A multi-person, multi-color, completely absurd totem we created for Electric Forest 2019.
What it’s made of
- Custom firmware programmed in C and compiled by the Arduino IDE
- Plush frog
- LED party lights
- ESP32 device
- Motor controllers
- Speaker driver
- Speaker (similar, found on the curb)
- Tactile buttons (6mm)
- Protoboard
- 24AWG wire
- Female to female jumpers
- Zip ties
- White gaffer tape
- Beach balls
- Tent pole (8ft)
- WS2812B LED strip (silicone coated)
- Collapsible hiking poles
- Dryer vent hose (3in)
- Round magnets (1in, center hole)
- USB power bank (20000mAh+)
- Other anicillaries like 0.1″ header pins, screws, hot glue gun, safety pins, cut-off USB cable, heatshrink tubing, etc.
What it does
- Ribbits in randomly chosen pitches.
- Disco-ball eyes project bright light in any arbitrary color on everything. Lenses can rotate on-demand.
- Legs evenly light up with several flowing color patterns.
- Keeps everyone in our 13-person festival group together, draws new friends into the fold.
Trials and tribulations
The folded, 4-pixel LED strips had to be inserted inside the arms by threading the output leads through holes in the arms by way of a makeshift knitting needle. Threading the wires like this provided a means to anchor the LED strips transverse to the flexible vinyl hose so the light was thrown down the hose. The effect was even better than I hoped!
Conclusions
It was absolutely hilarious watching this huge frog with disco-eyes and noodley arms waltz through Electric Forest. A hundred high-fives were given from orange feet at the end of 8-foot arms, and seeing the joy/laughter on people’s faces was more than worth the effort.
Future Ideas
- Neck that inflates periodically as during mating season
- A lilypad-shaped drone the frog could fly around on
- A lilypad shaped backpack to more easily carry Mr. Frog
- A delightfully weird array of eggs (capsules containing prizes) that can be ejected from the frog’s back as Forest gifts
- Articulated mouth with inbuilt fog machine and laser projector that would draw a fly and tongue
