It's Halloween in the Wasteland, and just in time for all your kids' trick-or-treating needs comes a custom Mad Max Power Wheels vehicle.
The vehicle is the creation of Cory and Jeremy Newton-Smith, who used some old Power Wheels (including a Barbie car) and turned things up a notch by creating an electric-powered Mad Max vehicle for their two children.
The Newton-Smiths, both software engineers, aren't strangers to creating awesome Halloween costumes. Their past three costumes included Elliot on his bike with E.T., a Ghostbusters costume that came complete with the Ghostbusters vehicle and Marty McFly with the Back to the Future DeLorean.
However, the Newton-Smiths topped themselves this year. Not only did they create the Mad Max Power Wheels, but they also dressed up their 4-year-old son as Mad Max and their 11-month old daughter as Imperator Furiosa, making for the cutest couple to ever roam the Wasteland.
"A couple of cheap second-hand PowerWheels Jeeps (Wrangler, and Barbie) form the base plus the usual cardboard, electronics, and paint," wrote the Newton-Smiths on their blog. "Powered by four motors, a smooth-starting throttle, power steering, keyed ignition, sound effects with pull cord truck air-horn, and the ability for 11-month old Furiosa to drive via an overriding remote-controlled iPhone app."
The entire system is controlled by two Arduino Nanos: one controls the car and the other controls the audio. The vehicle has a total of four motors and includes a keyed ignition that originally came from a scooter. The remote override also includes a heartbeat signal that stops the car when out of range, which is probably a good thing when you've got kids behind the wheel.
"Working on these projects is truly a labor of love," writes the Newton-Smiths. "It's an opportunity to stretch our creativity and surprise even ourselves at what we can achieve both individually and together. We actively encourage imaginative play in our house, Cooper is a Lego lover just like my husband and I were as children, and he loves, stories, movies, and most of all make-believe. Halloween is at least one day of the year where we can guiltlessly live vicariously through our children in a world of wonder and fantasy, and revel in the smiles it puts on their faces."
The family encourages those impressed by their projects to donate to their 2016 Cycle Kids Boston Marathon campaign to raise money for kids to live healthy and active lifestyles.
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