Next time you are picking out a Christmas gift for someone why not get something that is hackable and improve on the original design. With a ton of electronics stuffed inside this Big Mouth Billy Bass it now makes for the ideal gift! If you are interested in seeing how it was all put together there is a schematic available.

“The CPU board has a pair of 18F452 PICs. One controls the BMBB and MP3 player. The other is dedicated to the display. Various LEDs and the 10 position switch are connected to both PICs. The fish has three motors to move its head, tail and mouth. I used TIP3055′s t0 drive the mouth and tail. I used two relays to move the head due to its large current draw. The stock BMBB used 6vdc to control all three motors. I used 6vdc for the mouth and tail and both 4 and 6vdc for the head. If you apply only 4 volts to it, it will move half way and stop. This allowed me to make the BMBB more animated.”