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Halloween 2020: Texas Man Builds Candy-Shooting Cannon in Preparation for Socially Distanced Trick-or-Treaters

A Texas man created a candy-shooting cannon and robot to prepare for Halloween 2020.

What Halloween 2020 Will Look Like

Some cities and counties have “canceled” Halloween events and trick or treating. Most of the places will not fine or subject those who trick or treat to legal action. With the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, most people are opting for socially-distanced trick or treating.

The Man Behind It All

Luke Keyes is a software engineer that created the contraptions. He and his wife also built a haunted science lab in their garage for neighborhood children.

“COVID is very real to us. We actually know of one person that passed away during the beginning, and the person that she lived with — he has permanent heart damage from it,” Keyes told Yahoo News. “It’s very real to us.”

Keyes is suffering from a lung condition and wants to remain distant and safe. “I’m comprised,” he admitted. “I know it’s very real and I don’t want to get it, and condone or encourage others to spread it. But I feel bad because [the science lab] has finally grown to where the neighborhood kids will see me and ask about it. So I was like, OK, what can we do?”

The Robot

“Arty” the robot was created using Legos and a Roomba eight years ago. He is now six feet tall and uses a Balder power wheelchair, cameras, and wood. He is controlled using an Xbox controller and weighs over 300 pounds.

“Maybe we can do a reverse trick-or-treating where we just drive Arty around, and he’ll deliver candy to kids,” Keyes suggested. Keyes and his family put together bags of candy and small toys fo local children. Their thought is that Arty would carry and deliver them to the children.

“The bags will be on the tray,” he explained. “We’ll have these pre-made bags, we’ll glove up and mask up, and go down the street and figure out how many kids are at the household and put the bags on the tray and drive the robot over.”

The Candy Cannon

Fox News reported that he also created a candy cannon. An anchor tested out the machine on air. See it in action, below.