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Developing a lighting automation system cheap & cool!

Arduino can do a helluva lot, I've done similar work with LED arrays + PWM modulation. So like T1G understanding almost everything you're doing is pretty cool. Keep us updated cus this is awesome.
 
Update:
Sleeping for 3 hours and brainstorming the whole day is a bad, bad idea.
I'm programming the serial communication between the PC and the Arduino right now, it's going to work differently from the video.

What you see in the video is using the Firmata library for communication, yet the thing is there isn't a lot of info about Firmata and shift registers.
This is why I'm trying to implement a way that allows me to send data like this:

1. PC processes audio, makes two numbers: #LED, Brightness
2. #LED, Brightness -> sent to Arduino
3. Arduino reads the data and assigns the brightness for a specific LED

Yet making, sending and deciphering the string is hard; gotta learn it anyway. :D
 
Update:
Just hit a major milestone with the programming:
The original program that used Firmata (see first video) has been modified to only use serial communication and thus also the shift registers.
Cool thing is, the Firmata code for Arduino was really big and now I've got a really small code. :D
It does exactly the same thing now, next step is to clean the program up and then to add more LEDs to control.
Right now it controls just 3 LEDs (thus RGB LED), I want to make this for 6 (2 rows of LED lights) or even 18 (every downlight will be individually controlled).

EDIT: Here's a teaser, me and my dad were working there; but mainly my dad. There wasn't much I could help out with. (Yes I know, I've got an awseome dad)

oDZ3P7E.jpg
 
Keleynal said:
10 years from now no one is going to believe that I knew you Raz.
Click to expand...
hahaha, the funny part is I feel like we are so used to it that it's just like "yeah, raz made something that I will never understand and is half most of our age, no biggie". For real though, I wish I could do crap like this. Keep the updates coming man.
 
Update:
Currently taking a 15 minute break.
New room:
Ceiling is done, doing the walls right now. We're using fiberglass wallpaper, since the quality of the walls is really bad and you hardly can keep them flat enough to paint them and make it look good.
We're going to do another wall now and then sleep, tomorrow the other two walls and some painting and sunday everything should be done.

About the lighting itself:
I still have receive the LED housings and the transistors, without the transistors you won't be able to see the RGB effect and without the housing the LEDs won't get enough cooling (high power LEDs need cooling!).
 
Update:
I tried out the transistors and they didn't meet their specifications. I need better ones for my circuit, the current is just too high for those.
 
Update:
Waiting for the transistors right now, it's taking too long!
I think I'll just go MacGyver on this crap and salvage some out of old computer parts I have on my desk.
 
Update:
PROTIP: If you ever buy something from China and you have a tracking number:
If the shipment is in China then only the Chinese postal service will have the tracking info.
If it's in your country then you have to use your local postal service's tracking service to locate where it is in you country.

I was thinking that the LED housings were lost in shipment or that it was slower than usual, but apparently it's already been sorted in Antwerps' sorting facility (thus Belgium); should receive them tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

I haven't been able to find any transistors that work in the way that I want them to, so it'll take a while until I have the correct ones.
Until then I'll just connect 3 switches for every color (red, green and blue), so it won't be working with my computer until then. But it will still look good most likely. :D

Raz out.

EDIT: for the people who are wondering, I received a full refund for the transistors that weren't up to their specifications.
And the LEDs should have arrived 1-2 weeks ago, it's the first time that it has taken this long for a package to arrive; but it's probably because of the larger size (I usually only get envelopes with parts, easier to transport).
 
For one second I thought about making a thread about what I do at work. And then I thought, maybe people don´t want to see bodies that have been deformed by cancer.
That´s whats nice about Physics. You can show it around without people thinking ewwwww.
 
Update:
I kept refreshing the packet-tracking page and thought the LEDs wouldn't arrive today, as it didn't say "distributing". I thought it wouldn't arrive today and then out of the blue the door rings.
I've got the LED housing now and modified 4 of them already (the other 2 are for later).
09KQSYk.jpg


And then UPS rings the door, lolwut.
6Ijpimj.jpg


Well this never happened to me, what could it be? I didn't receive an email about an UPS Shipment!

qVlAJXX.jpg

Hey! It's from Vishay! Apparently they DID send the samples that I asked for. They didn't give me any notice about the samples being sent or not.

What's inside?
xCwyENs.jpg


Hehe, Razulian TK; my fictional company name. Might make it a real company one day though, but maybe Razulian Industries sounds better? (Stark Industries!)

QWwILDs.jpg


Apparently they are the droids transistors I was looking for. Not sure if they'll work in my application, but they should as they are pretty rugged and my mentor told me that he uses these too in a lot of stuff; they never failed him so I don't think that they'll fail me.

Should be able to install the LED lighting today. :D
 
ThatOneGuy said:
nice raz Christmas came early.
Click to expand...

Seems like it. :justdontknow:[DOUBLEPOST=1374499880,1374499847][/DOUBLEPOST]
Euchale said:
another possible name for your company:
Razulian commenwealth consortium
Click to expand...

Commenwealth Consortium? Not sure what that means exactly, but it sounds boss.[DOUBLEPOST=1374500277][/DOUBLEPOST]
Euchale said:
another possible name for your company:
Razulian commenwealth consortium
Click to expand...

No wait... Razulian Commonwealth Industries! That sounds perfect :D
 
Euchale said:
For one second I thought about making a thread about what I do at work. And then I thought, maybe people don´t want to see bodies that have been deformed by cancer.
That´s whats nice about Physics. You can show it around without people thinking ewwwww.
Click to expand...
Haha, I'm in Healthcare so I often forget normal conversational etiquette (especially when sitting down for a meal), so at the very least you would be hard pressed to bother me in that sense.

Also, looks like things are coming along Raz, can't wait to see av video of the final product!
 
Crake said:
Haha, I'm in Healthcare so I often forget normal conversational etiquette (especially when sitting down for a meal), so at the very least you would be hard pressed to bother me in that sense.

Also, looks like things are coming along Raz, can't wait to see av video of the final product!
Click to expand...

Will take a while for the final product, still gotta do progamming; I only made the basic stuff so that I could test out everything.
Currently I don't even have a proper computer, only a laggy laptop so I won't be doing all that stuff for now. :p
Should receive my parts this week though.
 
Milestone update:

Finishing up the room:

Soldering the extended wiring for the LEDs:

DmQMBnO.jpg


Lights off in dark:
tRxGmQh.jpg


Two pairs are on (last 2 aren't connected yet, gotta buy more connectors and thermal compound).

Wf6JzdP.jpg


Pretty much how I'm online right now with my crappy laptop until my PC parts arrive (don't mind the clothes on the bed and the stuff on my desk; I'm not even done sorting my stuff).
ANZEabw.jpg


And a close up of the wiring:

3szNtuI.jpg
 
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