Balloons are great for simple pranks. You can pop the balloon and scare someone, or you can fill the balloon with water and soak them. These are some of the simplest and most basic pranks that you can do. But you can always make improvements on an old classic. In this project, I am going to show you how to pop a balloon remotely. That way you don't have to be anywhere nearby when it goes off. Pranks are always better if the victim can't figure out who did it or how they pulled it off.

All you need is a small remote controlled car and a needle.

Step 1: Materials

Here are the materials that you need for this project:

Materials
Remote Controlled Car
Sewing Needle
Duct Tape
Balloons

Step 2: How the Prank Works

Here is how this prank works. A balloon is hidden just out of sight. It can be filled with water or just air. Immediately next to the balloon, you position the wheel of a remote controlled car. Then you attach a needle to the wheel. When the wheel spins, the needle will pop the balloon. This will either scare the person or soak them in water.

Step 3: Disassemble the RC Car

I recommend at least partially disassembling the RC car. This makes it smaller, easier to mount and easier to hide. Most of the parts of an RC car will simply unscrew. So you should be able to disassemble it without doing any permanent damage to it. If you want, you can always reassemble it later.

I was lucky in that my RC car was designed to be modular. So I was able to break it down to just the board, the motor, the battery and the power switch. After disassembling most of the car, I reattached one of the wheels. It is easier to mount the needle to a wheel than the drive shaft of the motor.

Step 4: Attach the Needle to the Wheel

The easiest way to pop a balloon is with a needle. So I just took a sewing needle and taped it to the side of one wheel. When the wheel turns, the needle will spin around with it and pop any nearby balloons.

SAFETY WARNING:
Be very careful with this needle spinning wheel. The wheels on an RC car can spin incredibly fast. if any part of you gets too close to this spinning wheel of death, you could be seriously injured. Use common sense. To be safe, keep both the transmitter and the receiver turned off when you are working on it.

Step 5: Attach the Remaining Parts Together With Tape

You don't want any of the parts loosely hanging from wires. So if you can any parts that are not rigidly attached secure them to the rest of the parts with tape. If your RC car uses an infrared remote, be sure not to cover up the sensor.

This completes your balloon popping mechanism.

Step 6: Setup the Balloon and the Popping Mechanism

Now you need to find a good place to hide the balloon ad the popping mechanism. Try to find some place that you can easily access but is still hidden from view. One good location is on a section of roof that overhangs a doorway. People rarely look up right after walking out of a door.

There are a lot of ways that you can attach the balloon and popping mechanism. I just used duct tape. As long as the surface of the balloon is dry duct tape will stick to is very well. For larger balloons, you can loop the duct tape under the balloon and cradle it so that it doesn't pop under its own weight. Duct tape also lets you make slight adjustments to the positioning of everything.

Lastly, manually turn the wheel to make sure that the needle will hit the balloon. If everything lines up properly, then you are all set.

Step 7: Pop the Balloon

Once everything is set up, turn on the receiver and the transmitter. The trap is now armed and ready. If you feel particularly cruel, you can also set up a camera to record the results.

When your victim walks under the balloon, use the remote to activate the popping mechanism. The motor will spin the wheel and the needle will pop the balloon. They will never see it coming. At this point it is usually a good idea to run away as fast as possible.