Animatronics
In 2018 I started Haunt for HEP, combining handmade set pieces and animatronics with scare-actors to create a one-of-a-kind experience for my local community. The event raised over $30,000 for the Homeless Empowerment Program over its five year run.
At the University of Florida I founded Swamp Haunters, a haunted house design team within the Gator Theme Park and Engineering Design Club. Students gained hands-on experience designing, building, and operating a full scale on-campus haunted house for students to enjoy. The design team has established a recurring cycle with a new haunted house built each year.
Here are the animatronics from Haunt for HEP and Swamp Haunters.
weeping angel
Inspired by weeping angel statues in graveyards, this handmade animatronic frightens many guests. Each animatronic I make uses pneumatics, which means it is powered by air pressure. The angel prop has 5 pneumatic cylinders: one for the head, two for the arms, one for the waist, and one to vertically stand up. Once built, I program it for the movements, sound, and lighting. I also have a video detailing the entire building process.
Jack in the Box
Through Swamp Haunters at the University of Florida, we constructed a Jack in the box animatronic for the Crimson Carnival haunted house. Given my past experience with pneumatic animatronics, I led the team through the design and build process. The Jack in the box has three individual movements using four pneumatic cylinders for the waist, arms, and head. Extensive testing was required to ensure the reliability of the animatronic through the eight nights of operation.
Construction Drawings
Demon
This demon animatronic sits behind closed doors waiting to lurch out at guests trying to get candy. The entire prop actually sits inside our foyer with curtains surrounding it to hide the rest of the house. The demon is attached to a pneumatic scissor mechanism that extends out around 4'. I also added a cylinder for head movements. I programmed the lights to go dark and added sound to help build suspense as the demon bursts through the doors.
Zombie cage
These zombies are one of my favorite animatronics I have built because of their simplicity and overall effect. Two cylinders are placed on the right and left sides of the fence and move the top back and forth. The fence actually moves the zombies, and their loosely articulated joints make it seem like they are shaking the fence. The effect works so well that guests often wonder if these zombies are real people!
hangman
The hangman is among our most realistic-looking animatronics. It uses two cylinders behind each knee for leg movements and one cylinder at the waist. To build out the body, I used an entire foam mannequin that fits around the steel structure.
hopping drum
This very simple pneumatic prop uses one cylinder at the very bottom with a rubber foot that makes it hop around. I used a 55-gallon drum and put spray foam around the top that glows green with the help of a black light. It is extremely loud which helps to jump scare guests walking by!