Jack hack?

[Otaku]

Anyone seen this before? I wonder if it could be hacked...

Amazon.com: Neca Nightmare Before Christmas Animatronic Full Sized "Jack" Bust with sound: Toys & Games@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31JB6YwJ7GL.@@AMEPARAM@@31JB6YwJ7GL

[Dr Morbius]

Looks like a static statue with a speaker in it. What would you hack? I don't see that the jaw moves or anything.

[Otaku]

Yeah, I don't know if the jaw moves. I haven't found a video yet.

[beelce]

It says "animatronic" ....and if it can be hacked,.... Otaku, you will hack it.
I like that it is full sized and on sale

[Otaku]

I emailed the seller about the mouth movement - haven't heard anything yet.

[BRAinDead]

Mouth DOES move. Lookee here:
YouTube- Jack Skellington talking bust Nightmare Before Christmas

[slightlymad]

I like really like it BUT we could probably build it cheaper than hacking it.

[Otaku]

Well, I'll be damned. Doesn't sound much like Jack, but it could just be a bad recording. To pull this off you'd need to find a good source of Jack quotes minus the background music and such. Thanks, Dr. G!

Hmmmm...

[HolyTerror]

Hacking is easy ... simply pull the two wires that go to the motor those motors are NOT sevos , but simply a weak motor that is spring retracted after being activated ) and connect them to a board that can use the serial ( like a RENARD ) , stick some ULN2803's inline to protect your board and serial , and wha-la ...
or re-program a chip ..

And heres some of Jacks phrases .. stand alone and some with others .

Enjoy :)

http://rapidshare.com/files/214365889/jack.rar.html

[Otaku]

I wonder if the Boris hack would work? The Boris didn't have a chip - just the microbone. Thanks for the link, H-T!

[psyko99]

If there is no input maybe the spirit ball hack might work. Using a single channel light organ connected to an audio input and a wall wart connected to the motor.

[HolyTerror]

Wow .... thats adding a bit of expense .
Before we go any further , lets find someone who has one , and will post some pics of the thing , both closed and opened up ( showing circuit board ) , AND THEN , lets go from there .
99 per cent of these little joy toys , utilize a regular DC motor ... not a servo motor , just a regular motor , that is spring retracted to original postiion ( mouth closed ) and uses cheapo all purpose NPN's to activate and convert .
All necessary hardware/electroincs is usually right there , on the board . Its generally just a matter of removing , or making a slight "adjustment" to HOW the motor gets it signal and when .

[Otaku]

Agreed, I'm sure the mech is similar to a Boris or Gemmy skull. It's usually just a matter of cutting out the on-board sound chip and attaching an external source, although that has been a bit troublesome in practice. Check a couple of the threads on hacking the Gemmy skulls for some info.

[Spanky]

I would bet it could use the thunder and lightning box hack. Honestly though, that thing is so static it doesn't seem worth it.