I’m not sure the world needs (or is ready for) the Pop-Up Go(at) Controller, but I’ve built it. I know, I know, I can hear you asking “What is the Pop-Up Go(at) Controller!?” Well, here’s the story.
Back in August I posted about the Milwaukee Public Museum’s snake on the Milwaukee Makerspace mailing list. Seems the snake was in need of repair, so I asked people how they would build a snake. Shane suggested that the space should have a pop-up goat, and thus, I had to build a pop-up goat.
I mean, I didn’t have to, but one thing I’ve discovered over the past few months is that my work tends to be reactionary. People say things, or do things, and it prompts me to make something. So I made something.
I didn’t really make what Shane suggested, but I took the basic idea and did my own thing. I started with a photo of Milwaukee Makerspace I took last year. This would serve as the backdrop for the piece.
I dug around for a nice picture of a goat I could use, but as luck would have it, my daughter Madeline (also a photographer) recently shot a goat (with her camera!) so she allowed me to use her photo.
The construction of the piece was done using MicroRAX, which is an Aluminum extrusion-based construction set. I’ve had some lying around for a while, so it was good to put it to use in a project. It cut easily with a hacksaw and bolts together using a few screws and plates.
The goat attaches to a servo thanks to a few magnets. The image of the building and goat are photos I had printed, and then attached to some paperboard. The building slides into the slot of the MicroRAX.
The servo mounted easily to the MicroRAX, and things are adjustable, so if I need to slide the servo up or down or left or right, that’s easy. Same with the front pieces that hold the building photo in place. I like to plan things to be interchangeable and adjustable when possible.
There’s an Adafruit Perma-Proto Board on the back, along with an Adafruit Trinket microcontroller to make things happen.
There’s a few screw terminals to allow for connection of power (AC adapter or battery) and a button to activate things. I typically build button enclosures, but for my silly project I decided to use a giant heavy metal electrical box with an old industrial push button. It’s so much overkill it hurts.
As mentioned, I wanted the P.U.G.C. to be extensible, so here’s another idea for it. I can swap in a photo of the White House, and a surface to air missile. Ka-Boom! Smite thine enemies! ‘Merica says “Take That!!!” and so on…
Or maybe you believe it’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy? Just enable “flag waving mode” and you can fly your freaky colors of freedom above the original Macintosh. Mr. Jobs would be so proud! Or angry.
And yes, the ‘at’ part in “Go(at)” is meant to be dropped as needed so this becomes the Pop-Up Go Controller. I can also hear you saying, “Those are some awesome photos, but is there video of this P.U.G.C. in action?” Well, of course there is!