While perusing Costco I happened to see 80 packs of "party size" Play-Doh for $20. I immediately bought two packages (160 cans) and decided Carl was going to give out Play-Doh this year! At the time I had no idea how I was going to accomplish this, but I knew I'd figure something out.
The next day it was off to Home Depot with a can of party size PlayDoh in my pocket to brainstorm a solution. What I found was PVC pipe the perfect size for holding the party size Play-Doh cans. In Carl's arm I can stack about 25 cans.
Now I just needed a way to dispense them one at a time. I decided to use a solenoid I had lying around to pull a pin that would hold the stacked Play-Doh cans in the arm. I figured if I pulsed the solenoid fast enough I could time it to release just one can at a time. It turns out you have to be faster than a human's reflexes to do this.
Carl's Skeleton v2 |
In this photo I'm testing the angle of the dispenser arm. It has to be angled down far enough for the Play-Doh cans to fall out, but also forward enough to look like he's handing the Play-Doh to a child.
Hey Carl Can Stand! |
Carl and me in full safari gear ready for Halloween. |
Check out the video below for a demo of Carl giving out Play-Doh. Most kids loved him. Some were terrified of him. Dozens of parents forced their children to have their picture taken with him. There were some pretty funny moments this year.