I bought a small skeleton dog from an eBay seller. Although described as “animated” he doesn’t move, but the eyes flash and he barks.
There are two modes; sound activated and push button (“try me”) activated. Not all that useful.
So… I removed the battery / control / speaker box from his head and ran new wiring to the eye LEDs.
The original control board was reused with a larger speaker and sounds so much better, especially the growling.
Since the original batteries were 3 small cells, I powered it from 5V with a series diode to drop the voltage a little.
The kennel was made from scrap pallet timber.
I was going to do a gable roof, but lack of time meant he got a flat one instead !
The wood looks too new, so I’ll give it an aged look for next year.
A proximity sensor in a pot plant was used to trigger the dog.
This sensor has a maximum detection distance of 80cm.
It is connected to control board that in turn triggers the dog via the original “try me” switch wires.
That also provides a lockout time so he isn’t going off all the time.
The speaker and control board were put at the rear of the box.
You couldn’t see them at night.
The black “tail” on the dog is the cable going to the eye LEDs.
Everything was wired up and tested on the big day.
I’ll be making a more suitable control board for 2016.
If I can find the bracket, I’ll mount the speaker to the rear wall.