Ah....the final chapter in the Weird Science trilogy of coolness.

The project was to document and demonstrate the success/failures of Brad Parker's attempt to convert a fullsize coin-operated 400-pound cigarette vending machine into an interactive laptop-powered piece of steel.



The machine was going to have a motion sensor (PIR) placed inside that would sense movement and send a signal up to a keyboard, simulating a keypress. The Flash application that was built for it would detect that keypress and launch an audio file.

The same idea worked for knob pulls. A series of knobs would be wired up to the same dismantled keyboard, and when one was pulled, it would unbreak the beam of a photo-optic interrupter and send a signal indicating another keypress. Each knob would be wired into a specific key, and a unique audio file would play.



I was able to successfully install the laptop and speakers inside, but the connection from the photo-optic interrupters to the keyboard was lacking. In the end, it had to be faked.

The "Waiting For Jerry" title refers to my man Jerry Chamkis, who generously offered his expertise to get this project completed, but disappeared off the face of the earth when it came down to the last day.

I had to think fast...and an actor was brought in to play Jerry's cousin, Larry, who handed me the "needed components" to finish the job.