Bring the Car Dealership to Your Desktop with This Wacky Air-Powered Flailing Man
Davide Marin always wanted a mini air dancer, and seven years later, he has one.
At the Maker Faire Rome 2013, Davide Marin presented his desktop “Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man,” a miniature version of what you might see at a car dealership, used to advertise their “insane deals.” This first version was powered by a simple hair dryer motor, but now, seven years later, he’s finally been able to further refine his design.
His new flailing figure is constructed out of recycleable trash bags, clipped and sealed into shape with a soldering iron and razor blade. Eyes were formed from adhesive hole reinforcements, “hair” was made from the top of the plastic, and a mouth was added with the help of a laser cutter — though if using such a device you’ll want to make sure what you’re cutting won’t emit harmful fumes.
The DIY air dancer is now held up by a centrifugal fan, with a 3D-printed housing for an Arduino Nano and blower interface. The Arduino uses a MOSFET to control the fan, and the setup even employs a servo motor to vector the air output back and forth, making it flail even more unpredictably.
It’s a fun concept, as you can see in the videos below, and something that presents all kinds of possibilities like RGB lighting, voice commands, and more.
Engineer, maker of random contraptions, love learning about tech. Write for various publications, including Hackster!