benchodroff.com

With Halloween right around the corner, I thought I’d share how I am building my Halloween costume. Ever play the electronic board game “Operation” - the one where you remove body parts from the naked guy but try to avoid touching the sides else causing his nose to light up and an annoying buzzer to go off? Well…

I built a life-size wearable version of the game. I used a clown nose outfitted with an red light LED, a buzzer, and built a 555 IC timing circuit that is tripped by one of four reed sensors located in “body parts” I constructed out of felt. My friend Lyndsey Benson, who mentioned the idea, had a friend who did a costume based on “Operation,” but this costume takes it to the next level by making it actually work!

To trip the buzzer and light up nose, I have attached a ceramic magnet to some kitchen tongs and you simply wave the tongs in front of the body part. Originally I tried to make fabric switches that you would press to activate the buzzer, but failed because I couldn’t find conductive thread and silver wire just wasn’t cutting it.

The one-liners with this costume are endless… Here are some suggestions:

• Want to play?
• Please, touch me.
• Can you fix my broken heart?
• Many, many more that are much worse