DIY Ghost for Halloween That Has Flapping Wings Using Arduino

Hello guys Halloween is around the corner and all of us think only one common thing " How can I make this Halloween 2024 special" Even I had the same thought.

After thinking for some time I came across an idea, why not combine something so called a usual idea with some added twist, Are my words confusing you?

Let me break it down in simple words as we all know we have seen various kinds of still ghosts that play a vital role in every Halloween i have added a few new interesting features for that ghost which will add value to the space where this is kept.

In this instructables i will show you how to make Halloween Ghost that has Flapping Wings that is powered by Arduino.

When placed on a desk this looks just like some other toy, But when someone gets closer to it it flaps the wings, This makes it unique.

I have given all the details on building this project, There is a circuit diagram that anybody can follow and arduino program that make this project work and a video tutorial.

Try building such things this will not only help you build things like this but also give you a hands on experience on circuits and physics.

.Im expecting you readers to give it a try and post your builds on i made it section.

Supplies

Some simple materials required to build this

Arduino Uno

Ultrasonic sensor (HC-SR04)

Get here Full Arduino Kit to make this and other such cool projects

Micro servo(plastic geared)

Jumper cables

Piece of cardboard

Paper cutter

Black Marker

Superglue

Double sided adhesive

Toothpicks

Wire pliers

Arduino USB cable

Arduino IDE

Step 1: Making Ghost

This is a very interesting part of this project, I have seen many models when I go out and made a few rough sketches.

Among many other designs, I finalized these because they will hold all the electronics behind it hiding the cables and thus the viewer will never know what is there behind them.

I first traced the design on a white sheet of paper using a black marker.

After I thought the model was up to my mark, I traced one more layer but now on the piece of cardboard, I glued this template onto the cardboard and allowed it to dry completely.

I will trim off the excess cardboard with a paper cutter, You can highlight the edges with black marker if you want to highlight the design.

In my design i made enough space to hold the ultrasonic sensor on the eyes, i have already made a space for it too

The wings must be movable, So i will trim it from the main part and later attach it with slidabe supports, More on that later

After we have made all these changes we can head over to circuitry.

Step 2: Arduino Circuit and Program

The circuit involves only 2 components apart from the board itself, HCSR04 and the micro servo

Connect the components directly using this simple procedure, as we know servo comes with 3 terminals for connection.

Vcc, Gnd and signal, Vcc and gnd are connected to 5v and Gnd pins of the uno whereas the signal pin is connect to d7 pin on the board.

The ultrasonic sensor has 4 pins, 2 for power connection and vcc and gnd are connect to 5v and gnd pin of the uno board.

Trig to D9 and echo to D8 completes the signal communication connection part, After we have made these connections we can head over to the program part.

You can connect arduino to your computer using USB cable and open IDE, Copy and paste the below code to your IDE, select proper port and type of board and click on upload button.

With no issues you should be able to upload the code to board, If you face any issues let me know the same in the comments box.

Now you can test the circuit, Just place your hand in front of the sensor and now you should see the servo horn moving.

USB power supply from cable is sufficient to power the entire project, you can also use additional power supply from battery source, choice is yours.

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Step 3: Wing Movements

There are many type of servo horn attachments, But i chose the plus type this serves best purpose here as it can hold 2 wings with ease.

Change the servo horn to the above shown type and secure it with screws, Now using double sided adhesive place all the electronics on the piece of cardboard.

Attach the ultrasonic sensor to the eyes of the ghost and add a drop of hotglue to secure its position.

To make the wings move follow this simple idea, Attach the toothpick to the central part of the wings and add a drop of superglue.

Make a hole on the wings and attach to this, Now mark the swing area movements of the wings and mark the areas where you need the max swing.

To this place add the toothpick and trim off the excess parts, To prevent the wings from slding off add a small piece of circle to the top of the sticks and finish with glue.

Repeat the same steps for other wing too

Step 4: Adding Servo to Drive Wings

I had made a version of this where 2 servos were used to drive the wings, But that design used too much power and made the circuit more complex, So using single servo was the best idea.

To attach the servo horn to the wings you should keep one thing in mind, the servo should be placed in the center and the wire from the wings will be added to the horns of the servo.

Use a decent amount of hot glue and allow the glue to dry completely, Avoid using plastic threads since it may melt when you are using hot glue.

Check the last image of this step to see how the wire connections from the wings are connected to the servo.

Step 5: Finishing and Using

There are two ways to use this project, The first is to hang this on the wall just like other frames but that would need extra work to make that stay on the wall.

I will use a base to which the power bank will be placed and to attach this ghost on the base i will use a small frame kind of thing, I used short glue to add this to the base and later again used enough hot glue to hold this ghost onto the frame.

Connect this to the power bank using cable and you are good to go, Place this on the desk and keep your hands in front and now you can see the waving action from the wings.

When you place your hand closer the movements become more and more adding more details to the ghost.

Use this on your Halloween costumes or as a desktop thing, That is all for this project, Consider watching the video given below.

Step 6: Video

You can watch the detailed video tutorial of this project here, Also there are some tips shown inside this video to make the mechanism work smoothly.

Hope you enjoyed this idea and if you have any suggestions for upgrading this to another version let me know in the discussion box so we can make that happen.

Thanks for reading and have a great build, See you in the next instructables