would love to be able to trigger the next sequence in line whenever I want to. If one loop makes my toaster smile and say something while the next sequence makes him sad... I'd love to be able to have control over when the sad loop runs. I'm interested in about 20 sequences that do different things.

I hope all of this makes sense and I do have access to DMX system on my computer to trigger

Thank you

Jason

2

You might look into various wireless communication options.

3

You can get wireless relays with a remote control for a few bucks from a china supplier such as eBay and others. Some will give you well over 100 meters range.

4

Awesome thank you for your input. Anyway to control via DMX? I'm currently using Qlab which runs my music and video's onstage. It also has the ability to trigger via DMX

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"Anyway to control via DMX?"

Use the forum Google search function in the upper right of this page to search for DMX and similar key words. You will probably find many previous project discussions and code using these devices.

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I apologize for the above comment. Just realized... I wasn't aware of what DMX exactly was. A few hours later.. I'm up to speed

I just posted this on a Facebook group... hopefully it makes more sense in what I'm looking for.

I'm building a fun prop for a theater production. Onstage sits a "robot" (a box with Two red LED's for eyes and a few Blew less for the mouth), which the actor will interact with. Each response from the robot will have a different lighting sequence and a verbal response which plays over the sound system.

Is there a way to activate these individual sequences without using a delay option? Lets say the robot is going to make three responses ( Hello, How are you, Thank you) I want the ability to trigger these three responses individually whenever I want to.

I'm currently running QLAB with a wireless remote to control audio tracks over the theaters speaker system. Qlab has the ability to run DMX

Is there a way to run code segment 1 ( Hello) when audio clip 1 plays on Qlab. Next run segment 2 ( how are you) when audio clip 2 is triggered and code segment 3 ( Thank you) when audio clip 3 is triggered?

I hope this makes sense!