By abaka
#4936313
The best kit I've ever seen was from Ghost Guy around 2009 and I believe his kit coincided with the Mattel prop which absolutely tanked his run. As far as I'm aware I'm the only person in the world who has his PKE Electronics built into a PKE....This kit has promise and behaves and sounds very similar to his. I assume you're using touch switches instead of buttons which means the wings/light stop as soon as you let go of the contact?

I'd be very keen to see this kit make it into production. PKE is one of my favourite props and it annoys me just how ittle of them are now due to the Mattel/Spirit versions which no offence intended are nowhere near as cool as an authentic prop
By WShawn
#4936331
abaka wrote: June 26th, 2020, 6:17 am The best kit I've ever seen was from Ghost Guy around 2009 and I believe his kit coincided with the Mattel prop which absolutely tanked his run. As far as I'm aware I'm the only person in the world who has his PKE Electronics built into a PKE....This kit has promise and behaves and sounds very similar to his. I assume you're using touch switches instead of buttons which means the wings/light stop as soon as you let go of the contact?

I'd be very keen to see this kit make it into production. PKE is one of my favourite props and it annoys me just how ittle of them are now due to the Mattel/Spirit versions which no offence intended are nowhere near as cool as an authentic prop
I think I've seen threads for the 2009 kit here and on the Arduino forums. If it's the one I'm thinking of he was actually synthesizing sound effects real-time. My version will have just slow and fast sound effects which I found online somewhere. Mine has touch switches (my 1989 version had touch switches). Mechanical buttons would actually be much harder to install and fit into the shell.

ICYMI I have a build thread going which details the features we've built into the prop (the bulk of the Arduino code is courtesy GohstTarp who knows that sort of thing).

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=46251

The last big piece of my puzzle is fabricating the wings. I made a pair out of styrene nearly 20 years ago which look fine, but it's a labor-intensive process. I want to revisit casting the wings in resin (my attempts in the early 2000s tended to be warped). The idea would be to get wing-shaped PCBs fabricated, solder the LEDs and their little acrylic rods to that PCB, then cast the wing around those creating a solid part.

I'm also considering reworking my through-hole main PCB to make it surface-mount which would allow me to either pay a PCB assembly company to do a short run or reflow the solder myself using a hot plate or modified toaster oven. I've never worked with SMT components. It would depend on how many people would want a highly-accurate kit like this. The Matty prop is fine as a toy that looks convincing to a civilian, but it's far from being screen-accurate.

Cheers.

Shawn
By abaka
#4936361
You're spot on in regards to his sounds being synthesized in real time. No other kit can replicate the authentic of the sound in his kit. Yours however sounds very close, but obviously the real time production of his sounds generates more variety....but still, this kit has lots of promise. Even though I'm good with my PKE. I would be interested in seeing a kit made with your electronics....Be good to have a spare or a second build and more importantly to see people building these as props as opposed to the toys that have flooded the market.
User avatar
By Kingpin
#4936577
Just a gentle reminder that as Shawn doesn't have a supporting membership at the moment, that this thread shouldn't be seen as an interest list.

Once he's got one sorted and goes through with offering a new run of kits, then feel free to express your interest. :)
By WShawn
#4936580
Kingpin wrote: July 1st, 2020, 2:17 pm Just a gentle reminder that as Shawn doesn't have a supporting membership at the moment, that this thread shouldn't be seen as an interest list.

Once he's got one sorted and goes through with offering a new run of kits, then feel free to express your interest. :)
Yeah, I got a supporting membership in 2018 and renewed it once but lost track of it this year. In 2019 I got multiple reminders in my email to renew; I'm not seeing any reminders this year.

It might still be a while before I'd officially try to offer kits. I want to make sure my prototypes are rock-solid before trying to sell anything to semi-strangers.

Cheers.
User avatar
By Kingpin
#4936585
WShawn wrote: July 1st, 2020, 2:34 pm In 2019 I got multiple reminders in my email to renew; I'm not seeing any reminders this year.
I assume it's done by the forum software automatically, but I've no idea if the email reminders were discontinued at any point.
By WShawn
#4936586
Kingpin wrote: July 1st, 2020, 2:59 pm
WShawn wrote: July 1st, 2020, 2:34 pm In 2019 I got multiple reminders in my email to renew; I'm not seeing any reminders this year.
I assume it's done by the forum software automatically, but I've no idea if the email reminders were discontinued at any point.
It doesn't look like I got any private messages regarding renewing in 2020, either. I got plenty in 2019. Just FYI.
By abaka
#4936779
I know there's requirements to be met and you need to develop a working model before considering sale....but I'd almost certainly buy one just to support the project if nothing else!

I'll be keeping an eye on this project. Out of curioisity, have you ever considered tackling the other great handheld prop that requires extensive electronic work! (Giga!)
By WShawn
#4944076
Rollincode3 wrote: January 7th, 2021, 6:29 pm You can also count me in for a kit. Day 1 purchase!
Good to know, thanks. I'm still around but haven't made much progress in the last six months. 2020 sapped a lot of my creative energy (big surprise), but I hope to make a push on designing the arms in the next few weeks.

