First software test.
Added 2019-11-20 00:01:33 +0000 UTCAn initial test of software to get a feel for speeds and appearance.
I've discovered one annoying thing that I should have remembered. The A4 channel is open collector on the microcontroller. It can only pull down and not drive the gate of the MOSFET high. It's an easy fix with a pull-up resistor to 5V if I end up needing all the channels.
The pattern is a bit quirky because the routines to create smoother transitions between effects aren't in place yet (and neither are most of the effects). At the moment it pulsates the star, fills the green from top to bottom, fills the yellow from top to bottom and then chases random data down the yellow sections like a waterfall. The star flashes slowly (just a test routine) and then it blacks out and resets to the start of the program. It will gradually unbuild in the final software instead of going out suddenly.
Comments
Yeah that RA4 thing will get you on the old PICs. But my guess is you won't be wanting to add just one output. Why not add a 74HC595 daisy-chain?
Mike Page
2019-11-30 21:28:07 +0000 UTCI used the welded mesh because it is strong enough to support the strips and allow regular fastening with cable ties. The frame is intended to be reusable for different designs.
Big Clive
2019-11-22 01:53:38 +0000 UTCI want to build one, but I don't have the patience to construct the wire mesh framework. I am wondering if hardware cloth will do?
2019-11-21 04:08:03 +0000 UTCThats something I'd love to have in my yard at Christmas. Its beautiful... As long as my neighbors aren't epileptic, at least. Beautiful work, Clive.
Honorary Octopus
2019-11-21 00:31:21 +0000 UTCClive - have you got a really big explosion pie dish in case the cheap Chinese dropper capacitor goes poof..? (It's a joke) - Really, well done you are clever.
Nuts 'n' Proud
2019-11-20 20:18:23 +0000 UTCI probably will release the code. I've been documenting it heavily. The power supply is a good quality Mean well waterproof unit designed for outdoor signage and Christmas lighting. The display is going to be indoors though.
Big Clive
2019-11-20 14:16:50 +0000 UTCIt's themed on an animated neon sign. The entry form for where it's going was titled "las Vegas".
Big Clive
2019-11-20 14:15:31 +0000 UTCThis is the project you got those custom pcbs for right? I really like the pic16f628a because its so simple but you could also do really complicated things with it. I'll probably replicate your build at some point i have pic's and i have the brenner 8 pic burner from sprut
Leon Schutte
2019-11-20 11:10:49 +0000 UTCThat really looks top notch
Michael Thompson
2019-11-20 10:05:13 +0000 UTCCan we see the source code? Also, is this going outside? How do you protect the PSU from the weather?
2019-11-20 09:41:19 +0000 UTCLooking good Clive
2019-11-20 09:13:25 +0000 UTCLooks really nice. π Like to have one of my own!π
Jens Hecke
2019-11-20 08:18:58 +0000 UTCI forgot that I had the setting in Open Camera that only records horizontal video. I was holding the camera vertically and it rotated it.
Big Clive
2019-11-20 05:10:10 +0000 UTCIf you mean George Square then that job got taken over by another company a few years ago who replaced all the lights with imported flat white static panels to facilitate their installation by unskilled labour. This is the sort of thing I wanted for the square.
Big Clive
2019-11-20 05:08:22 +0000 UTCI wouldn't mind seeing the software. Better yet would be a discussion video about how you do things like get smoother transitions and (in the case of RGB) balance the colors with knowledge of the relative brightness of the different LED colors/technologiesc.
Jeremy Impson
2019-11-20 04:20:26 +0000 UTCVery cool! Reminds me of the animated neon signs we used to have around town. I remember a fish market that had an animated fish that leaped in an arch clear across the roof. Because of the dark skies astronomy initiative, we can't have things like that anymore. For Christmas we do a 64 channel animated light display set to music. The music is broadcast over a very low power FM transmitter to cars cruising the neighborhoods looking at Christmas displays.
George Cohn
2019-11-20 03:22:11 +0000 UTCLooks great
2019-11-20 02:48:55 +0000 UTCI hope that it gets featured in the square this year
2019-11-20 02:41:19 +0000 UTCYou started recording with the phone horizontal... right? So it's not so much "vertical video" as drunkenly fell over video...
Scott Miller
2019-11-20 02:22:55 +0000 UTCThis design is still in the prototype stage, but I may release the software so people can modify it for their own effects.
Big Clive
2019-11-20 02:19:26 +0000 UTCLast year the local town hall started an event called the Festival of Trees where organisations could contribute a themed tree. Last year the MBC put in a green Kryptonite tree under the guise of the Department of Villainy. (a spoof department themed on local government departments.) This year we're upping the game.
Big Clive
2019-11-20 02:17:19 +0000 UTCI could put a Jacob's ladder on top, but the place it's going wouldn't like that.
Big Clive
2019-11-20 02:14:59 +0000 UTCThe original idea was the the tree would "fall" out of the star. The LED neon would look odd building up the way as it would be like a series of open topped cups.
Big Clive
2019-11-20 02:14:26 +0000 UTCClive, it's awesome, what are you planning to do with it when it it is finished?
2019-11-20 01:47:39 +0000 UTCAwesome job Clive!π
2019-11-20 01:38:31 +0000 UTCThat's better than most of the stuff I see. Very nice. Can you do a Jacob's ladder on the grid in the background :) :)
2019-11-20 00:38:50 +0000 UTCLooks really good, but may I recommend building from the bottom to the top. It looks bizarre with the star floating in the middle of nowhere. the random lines routine looks very nice. I wouldn't change that at all.
Witold Witkowski
2019-11-20 00:31:38 +0000 UTCwhen can we buy some pre programmed chips from you
God 420
2019-11-20 00:14:05 +0000 UTC
