Electro-mechanical prop construction - company recommendations

[Shez]

I'm looking to commission the construction of a replacement prop but as this is somewhat outside of my usual sphere, I'm a little short of ideas of companies to approach. (Basic prop details below). I'd be grateful for any recommendations of companies that might be able to undertake this.

It's essentially an OSC controlled paper thrower. It has to drop single sheets of A4 paper from over stage - one sheet per OSC "fire" command. Sometimes single sheets, sometimes flurries. We get through nearly a ream of paper in each performance. The current version is built from the innards of a laser printer with a new speed controlled stepper motor to drive the rollers and a solenoid to kick each sheet to the rollers. There's a mac mini attached (slight overkill!) to receive OSC and control an arduino that drives the mechanics. It's several years old now and is starting to become unreliable / worn out.

[IRW]

Why not just cut the mac mini out and code the arduino to receive DMX?

[IRW]

D'oh- just reread your post- I assume it's actually the printer bits that are becoming worn out rather than the mac mini?

Either way, it sounds like something up @cedd's street...!

Edited January 11, 2023 by IRW

[DrV]

10 hours ago, IRW said:

Either way, it sounds like something up @cedd's street...!

Second that!