prop controller help

[1031fan]

im finally making some progress with my independant study project - but not to the documentation stage yet....i was just thinking ahead a bit and realized im going to need to control the sequence of events that i want to happen...this is something i have NEVER done before since my props are just single acting....however, with this one there will be lots going on...

not only will there be a body on the bed that will probably have (roughly) 5 movements, there will be other stuff to controll around the bed - cylinder moving the bed....pump squirting liquid...bed raise/lower...and the sound of a moniter beeping that i want to start out normal and then get faster......

so, overall, i think there is probably 9-10 things that i want going on....

i was thinking of maybe having a controller for just the body itself and then have a seperate one for the entire "show" ....is this how i should appoach this??? or is there a way to controll all of this from a single source??

another thing i wanted to do was try to get variable speeds on the motors that move the actual body to change it up and make it look less mechanical and more organic.....is there a way to controll this with any of the controllers out there??

i know there are several different haunt controllers on the marker, just didn't know if you had any ideas which one/ones would be better for my application...any advise/guidance would be much needed and appreciated...

any thoughts guys??? 1031fan

[BuriedAlive]

You could do them separately (body and show), but I suppose I depends on if you want them linked to work together. As for controlling everything, it all depends on what you are controlling exactly (i.e. motors, pneumatics, etc.) and their respective power requirements. Different voltages (DC or AC) will be better suited for different prop controllers, as some prop controllers can only operate DC or vice versa. Can you give a breakdown of what you will be controlling with regards to power usage?

[JonnyMac]

I know a guy named Daniel who used one of our Prop-1 controllers and a Parallax HB-25 motor controller in his "Exorcist" room; it didn't have quite as much going on as you indicate but it was busy. A Prop-2 or similar controller could probably handle your show. The neat thing (we think, anyway) about using a programmable controller is the RANDOM function which allows you to add a lot of life to your props/shows.