Question about squirting

[lou suSi]

Hey y’alL

looking for some quick suggestions from the dorkbots community on
building a machine that squirts

i’ve brainstormed it a bit, but do NOT know the real logistics behind
making something like this

the main idea is pretty simple

it will actually be a wall-mounted, painting-like object on the wall
that squirts the viewer ala the old skool flower on a clown’s
lapel ... a bit of a ‘gag’ painting i guess ... art strikes back and
all

so, you as the viewer walk up to the painting and get a little water
in the eye ( and elsewhere ) ... proximity, distance detection and
such ... i’ll be using an Arduino as the microprocessor and thought of
these 2 potentials for the squirt part:

There’s a new toy for about $30 called ‘The Screature’ ... here’s the
link: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3348339 ...
if you view the demo, you’ll see the Screature Interactive Dinosaur
does 2 things, screech and squirt. Squirting happens when a user
touches part of the dinosaur, but I’m thinking the trigger mechanics
can be played w/ a bit, right?
Windshield washer mechanism ... aight, this one is a bit ‘out there’
in that it is probably a LOT more industrial and will shoot a LOT more
water ... but I think this is what I’m aiming for ( pun intended ).
Big laughs. Or big frustration.

Anyhow, if anyone has any insight or experience trying to make
electronics squirt, please let me know. I’d love to move forward on
this project and will be researching online a bit before the trial and
error portion of my journey.

Thanks in advance.

lou

lou suSi : l...@bxos.com : 617.750.2922

[tread]

Just a thought but I have read about extracting the sprayer mechanism from old Swiffer WetJet mops for such purposes. I think they are much cheaper, smaller and lighter than a windshield washer mechanism. Hope this helps.

-T

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[Martin K]

On Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 11:19 AM, lou suSi <l...@loususi.com> wrote:

You could get a $1 squirt gun and use a solenoid to drive the piston.
A bonus is that it would happen really quickly without making a
whirring noise from a pump.
--
Martin K.

[RoyP]

Do you think this will get laughs? How old are you? Most grown
people knot that it's not funny to inflict consequences on others, or
to watch people suffer humiliations. I think you will piss people
off.

[Andy Ward]

Really?  I can't think of a single person I know who wouldn't find this absolutely hilarious.  Who wouldn't love a little automated schadenfreude?  There's also the possibility that he's building something much more embarassing and doesn't want to reveal its true nature :-)

Pornobot perhaps?

Cheers,
- Andy (a grown up)

[Stokes]

Cheap and effective solution: windshield wiper fluid pumps from a
junkyard. A college friend of mine had four of these mounted in his
car: one behind the front grill, one inside the door on each side (the
nozzles were hidden in the trim), and one in the dot between the
numbers on his rear license plate. These were controlled via buttons
mounted on his dashboard. He put the nozzles from cheap squirtguns on
the ends of plastic tubes to get the pumps to produce the right sort
of stream.

On Nov 29, 11:19 am, lou suSi <l...@loususi.com> wrote:

[Jeff Berg]

On Nov 30, 2009, at 11:03 AM, Stokes wrote:

> Cheap and effective solution: windshield wiper fluid pumps from a
> junkyard.

Even a new pump for a late model domestic car (I chose an 07 Buick Lacrosse at random) isn't very expensive—about $20 at Autozone (or your preferred vendor.) It's a simple inline pump--drop a supply tube into your water reservoir (you could use a self-filling pet water dish if you want to plumb it in for long term installation) and feed the other end out to your squirt nozzle. You'll need a 12VDC power supply for the pump. As you're designing the installation, remember that shorter tubing will result in less delay from "pump on" to delivery but a well designed system won't have too much backflow anyway. (Might need to be primed initially.) You can even install a backflow check valve to help keep the works primed.

And as an aside, the washer pump in my 94 BMW 318is was the most powerful I've every experienced. (Might not be the most economical choice though, even through a scrapyard.)

jab

[Jeff Berg]

Whoops--correction. As I was closing the web page I noticed that the Buick pump I referenced is a gravity fed pump which has some implications in terms of your reservoir/pump/nozzle arrangement. I'd look for a self-priming inline pump, but the cost should be similar. A little digging online--or a word with the counterman at a NAPA store (during a slow time) should yield the right pump for your project.

jab

[Robert Williams]

I'd think it was funny unless I was some person wearing expensive clothes that got squirted, or got it in the eye, or on my pants where it looked like I wet myself, or... 

[Schuyler Towne]

Perhaps the invectives are better left for private, rather than public communication. If you are genuinely seeking to change behaviour lambasting someone via an email announce list likely won't get you the results you desire. I'd watch out for cheeky paintings if I were you ;)

-Schuyler

-----Original Message-----
From: RoyP <roype...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 6:51 AM
To: Dorkbot Boston <dorkbo...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [Dorkbot Boston] Re: Question about squirting

Do you think this will get laughs? How old are you? Most grown
people knot that it's not funny to inflict consequences on others, or
to watch people suffer humiliations. I think you will piss people
off.

[lou suSi]

Ah, yeah ... you're right ... probably not a good idea after all.
People might get upset when they get sprayed.

Well, I think I found a cool solution here for anyone else that might
be interested ... check it out:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Squirt/

Guess I wasn't the first to think up the whole 'machines that squirt
you' thing ;]

I'll probably build it anyhow, but will need to be happy with just a
video prototype of my idea for now. I think its gonna be fun! And I
know some laugh, some will cry and some will probably knock it off the
wall ... I just want to see it as a living object in the world. I
simply need to make it.

I love all the suggestions by the way. Nozzles and squirtguns and
windshield solution pumps ... thank you all for chiming in with the
cool advice. I'm glad I asked for the assistance here and hope I can
make up for my potential crimes against humanity here with some better
adjusted adventures in electonica ;]

Piece out!

lou

On Nov 30, 11:37 am, Schuyler Towne <schuylerto...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Perhaps the invectives are better left for private, rather than public communication. If you are genuinely seeking to change behaviour lambasting someone via an email announce list likely won't get you the results you desire. I'd watch out for cheeky paintings if I were you ;)
>
> -Schuyler
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: RoyP <roypertc...@gmail.com>
> Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 6:51 AM
> To: Dorkbot Boston <dorkbo...@googlegroups.com>
> Subject: [Dorkbot Boston] Re: Question about squirting
>
> Do you think this will get laughs?  How old are you?  Most grown
> people knot that it's not funny to inflict consequences on others, or
> to watch people suffer humiliations.  I think you will piss people
> off.
>

> >lousuSi: l...@bxos.com : 617.750.2922