Tron Legacy - Sam Flynn's Identity Disk

[GITM]

About a month ago I finally started working on modifying the Deluxe Identity Disk toy after figuring out all the details during the last few months. Figuring out all the details has been a big learning experience and I’m glad to have finally started.
I also launched a website, www.ricor.net on which I plan to document the whole build extensively and sort it into different sections concerning preparing the disk, painting it, the electronics, the code (sketch), etc. And of course there will be a full listing of all the parts that I used. I also will be putting my DIY-projects on the website like the workbench that I built last year so that I would have a place to work on this project and on other electronics/DIY stuff.

I would like to give a very big shout-out to Erv (Plecter Labs). He has been a great inspiration and a really big help for sorting out the details and helping me out by supplying his Arduino sketch! His post can be found here.
And also to Soulinertia for making the disc upgrade kits available to the masses!

Below are pictures of my progress so far. I removed all the electronic bits, used a dremel and exacto knife to remove all the unnessary bits of plastic closed the original button and battery cover using epoxy glue and epoxy clay. I ended with finishing touches to the c-ring during a testfit of the upgrade kit before final paint prep.



After a lot of sanding and cleaning I finally attempted painting it over a week ago which didn’t turn out the way I had hoped/expected. The colour is good (better in real life) but I could still see the sanding marks, etc.



After consulting Erv and my brother in law it turned out I simply didn’t prep the disc well enough. I have been correcting the issues this past week with putty and a finer-grit sandpaper and hope to post a new update soon.

 

[Asseyez]

What a great project. I may need to add this one to my bucket list of projects as well.

 

[erv]

very cool to see another disc to be retrofitted ! prep job is a must if you cant to have the paint look good. Will follow your progress here, thanks for the credit !

 

[GITM]

What a great project. I may need to add this one to my bucket list of projects as well.

Thank you. It's a very rewarding project. I am learning a lot of new stuff (working with a Dremel, spray-painting, etc.) and it feels really rewarding
Best of luck with your projects!

very cool to see another disc to be retrofitted ! prep job is a must if you cant to have the paint look good. Will follow your progress here, thanks for the credit !

Thank you Erv, you deserve the credit!
I jumped the gun a bit when I started painting the last time but learned a valuable lesson I'm checking the results with a bright light now between coats and this helps a lot to find imperfections.


Started work on the electronics (testing the LED-strips) yesterday while is was waiting for the second coat of primer to dry. Man those strips are bright, hurt my eyes
I got the RGBW version of the Neopixel strips to give me more headroom with colours, the price difference was minimal so I just went for it.
Since I'll be running the project on two 3,7V Li-ion battery's (in parallel) I set the voltage on the PSU to 3,6V (bit lower to simulate lower battery voltages) and still everything looked more then bright enough. I'll probably limit the brightness in the Arduino sketch to conserve battery power.

Some more progress pics:


My schedule is a bit busy at the moment but I hope to get the paintwork done during the upcoming weekend.

 

[GITM]

Hi all,

After a lot of sanding and painting I finally got a good result last weekend. The difference in color and look is really noticeable. After using putty and the grey primer and making sure I sanded the different layers to get rid of lingering imperfections the end result is now way better! I now have a much better understanding of using spray paint which dramatically improved the result this time. I am really glad I finally have a good look!



I installed Soulintertia’s disk upgrade kit yesterday and the result is profound. The disk looks great and also feels better now that it has more weight to it and isn’t flimsy anymore because the the c-rings are back. The only thing that remains on the outside is filling up the slots I cut on the side so that light can shine through there. I’ll probably use some silicone sealant for that.



Now I can finally start work on the internals.

 

[erv]

looks good congrats !

 

[GITM]

Thank you Erv!

 

[Soulinertia]

Yeah, you really cleaned those up nice!

 

[GITM]

Yeah, you really cleaned those up nice!

Thank you!
I appreciate all the feedback!

Feels good to finally have it looking good. Finally got the hang of it and learned the basics for a new skill

 

[GITM]

Re: Tron Legacy - Sam Flynn's Identity Disc

I’m finally getting to posting another update. After I finished work on the externals I still had to wait on 1 part (the Music Maker FeatherWing) before I could continue working on the electronics. I have been working on the disc on and off whenever I had time.

Last year I already started work on a wiring diagram but I recently refined it by using images for most of the circuit boards as I thought it would look better. Like the Adafruit learning guides. It’s not completely final yet, parts like the switches for external triggers / control are still a work in progress and will be addressed further as I work on the Arduino sketch.


As soon as I got the Maker Maker I started to hook everything up, I used the disc itself as a reference for the different cable lenghts. One I had the furthers wires hooked up I could uses those as a length reference for the rest. I was really glad to have ‘helping hand’ to hold the board and wires whilst I soldered everything in place.



I used Erv’s sketch as a reference and after measuring for myself to be sure I cut the strips to the required amount of NeoPixels. After referencing Erv’s pictures and re-wachting part of the movie I found the correct strip orientation. Also I cut the strip for the outside ring as it was too wide.



