Nuts & Volts-The Halloween Prop Dropper

As seen in the October 2009 issue of Nuts & Volts Magazine!Drop What You’re Doing!How fun would it be to drop a Spooky Spider, a Ghoulish Ghost, or a Scary Skeleton right out of "thin air" above unsuspecting trick or treaters? The Prop Dropper is a "quick and dirty" Halloween project you can probably put together in a single night with just a small microcontroller, a couple of servo motors, and a few bits and pieces from the ol' junk box. The Prop Dropper is designed to detect the presence of a person, rapid-deploy a small prop, display it for a moment, then wind it back up out of view, ready for its next victim!