Control Your Halloween Decorations with DJ Lighting Hardware

With Halloween right around the corner, Glen Akins needed a way to trigger a bunch of props and a fog machine. His first thought, like many hackers, was to use an Arduino board and relays. Since he was going to go through the trouble of wiring up something custom, he decided to go all out controlling relays with a PIC18F1320 microcontroller, and adding the ability to use it with a DMX interface, normally used for DJ lighting.

The enclosure is also top-notch. He designed the PCB around an extruded aluminum case, using relays small enough to fit inside nicely. The results are something that looks like it was purchased off-the-shelf that should keep his animatronic characters and lighting effects automatically working for years to come.

Additionally, his setup can controlled via an iPad with an Art-Net to DMX interface if so desired. You can find more details on Akins’ post here!