A complete miniature Halloween world — built around a real Arduino Alvik robot, brought to life with lights, line following, and a scripted show.
The original display is assembled and running in the maker’s living room. This page documents the actual project, including designs that were revised or retired.
ACTUAL BUILT DISPLAY · PHOTOThe first video is footage of the completed, physical, operating installation. The second is a separately produced animated promotional short inspired by the same miniature world.
See the real garage lights, Alvik tractor, completed roadway and graveyard encounter in the filmed physical demonstration.
Live-action video · Approximately 64 seconds · Recorded from the working tabletop display.
A cinematic interpretation based on the physical build. Atmosphere, characters and some scenery are stylized with AI animation; it is not footage of the functioning model.
Animated interpretation · 30 seconds · Separate from the real show video.
A garage and office form the main building complex. The separate Alvik Home and graveyard are linked by a modular roadway. The robot follows the physical line rather than relying only on timed turns.
The completed illuminated architectural complex, photographed in its actual tabletop setting.
Separate graveyard scenery beside the route; the animated ghost effect is part of the live show.
The actual illuminated tractor / pumpkin-wagon character built around the Arduino Alvik.
A closer look at the tractor’s lights, driver, wagon and seasonal scenic elements.
A physical installation with a line-following road connecting the main destinations.
Route documentation for the approved roadway; diagram, not a photo of the finished model.
These are actual photographs of the project unless the caption explicitly identifies a diagram. The external home setting in certain photos provides scale and documents the working installation.
The approved production show integrates robot motion, physical roadway references, Bluetooth commands, building lights, street lamps, and timed WLED effects.
After the show starts, street lighting fades on; building and store lights follow. The display establishes the scene before the tractor moves.
Bluetooth starts the show, while Alvik controls its own motors, follows the line, and responds to the physical course.
The show includes a garage/store ghost cue, a pause at Herbie, and a startled reverse reaction at the graveyard ghost.
Alvik drives through the garage and stops at its final marker; the lights turn off and the show returns to READY.
An MIT App Inventor Bluetooth controller sends START/STOP commands; the approved Alvik MicroPython show coordinates the route and lighting cues.
The running installation deliberately does not use wireless charging or automatic docking. Those earlier experiments are part of the archived design story.
The project evolved from an experimental automatic charger into a reliable miniature show. These are authentic source photographs, diagrams, slicer images and early concepts—not all depictions are production hardware.
Concept artwork used to explore the visual identity; not a photograph of the finished build.
An illustrated concept board documenting revised office roof ideas, including service access.
A real slicer preview showing the FDM fabrication stage for the modular wall geometry.
Slicer layout from development of the garage/office modular printed components.
Slicer view from the roof’s engineering and physical-fit development.
Engineering layout from an earlier V3.1 roof revision; development documentation, not final construction.
Physical work on the tractor character, driver, lighting and pumpkin-wagon arrangement.
Diagram documenting how roadway pieces 01–14 connect.
Real charging-system PCB from the experimental phase; not part of the operating production show.
Early 3D-printed mounting pieces for a charging concept later removed.
Historical test installation before manual USB charging became the reliable standard.
The biggest project decisions were driven by what actually happened after printing and physical testing—not by accepting a CAD model simply because it looked correct.
Garage and office walls, floors and roof sections were produced as separate serviceable pieces. The office roof went through geometry repairs, fit tests, and revised locating features before production.
Wireless power mounting and docking experiments were valuable, but removing them made the final experience more dependable. The 14-piece line-following route and WLED/BLE show were physically proven together.
Last Stop Garage is a completed working project. Future ideas are independent expansions, not requirements for making the current show operate.
An ESP32-S3 scene master has been discussed for schedules, additional light branches and higher-level show commands. It remains a development concept. The approved Alvik standalone BLE/WLED show is preserved and continues to operate without it.
Build documentation and supplied project history: Last Stop Garage. Media are from the maker’s archive. Concept graphics are illustrations and the animated film is a creative interpretation, not a representation of unverified functions.