[Robotgroup] using LEDs

[Clendon Gibson]

Perhaps if the Robot group wrote a book about using LEDs in ones project, this could be sold at events to interested persons.

----- Original Message ----
From: Gray Mack <gray_mack at yahoo.com>
To: Austin Robotgroup Mailing List <robotgroup at puremagic.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 3:40:39 PM
Subject: [Robotgroup] using LEDs

In presenting LEDSaber aka
One-Of-A-Series-Of-Tubes-Not-A-Big-Truck
(see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtOoQFa5ug8 for
that joke)
at DorkBot, a lot of people were asking me about
LightEmittingDiode lighting technology.

People seem to want some product that helps them LED
light a project.
The projects vary from lighting a small model to
motorcycle ground effects to lighting a persistance of
vision spinning thingy to lighting a wearable costume
or mask.
In trying to come up with such a product we kind of
hit some dead ends.
1. There are patents on PWM to produce multiple colors
from Red-Green-Blue and on persistance of vision
displays.
2. Connectors and selector switches outweigh the price
of LED's and make things more expensive
3. Everyone wants something different from the project

4. Most dont want to pay >$100 to light a few LEDs.

It might be easier to come up with a guide on how to
build your own modules for effects and what to use for
specific types of projects or a 
list of websites that already have done this that I
can hand out.

Would some micro code for a controller to do a few
typical effects have value?

To light an LED you need a power source, resistor,
wire, and LED. Most people who asked seemed to have at
least those skills.
But to control it you need a controller. Here are some
specifics I have heard on what people want in a
controller:

*A way to tune a bunch of RGB led's to all be a
particular color with a slider setting or all sweep
through some rainbow in the color cube or gradually
change through random colors.
*Blink an LED at a certain rate, say 1 sec, 1/2 sec,
1/4 sec, etc
*Blink a bunch of LED's randomly
*Brigade through a bunch of LEDs and back (cylon
effect)
*Fade an led from off to on to off slowly
*Make a strobe light like pulse in response to a
sensed input or dial setting
*Make a random flashing 'lightning' simulator
*Plug and Play Module light for a stage area or
haunted house
*Control a set of lights from a computer, build up
presets and fade outs
*Use the controller outputs to control one LED or many
that plug in through some length of wire and some
connector
*Do something in response to a trigger input for a few
minutes and then power down until the trigger happens
again

I am trying to come up with some questions to ask to
narrow down how to respond helpfully when approached
on this subject. Things like:

Does the lighting need to be hardened against rain or
jolt or foot traffic?
Do you want high-power super-bright?
Do you want long life battery powered?
Is this a one time project you are working towards or
something that you want to pull out of a drawer and
rig up in a day when you decide to build a costume or
something?
Does it need computer control?
Does it need to vary action based on inputs or repeat
the same action?
Does it need to have good connectors for linking
together quickly?
Does it need to have exact wire lengths to prevent
wire bundles in a small model?

-Gray


 
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