Tron Legacy Deluxe Identity Disc mods?

lonerthx

Yes, I was able to push it out from underneath with a flat head screwdriver, it's held in place by little tabs on the side. These are located where the shell c- ring section is cut away.

I used a soft plastic ruler to wedge the section I'd pried open from snapping back in place.

Just be careful near the two ends as the plastic is very thin and weak at the points the leds go in.

blackfeathers

just a small recap and research update:

my current tron disc mods result in all the leds lighting up at the same time instead of flashing patterns by the toy. it's a tradeoff for keeping all the lights lit continuously, having it powered by usb, and also incorporating data storage.

the light pattern, i think, is still possible but requires more parts and/or a change somewhere. this goes against my initial goal of keeping it at this existing level of complexity without further complications of the existing circuitboard.

so, i've looked into simple components first as opposed to integrated circuits and transistors.

in regards to various diode specs, i haven't found the right one and might be the wrong route to take. this is because they are inefficient when it comes to battery power. there is a power draw(watts or milliwatts) when the battery mod mode circuit is enabled, resulting in further battery drain. in usb mode it's fine, but not in battery mod mode.

and, i looked into resistors for each led pathway as a simple offset. at the moment, the tradeoffs, however, seem to be:

-the lights will be dimmer especially in battery mod mode
-will be more sensitive to weaker batteries (fresh batteries would be more mandatory)
-individual potentiometers aren't practical or feasible

in my findings of battery power mod mode and switching to toy mode with flashing pattern, adding an additional resistor for each led ranges around 10 to 60 ohms but fluctuates depending on factors such as battery strength and current. so, considering all the above, it's unacceptable.

one might be able to go the transistor route and garner better efficiency. the goal of separating the led pathways is to preserve the light pattern while maintaining all the benefits of the previous mods. again, the existing battery mod creates a shortcircuit.

this might mean going back to my old knight rider days and modifying an led light chaser circuit -which i am refraining from doing at the moment since it's been a long time. but, if anybody knows how to implement a transistor or ic to allow voltage separation for each of the 8 leds in a simple, diy manner with the limited space we're given, i'm all ears.

i'm happy with my existing mod, but it appears that integrated circuits on a separate circuitboard might be the way to go for flashing patterns. in theory, you might be able to make your own custom light pattern like knight rider/cylon chasing lights and other flash patterns. so, to get better flexibility in functionality will require some rewiring and adding a separate circuitboard for added functionality.

perhaps all our mods are culminating to:
1. -a new circuitboard add-on, and
2. -with brighter/more leds?

cannibal869

Hi all,

having good results and with the 3mm flat wide angle LEDs.
Here's a pic of the inner ring lit up (no flash, taken with my cell phone - sorry for the graininess)



And yes, it really is that bright! I think there are 20 LEDs in the back there. I have them mounted perpendicular to the inside circumference of the inner ring, pointed outwards so that they're shining light towards the outer circumference.

I'm really pleased with the effect, cause you can also see some of the "wavy" difference in brightness like in the movie stills as posted above.
I've got most of the other stuff all set up and ready to go too... The ignition sequence of the outer ring is pretty cool actually. I'll post more pics once I get everything put together and closed up - don't worry I've taken pics of each step so you'll be able to see what I did inside too. THe outer ring will have 56 LEDs....

I've realized that I'll need smaller li-ion batteries so I'm going to go with the AAA size. Probably will end up putting 4 of them in there.

-C

blackfeathers

sweet! that's great news. what circuitboard/driver did you end up using to drive all the leds with the ignition sequence? looking forward to your info!

cannibal869

Thanks guys!

I used a spare MR Vader board that I had lying around.
The ignition sequence is pretty cool... this coming from a sabersmith that usually only makes 3 or 5watt LED sabers (this is the first successful LED ladder-type light that I've ever made). I'm waiting for some JB weld to dry in a switch, but I'll post up pics and a video tonight once the JB sets.

I have basically 3 circuits going at the same time -
so there is a master kill key/recharge port. When you remove the kill key, the inner ring lights up (since I was planning on using this in a costume and it seems like when the disc is mounted on the back of the costume, only the inner ring is lit up). I'm estimating that the inner ring will eat up about 400 mA per hour. Then when you take it off to use the ring, you turn on the MR board switch, and the outer ring lights up in an ignition sequence. This particular build doesn't have the "burst" ignition - rather, it lights up around the ring like in the original teaser trailer. The third circuit is the OEM Tron soundboard. I already removed all the stock LEDs, so maybe I'll leave it in the next version to give an interesting effect.

I'm waiting for some 10440 Li-ion batteries to come in the mail... that's the last step, then I can really close up everything and everything will be internal. I'll be using 4 of these batteries, all wired in parallel, so it *should* function like a 3.7V 2000mA pack. I'll do a demo video tonight with a sample (external) battery.

-C

edit: movie link here:
http://s882.photobucket.com/albums/a...t=MVI_3903.mp4

morrisart85

Is there any conceivable way to make the disk "accurate" in the -white- disk aspect? that has to be the one thing that bothers me the most about the disk. Sam is illuminated white, and yet all the toys/prop reps are blue. doesn't make sense to me. I understand that the lenses are blue, but im wondering if you can sand them to be whiter if used with brighter white led's.

