Entertain the Neighborhood with Animated Pumpkins in Your Window

Halloween is upon us, and while you might not be able to duplicate this build in time, it’s still a great idea for next year. The rig, by Louis at “DIY Machines,” involves three 3D-printed pumpkin models. These appear to be nice enough by themselves, but come to life when animated faces are projected onto them from within a window. The effect is enhanced by a speaker on the outside of the house that outputs audio to go along with the jack-o'-lantern trio’s facial movements.

The system works by using a Raspberry Pi to feed video signals to an inexpensive projector, which shines images through the back of the gourds to form faces. A pair of 3.5mm audio jacks and cable are used to transfer audio from the Pi to the outdoor speaker, which is enclosed in an input module with three illuminated arcade-style pushbuttons. Trick-or-treaters can start the show with these buttons, selecting either a "song," "scare," or "story," which looks like it would be lots of fun no matter what option you pick.

Everything is well documented in the video below, with more info in Louis' project post. The actual Pi commands that you’ll need for installation are on the official DIY Machines website. One interesting note is that although optional, the build uses all removable connectors, allowing you to repurpose the Pi and other components when Halloween is over – perhaps for a Thanksgiving, or even Christmas-themed animation to entertain guests!