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Not long ago as I was designing some new props for my haunted house, I came to the realization that this particular year, I was going to be running on a tight budget. Having to rely on dozens of actors to get screams and gasps from my audience, and making sure I had a steady stream of help just wasn't a risk I had the option of taking. But I kept thinking, "How do I go about building and activating animated props on a shoestring budget?" So I started researching on the Internet. Aside from Edwin Wise's excellent book, "Animatronics: A guide to animated holiday displays," there just wasn't any good information on how to control these fun props. A few hours on the phone with my father, the electronics guru himself, we were able to come up with the basic ideas and designs for the system that became the "Passive Infrared Command Module v1.0" (PIRCM)
One of the first projects I realized I needed some sort of controller for was my electric chair prop. Basically, my electric chair was simply built off of plans I found on Mark Butlers Monster Page of Links to Halloween Do-it-yourself Projects website at http://markbutler.8m.com/monsterlist.htm. I definitely suggest you check out this site for great animated prop ideas. The main inspiration for my electric chair project came from http://www.thesavages.com/HalloweenChair.htm. Check out my PIRCM System book for a more detailed look at my electric chair project, and for instructions on controlling the effect using the PIRCM system.