Soulinertia

I'm working on casting new pieces in clear rather than blue

cannibal869

Yes, casting would be the only way to really make the disc white rather than blue. It doesn't help that the blue outer ring is darker in coloration than the inner disc.

blackfeathers

while on the topic of casting, how feasible would it be to cast two hero sides of the toy and put that together? one can then go from there with new circuitry and have it lit on both sides. customise your own colours, lights, and other functions.

morrisart85

I think I'm going gut the disk, and direct drive some brighter white led's, and just rig a simple latching switch on the underside. I hoping it will fit inside the molding made on the UD Rep jacket.

Wes R

I'm going to keep an eye on this thread for sure. I need another disk though so i can do the 2 sides that look good. I'm hoping that we see some tutorials on the ways that work (the LEDS). I wish the EL kits would have worked as i really liked how they worked. Please note i'm an idiot as i just found blackfeathers' tutorial. Has anyone thought about making the audio louder on the disc as it seems very quiet to me.

blackfeathers

i've gotten some questions about the mod i did in the tron costume planning thread.

instead of hijacking the subject matter in that thread with further explanations (and to have the info in one place), i'm re-posting it here. hopefully this will clarify a few things.

here goes (quote from other thread):

just to add a bit more to what was said, here's where i soldered it:
IMG_3037 - mod version 1 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

soldering those eight points on the circuitboard to a ground wire or circuit trace is what's needed for the basic conversion. diagram:
tron disc mod 3 variant. simple battery mod | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

for reference of the unmodified toy, i made a dissection photoset here:
tron deluxe identity disc dissection - a set on Flickr

since my mod includes a switch, it ultimately gets routed to the battery's ground terminal. for the basic mod, the eight solder points get connected to the ground terminal in the inner ring as seen here:

IMG_1948 - mod version 3 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

i know it might get confusing. when going over my photos and diagrams, make sure to check out the notes and captions to see where things get soldered. one of the diagrams has a parts list and other details in the caption below it. since there's three different overall mods going on, all the info isn't on one page.

hope this helps.

Soulinertia

I've got my first pull of the outer ring in white. It's a bit rough, but I think my next few will come out much more clean.

Wes R

Looks really good. I wonder why they made the discs glow blue when they're white in the game though. Maybe the figured it looked better or is cheaper.

slightly off topic: I have several sizes of rare earth magnets laying around if anyone is interested i'll donate a few. I have to see what sizes (I got okay and man that's tiny) as i bought a ton from online when i thought i'd use them alot in figures plus its cheaper to get bulk.

cannibal869

Good stuff Soulinertia!

Did you use thermoplastic for that or some other method?
I think I used to have some thermoplastic that had glow-in-the dark properties - might be interesting to have it lit up white with the LEDs on and then have for instance the center ring glow blue when the lights are off...

hmmmm....

-C

Soulinertia

Yes, I used EvilFX's method. (Thank you!)

Liking your glow in the dark idea. I'm debating weather or not to make the center "C" ring have a slightly more bluish tone to it while illuminated as well.

Annisse

I would love to have a couple of your rare earth magnets if you have any left please. Thank you!

Annisse

I agree. www.coolneon.com is the best source and quality in the US I have come across for your El Wire needs. I have been ordering from them for years and they have fast shipping too. All their packages are mailed FEX EX and come in about 2-3 days in the USA.

morrisart85

I say stick with white. I think it would look for authentic. Just my opinion. But amazing work!!

blackfeathers

after a brief conversation with obishawn last week at the tron popup shop about the identity disc, i'm reminded about a small detail: there's two blank spots on the 'c' filter where leds were supposed to go. if you're doing the led mods, you can fill those in with a couple leds of similar size. so that would make four spots on the 'c' filter where you can stick in leds.

blackfeathers

soulinertia:
great job with the mod. have you done any testing with how long the 9v battery will last?

Aoiree

I'm new here but I would be grateful

Time to start translating that to my only slight experience with electronics, really wish I payed more attention in my physics labs . If you have time could you drop a general parts list and point me to somewhere that I could read up on setting up the wiring for this? Looks awesome.

Wes R

I think most of us are going to have to settle for blue unless we can find clear white plastic to use to replace the c ring and the outer ring as well. I just realized how much i forgot from electronics class. I still wish there was a way to get El wire to work. Can it be run on the coin type batteries? I need to get reading and figure out how to do this. I'm not sure how i want it to light. I like how it does it in the clip where it just comes on without all the flashing and such but i have to watch more closely to see how it does it. Sadly I don't have any lightsaber parts to reuse and no clue what a MR saber is anyhow lol. i have some spare cash next week and am trying to make a parts list so i can make an order up.

Soulinertia

This little clip shows the "C" ring blue, but in so many other scenes and all the promo material it's white like the outer ring. I think I'm leaning more towards the white.

Soulinertia

I actually have my whole system working on the original batteries that came with the disc now (still = 9volts). I was just using the 9v batt for testing purposes since it's easier, but it's really too big to fit in the disc. The 6 little button batteries light the whole thing up just as bright and they fit inside with room to spare! Not sure exactly how long they will last just yet.

You can see the button batts in these pics: