Experimental electronic petal dropping prop

A project inspired by a friend in the theatre industry who was asking about the technicalities of creating a prop rose in a glass bell jar where the petals fall off in a controlled manner during the performance.
My initial thoughts were a magnetic system or an assembly with boden style tubes to allow pins to be pulled to drop the petals, but then I decided to experiment with resistors and wax.
This video is a good demonstration of how changing materials (higher temp wax and lighter petals) can change the results completely.
The prop as shown is just a prototype. It would look more rose-like with more petals and a smaller connection hub.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of KZbin's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
#ElectronicsCreators

[@ICountFrom0]

Theater crew is lucky to have you. Applause to everybody backstage putting in the work. You might not be out there taking the bows, but you make it possible.

[@muppetpaster]

Clive,be careful the stagelights donot warm up the wax too much (and the heat in the venue,by the audience)....But I am sure you've covered that....Mr. McGyver Cliver.....

[@srkendal]

I made a petal dropping rose for Beauty and the Beast several years ago. I started with an artificial rose and hot glued small plastic tubes to the bottom of the petals. I ran strands of music wire up through brass tubing into each petal. Then they could be pulled one by one releasing the petals to fall. Very simple to reset as well.

[@railgap]

Here's an alternative idea, which can be adapted to work with real rose petals: each stem is a thin tube with a flexible sliding wire inside, just as you might use for a (SFX) puppet mechanism. A tiny drop of superglue attaches the petal to the sliding wire. When the wire is withdrawn a few mm into the tube, the tube will restrain the petal and the glue spot will be pulled free. It is much more compact and can withstand closer inspection. The big problem it has is that it's a moving mechanis, and therefore a little tricky to make silent. But far from impossible, especially since only a small amount of motion is required. Love your stuff and your style. Carry on!

[@M0LHA]

This is probably one of my most favourite videos I've seen you produce so far Clive. Absolutely would love to see more of this type of thing, and absolutely the type of challenge I enjoy.

[@jawjuk]

Blinkin' brilliant, Clive! I could see you as a production engineer for some lime-lit 19th Century stage event introducing the team to the wonders of how to use electrickery in a play.

[@ParallelLogic]

Now I'm just imagining Belle and the Beast stopping their script and string at this rose as it catches fire from the kilowatt being fed through it.

[@eDoc2020]

Would this work better with PTC resettable fuses? I imagine the larger surface area and more well-defined heater temperature could produce more consistent results. Plus if somebody forgets to switch off the power you won't have burning resistors.

[@Blazer02LS]

In the story the rose wilts first so the bloom faces down, then the petals fall off in sequence until the beast "dies" then the final petal falls. When I made a similar prop years ago it was done with a large silk rose. Used music wires fed through the petals with a small piece of clear tube on each. The wires were attached to a simple wind up timer so it took around 2 minutes for the "death" scene to run and the petals would fall sequentially with the last one taking a bit longer to fall. Reset was simple, as I used a cam on the timer to operate the wires and once it finished you picked up the petals, placed them in the "alignment jig" (small paper drinking cup with a slot in it) then slipped the wires through the petals. Flipped the cam to lock the wires and latched the timer. Starting the sequence was by flipping a toggle on the rear of the table the rose was on. These days I'd probably use an electronic timer with a small servo to pull the wires, unless the audience is very close they wouldn't hear it working.

[@ziginox]

"Huh, you could do this with wax..."

[@mikerudin8261]

Interesting approach, if you can get the timing consistent.

[@MrHack4never]

You should probably tell him to watch out for the stagelights, because enough external heat will trigger a cascade

[@theelmonk]

I want to see the final DMX-controlled dying flower !

[@superotterboy7937]

This is a very neat solution; I like how the thermal properties of the resistors adds to the pseudo-randomness of the effect. However, I'd much prefer to see the big daddy capacitor version, where the caps explode and launch each petal into the next county. Imagine the audience's face.

[@JaenEngineering]

Awesome idea. I'd definitely look at an auto shut off, as you can guarantee someone will leave it switched on by accident and completely burn out the resistors.

[@tinytonymaloney7832]

That's a good prop

[@theelmonk]

A jig to hold several petals and the resistors in position would be a big help

[@Lu_Woods]

Love this.

[@t1d100]

I have done some stagehand work. I vote for the tube/wire/mechanical solution, for safety reasons. (That does not mean that I am against brainstorming the wax/resistor idea, for the challenge.) As for the reset issue, just make multiple flower units. I suggest that the roses be of the long-stem type. That means the petals have farther to fall and that means the fall is more evident and dramatic. Maybe position the vase on the edge of a table/shelf and let the petals fall all the way to the ground. The falling action of a flower petal is distinctive... Slow... With random, horizontal wondering... I would think that would require at least a fabric petal. Even better might be to cut a pedal shape out of an actual, decorative feather.

[@Graeme_Lastname]

Can't help it. I saw a killowatt CO2 laser burning through the stems.