San Diego Zoo Animation 2024

Completed parade float going down the parade route

In late 2023, I was once again contracted by Artistic Entertainment Services (AES) to reconfigure the animatronic control system I designed and built with them for the 2023 parade for reuse on the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park’s 2024 Tournament of Roses entry. Like last year, this float features a cast of zoo residents animated to interact with riders on the float. I am thrilled that this float won the sweepstakes award for the most beautiful entry!

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VGA to Oscilloscope (XYZ) Converter

A photo of me displayed on the oscilloscope

A few years ago, I built some hardware to allow an oscilloscope to be used as a VGA display. I often use the photo above as my profile/avatar online and get asked why there are crosshairs on me… here’s how it works!

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Gilder-Ground Support Equipment

The G2SE in use in the field!

For configuring Gilderfluke based animation control systems for the Rose Parade, I need a handful of computer accessories which are only available as individual components and would be both expensive to purchase and annoying to carry in the field. I built my own Gilder-Ground Support Equipment, or G2SE, box which combines several of these devices in a convenient rugged enclosure.

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LED Sorcerer Hat

Illuminated sorcerer hat in a dark room

The basic LEDs that come in the Mickey sorcerer hat that Disney sells are rather pathetic. We can rebuild him. We have the technology.

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San Diego Zoo Animation 2023

Completed parade float ready to go down the route

In late 2022, I was contracted by Artistic Entertainment Services (AES) to design and program an animatronic control system for the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park’s 2023 Tournament of Roses entry. This rapid turnaround project leveraged compact electrical and hydraulic driven mechanisms to animate a pair of giraffes which park guests are interacting with from the back of a safari truck.

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uTailLight

Rear view of motorcycle with brake lights illuminated

This summer I started riding a motorcycle, and while stuck at home, I designed and built an auxiliary LED indicator system for added visibility. The system uses addressable LEDs, allowing the compact controller with an integrated power supply to manage potentially hundreds of LEDs.

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Embedded Lighting Controller Summary

A rendering with multiple printed circuit boards inside a plastic enclosure

For my senior project, I’m working on an embeddable lighting controller, with the creative working title of Embedded Lighting Controller, which is being designed to provide flexible lighting control/drive in an extremely compact package.

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DMX Development Board

The DMX development board - a printed circuit board assembly

For a number of projects I’d like to work on in the future, I needed a development board of sorts for testing both hardware and software.

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Animation System Debut

A picture of Tree Frog Night on the parade route with the accompanying Founder Trophy banner being carried in front

On the morning of January 1, 2019, the La Cañada Flintridge Rose Parade float’s new animation system successfully made its debut, animating the float Tree Frog Night.

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RGBW Strobe Tester

Closeup of TwinkleWorks logo on PCBA

For TwinkleWorks’s new line of RGBW LED strobes, we needed a new testing assembly. This unit automatically tests each of the LEDs’ colors as well as the strobe fixture’s temperature sensing circuitry.

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Animation System GSE

Photo of control panel

Testing, calibrating, and programming of the La Cañada Flintridge float’s animation system requires some support hardware. The system uses several communications busses, as well as several hardware enable and status lines which all need to be accessed for programming.

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Animation System Main Computer

A picture of the unit's internal electronics

The new La Cañada Flintridge Rose Parade float’s animation system has a controller unlike anything used in the parade. The custom controller has a 12 inch waterproof touchscreen that sports a custom control GUI and convenient system configuration capabilities.

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Animation System Valve Bank Module

A picture of the unit's internal electronics

The new La Cañada Flintridge rose parade float’s animation system is built in several modular pieces. Four identical units will be valve bank modules, which are responsible for controlling a bank of four hydraulic animation channels.

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DTMF Controller

Completed PCB Assembly

The La Cañada Flintridge Rose Parade float is equipped with a custom-built intercom and radio system to allow the float’s crew to communicate both within the float, and with external crew. Since the intercom box is mounted in the middle of the float where it’s not easily accessible, we needed some way to be able to remotely control the radio.

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Integrated Accessory Controller

Completed PCB Assembly

Following my previous project involving accessing my car’s CAN bus, I wanted to take CAN control further by making a custom controller that can interface with a vehicle to control various accessories.

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Animation System Revamp Summary

A picture of the original animation system

As of 2018, the La Cañada Flintridge rose parade float’s animation system is nearly 20 years old. As the system continues to age, components that are no longer manufactured are slowly beginning to fail. Starting in 2017, I began work on a replacement.

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Volvo/Whelen CANtrol

Looking down into my footwell with equipment uncomfortably close to my leg

Have you ever had a piece of equipment that really REALLY doesn’t belong in your car, but you want to install it somehow? Well, I had this problem with my Whelen… electric airhorn….

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