***Disclaimer***This instructable is documentation for a work in progress. Although the project is not yet complete, it has reached a place where I believe it can begin to be beneficial to other makers.

The concept for this project was spawned when a friend suggested I be Slenderman for Halloween. When I first looked at pictures, I wasn't terribly excited because I am a prop builder more than a costumer, and Slenderman didn't have any props. However, I then discovered that in some depictions he has tentacle-like appendages emerging from his back. I started scouring the internet, seeing if anyone could give me any advice on how to bring this part of the costume to life. To my dismay, the best I could find was suggestions using armature wire to support the tentacles, but they wouldn't move so I set out to design my own.

The Overall Plan:

-Include 4 or 6 Tentacles

-Be mounted on the back

-Be controlled with 1 or 2 Arduino's using 2 Wii Nunchucks

-Move automatically when not being actively puppeteered

-Have an option to fold tight for moving around tight spaces

UPDATE 2/24/15: Hey Everyone, I am thrilled by the support this project has been getting since I released it just over 2 years ago. I have to say that unfortunately, monetary constraints (being a poor highschool student turning into an even poorer college student) and time constraints have put this project on the back burner for the majority of the last 2 years. I haven't forgotten about you guys, and I am looking forward to delving back into this project soon, hopefully. Don't think I haven't been learning though, in the time away from this project I have picked up numerous skills that I can see applied in hugely useful ways to this project in the future.

These include:

-Learning to machine parts by hand on a vertical mill and metal lathe

-Learned how to use a vacuum form

-Learned a LOT more about servo motors, and what I might need for this project

-Did research on Snake Robots (kind of like tentacles, right?) at the Biorobotics Lab at Carnegie Mellon)

-Learning how to use, and gaining some access to a Waterjet cutter (through Techshop)

-Taking a Class in theatrical casting and mold making at my University

-Beginning to pursue a degree in technical theater

Along with these things, I am also currently taking classes in Welding, Advanced Fabrication Techniques, and Embedded Computing (Arduino-based gadget building) at my University

Thanks for all the continued support, I will do my best to continue to answer any and all questions that come my way in the comments and my inbox. I hope that the next update I post here will be much more timely, and much more full of actual content.

Sincerely,

-TheJuggler