@Jayutmb

The 1.6 scale (just over abfoot tall) ED 209's thare about are pretty pricey, +300 bucks, but here's one that's just under a foot tall (10 inches) for $109. Haven't come across anything much taller though (except for a 10 foot tall one for $25k).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00DJ4LYVS/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1448459642&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=Ed+209&dpPl=1&dpID=51TCjSLqonL&ref=plSrch

Maybe you could use an electronic vapor cigarette unit to generate fog for your project. You could use a small air pump to draw and disperse the vapor fog.

@steveg Thanks !

Well, you're right about him being designed for "more": http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Deluxe-Electronic-Action/dp/B016ZNS09S/ref=sr_1_10?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1448466395&sr=1-10&keywords=JAKKS+BIG+FIG+Star+Wars

Evidently JAKKS makes/made a higher-end version.

jeremie

check this out. Form a friend who is an Electric Train collector

https://jet.com/product/detail/ad5ed6d677ec4347a63a108ce4b81735?jcmp=pla:ggl:toys_games_a3:toys_play_vehicles_toy_race_car_track_sets_a3_other:na:na:na:na:na:2&code=PLA15&k_clickid=dfdcb677-5362-4d67-a706-500ad2535f65&gclid=Cj0KEQiA1dWyBRDqiJye6LjkhfIBEiQAw06ITn6Ru35PcrXv6EuM9pQVtLiMbpt7ZdlYf420sU5mNhUaAk1l8P8HAQ This stuff is expensive but make a lot of smoke! Hector

@jeremie I got the gallon of smoke juice and a smoke machine. I will try to do a projection, but it probably won't work. I spoke with my friend about what you wanted to do. He said it is really hard, because the smoke disperses and there is no way to focus the image.

We came up with an idea to put a very light silk ribbon (as wide as the projection you want, kind of "V" shaped, )update: or a round tube for 3d)) in a tube with a flat nozzle at the end. Blow smoke, using the smoke juice and an electric cigarette thru the tube while paying out a thread to which the light silk is attached to. The smoke would disguise the silk, but give a focus area to project on. The tube would be deployed from the robot, smoke started, silk sheet deployed, projection done, video completed the silk retracted, smoke stopped, tube retracted.

I know it sounds complex, but the only way we thought it could be done.

Co2 cloud is complex but has the same issue plus costly to produce.

A glass screen placed in one spot to project on could work but looks lousey.

I tried, but doing a image projection on smoke is real tough.

Ron R

Hi @jayutmb

Give me a day or two. I will post teardown photos. It look pretty good for a hack.

Ron R

Wow Ron, thanks for looking into that!

Hmmm maybe it's just a pipe dream (seems like there should be a pun in there somewhere since we are talking about smoke lol). Just as @Steve had suggested I was also thinking of trying to push the smoke through a manifold with lots of exit points to try and direct the smoke into a sheet of smoke. Thanks @Steve for sharing your experience with dry ice.

Funny enough on Halloween a friend of mine sent me a link for some rear projection material (probably close to silk) that is semi-transparent. Check out the video, you can hardly tell it's there:

Maybe I'll try the projection material first, seems it'll be a lot easier. Thanks for the idea Ron! I know you mentioned smoke + silk but using just a silk-like material may work as well.

I think I'll get R2 to open a hatch, flip up a small piece of the material and then project onto it once it is in place. It will likely look much better than projecting on smoke would but smoke is still a cool effect.

I didn't realize that model trains have tiny electronic smoke producing accessories. Edit Thanks to @Hecbom for the info!