I also need to buy a supporting membership here soon so I can officially discuss this.

Cheers!
By abaka
#4946579
I’m desperate to see these kits come to fruition so looki forward to seeing progress and any help I can offer
User avatar
By RobLMF
#4965842
Hi Shawn! I'm super interested as well. Did these kits happen? Building an Afterlife replica.
By WShawn
#4965972
Between my business and pandemic malaise I haven't made much progress on finishing my PKE meter and possible kits, but I hope to make a push this spring and summer and get it done. That said, my PKE will be the version from the 1984 and 1989 movies. The Afterlife version is very different, not just in the "ghost taser" additions but in the overall shape and bulk of the shell. It looks closer to the Matty prop than the original, slimmer, Iona-based version.
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User avatar
By jafillz
#4966432
Hey there. I’ve had an Iona polisher for almost a decade… about time I do something with it. Following this. I’m really only looking for an electronic kit as I’d rather fab everything else myself.
User avatar
By sremick
#4993516
WShawn wrote: January 23rd, 2022, 1:33 pm Between my business and pandemic malaise I haven't made much progress on finishing my PKE meter and possible kits, but I hope to make a push this spring and summer and get it done. That said, my PKE will be the version from the 1984 and 1989 movies. The Afterlife version is very different, not just in the "ghost taser" additions but in the overall shape and bulk of the shell. It looks closer to the Matty prop than the original, slimmer, Iona-based version.
Hey, Shawn. Am wondering if you made any more progress on this in the last couple years.
User avatar
By Bootlegger137
#4995218
sremick wrote: March 6th, 2024, 1:08 pm
WShawn wrote: January 23rd, 2022, 1:33 pm Between my business and pandemic malaise I haven't made much progress on finishing my PKE meter and possible kits, but I hope to make a push this spring and summer and get it done. That said, my PKE will be the version from the 1984 and 1989 movies. The Afterlife version is very different, not just in the "ghost taser" additions but in the overall shape and bulk of the shell. It looks closer to the Matty prop than the original, slimmer, Iona-based version.
Hey, Shawn. Am wondering if you made any more progress on this in the last couple years.
I also was wondering this.
By WShawn
#4995287
Bootlegger137 wrote: March 24th, 2024, 8:18 am
sremick wrote: March 6th, 2024, 1:08 pm

Hey, Shawn. Am wondering if you made any more progress on this in the last couple years.
I also was wondering this.

Thanks for being patient. I have made progress, but, of course, it's been slow. I bought a new batch of silicone late last summer in preparation of making new molds for the final shell, but weather and work weren't cooperative.

The PJRC Teensy 3.2 Arduino microcontroller on which my Mk I version of this prop ran is no longer in production. This gave me the opportunity to rework and upgrade a bunch of stuff to produce a better prop.

I replaced the Teensy 3.2 with an Adafruit Itsy Bitsy M0 Express. Patrick Benton did the coding again but this time using Circuit Python; it was a struggle getting everything to fit in its paltry 32 KB of RAM.

I replaced the five 1.2V 2/3 C cell NiMH batteries with a single 3.7V 2200 mAh Lithium Ion battery that can just live in the handle, leaving space for a much bigger speaker in the main shell. I’m using a small Adafruit LiIon charger board to manage the charging (the NiMHs required an outboard charger).

A 3W Class D I2S amplifier board from Adafruit drives the 5 cm speaker. It's much louder than my Mk I prop.

I’ve switched to micro servos that also free up more space (though they’re somewhat noisy).

By incorporating two shift registers into the circuit I can change the chase pattern on the wings from the GB1 pattern to GB2 with the touch of one of the touchswitches.

This Itsy Bitsy has built-in capacitive touchswitches, whereas I had to incorporate extra components for resistive touchswitches in the Mk 1. These capacitive ones seem to be working reliably. With the old resistive touchswitches if you got caught in the rain, or even a light sprinkle, it would trigger the arms and you couldn't home them until you dried off the unit.

I designed in KiCad and had OSHPark fabricate a new main PCB along with a smaller board that combined the LiIon charger board and a Polulu boost converter to regulate and increase the battery voltage from 3.7V to 5V. This also includes a circuit to drive a charge status LED in the handle that glows red when charging and green when complete.

I modeled and 3D resin printed a thing to hold the speaker, for now just epoxied into the shell. Perhaps I'll mold that into the master before making the molds.

I’m looking to make some tweaks to my Iona buck at which point I’ll make new silicone molds to crank out more resin shells. The main issue is the display "hood" is just a TINY bit asymmetrical on my buck/master. My plan is to model and 3D print one, but SLA UV resin doesn't play nice with platinum-cure silicone, so I'll have to jump through a bunch of hoops to graft a new display piece to my master and pull clean molds.

I've taken this Mark II to multiple cons and events since September, 2023, and it's behaved perfectly. I'm hoping that as the weather gets nicer for molding, casting, and 3D printing I get start making kits.

Cheers.

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