Fully functional 4 ft. animated Mickey Mouse controlled in xLights!
Parts Used (Affiliate Links to Amazon help to support our site!)
- Raspberry Pi 4B+
- Raspberry Pi USB-C Power Supply
- Servo Motor Hat
- 25kg Servos
- 3 Pin Servo Extension Cables
- Electronics Screw Pack
- Dupont and JST-XH Connector Kit
- Small Washer Kit
- 22AWG Wire Pack
- 22AWG Servo Wire Coil
- 5V DC Meanwell Power Supply
- Torque Wrench Adapter
- Custom Hip Servo Bracket
Skip The Boring Backstory
- Disassemble The Head
- Make Head Servo Conversion Cables
Backstory
We picked up the 4 ft. Animated mickey Mouse from Home Depot during the 2024 Christmas season and immediately began thinking of how to integrate him into the light show on our house. Throughout this whole project I learned a lot about different electronic components and how they function in FPP and xLights. The final product is better than we could have hoped for. Now to the good stuff:
- Disassemble the Head
Remove the screws from the back of the head. There is approximately 10 screws. Carefully separate the front face from the back. Once inside, locate the control board that connects the head movement servos to the main control board. The connectors will be labeled CH1, CH2 and CH3(fig.1)
Fig. 1
Disconnect the three servo JST-XH connectors and leave the labels in place for later. - Make Head Servo Conversion Cables