Zombie Containment Unit with Pneumatics Effects and FPGA Control

If you need a Halloween decoration that will definitely scare the neighbors, be sure to check out Glen Akins’ Zombie Containment Unit. The device is roughly refrigerator-sized, and instead of a freezer on top, there’s a screen that shows a zombie inside attempting to break out of its confines. This effect is helped along by violent sounds, a number of lights, hoses, and high tech-looking displays.

The coolest feature, however, is that as the zombie tries to break out, he knocks in to the left and right walls, actually making lights and conduit on each side bounce outwards just a little bit. You’ll have to see the video below for a better idea of the effect, but spoiler alert, the containment unit eventually breaks down after the undead temper tantrum.

The installation packs an array of interesting electronics for control, and a pair of pneumatic cylinders that violently push the lights out. Electronic elements inside are broken up into a media portion on the top, which outputs zombie head video on its 27" screen, and a bottom portion that takes care of the physical effects. The bottom uses a Digilent Zybo board, which packs a Xilinx Zynq-7000 FPGA and a pair of Arm Cortex-A9 cores. To coordinate the two parts, the right zombie audio track contains audio touch tones that coorespond to different parts of the performance, decoded using the FPGA.

For even more by Akins, check out his Live Monster: DO NOT OPEN display.