Aside from the Arduino sketch the only things left at the moment is finishing up the internals of the disc. For this I need to hook up the batteries, charging circuit, buttons, the usb connector for charging and a usb stick for storage. I have found that the Feather and the FeatherWing require more space so I will have to install those at an angle and make some aluminum foil covers to prevent unwanted shadowing. I’ll figure out all that as I go.

The sketch is still going to require some work but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel
I won’t bore you with all the programming things here so I will put all that on my website soon. I also discussed the build there in more detail.

 

[erv]

that's quite some work, he ! let there be light, great progress !

 

[Soulinertia]

Looking good! You've covered a lot of ground so far.

 

[The5thElement]

I have ordered one of the Spin Master discs so watching with interest. Thanks for the detailed build info.

 

[GITM]

that's quite some work, he ! let there be light, great progress !

Thank you Erv! It is indeed a lot a work, all the smalls thing take up a lot of time. I don't mind though, love figuring out all the little things and just taking my time.
It great to learn all these new things. A journey of exploration

Looking good! You've covered a lot of ground so far.

Thank you Soulinertia, good to hear! It felt like I was taking a long time but it's coming along nicely.
Feels really good when I look at what's already done great to see the actual results. And also anxious to get that next thing on the list done, but taking it slow and step by step is really working out well

I have ordered one of the Spin Master discs so watching with interest. Thanks for the detailed build info.

That is great! I wish you a good time getting your disc modded! Really was a great feeling when I got two discs I bought. That first step so to speak
Glad you like the build log, hope it helps you later!

 

[GITM]

I have ordered one of the Spin Master discs so watching with interest. Thanks for the detailed build info.

Also, should you want to buy the same hardware, Adafruit now has a new version of the Music Maker with a built in amp. Saves you some hardware/space in the disc

 

[GITM]

Hello everyone,

Quick update concerning the hardware.
I've been working on the disc and found out that the Bluefruit version of the Adafruit M0 Feather is not an option because of the Music Maker FeatherWing.
Because the Music Maker requires pins that are also used by the BLE module, connecting via bluetooth does not work.
I asked about this on the Adruit forum beforehand and was told it did not concern the Bluefruit board even though the learning guide mentions it. So I ordered the Bluefruit version to see for myself. Because I have a future project planned where I could use the Bluefruit version because that project does not involve other boards I was safe either way.

I have ordered the 'Adafruit M0 Basic Proto board' without the BLE module now.This only means that remote control via an app is definitley not an option anymore. I don't really mind that.

So, should anyone want to replicate this project with the same hardware, order the Basic Proto version of the Feather M0

 

[The5thElement]

Are you using WS2812B LED strips with 144 per metre? It looks like 2 x 1 metre lengths would be enough for the inner (double strip) and outer (single strip) rings yes?

I have a spare Particle Photon that I'm thinking of using for the LED sequencing. Not sure if a regular Arduino Nano would be capable enough.

What do you plan to do with sound effects? Is there a reason you chose the Music Maker instead of the Crystal Focus module?

Looking forward to your next update.

 

[GITM]

Are you using WS2812B LED strips with 144 per metre? It looks like 2 x 1 metre lengths would be enough for the inner (double strip) and outer (single strip) rings yes?

I have a spare Particle Photon that I'm thinking of using for the LED sequencing. Not sure if a regular Arduino Nano would be capable enough.

What do you plan to do with sound effects? Is there a reason you chose the Music Maker instead of the Crystal Focus module?

Looking forward to your next update.

Hi,
I bought two strips of the 144 LED/m strips which use the SK6812RGBW. (https://www.adafruit.com/products/2848). I used 1 strip for the outer ring (88 NeoPixels) and 1 strip for the inner ring which consists of two strips of 59 NeoPixels.
I decided to get the RGBW version as they are marginally more expensive, they do draw 80mA in stead of 60mA (per LED) at full blast but for this version of the disc I decided I wanted to have the option to be able to experiment with the colours more. And because I can control the brightness via the sketch I would be able to limit the power consumption.

I believe a Arduino nano could be okay but I'm no expert when it comes to those things
If I'm not mistaken Erv's disc uses a Nano, however in his disc the Arduino board only controls the LED strips.

The reason I got the Music Maker FeatherWing in stead of Erv's CF is because Erv's current revision of the CF is no longer compatible with the firmware he wrote for the CF version that he employed in his Identity Disc. That was a bit of a bummer when I heard that from him last year. Since he is very busy I did no bother to push him about it and decided I would have to find an alternative. At first I looked in to using the Adafruit Pro Trinket combined with a Adafruit Audio FX sound board but I really did not like the 16MB storage limitation. So when I recently found the Music Maker I decided to use that as it matches what I want way better. This then also led me to the Feather M0 board because it offered way more performance storage and memory.

The only thing I would still like is the motion detection that Erv's CF has to offer but at least I did find a alternative for "tap detection" by implementing a Vibration Sensor. I order bot a medium and easy trigger. I stil have to test which one is the best option. That will come in to play as soon as I get more work done on the sketch.
I have another disc which I have not modded yet and I plan on making more stuff myself for that version such as the charging circuit and looking into making my own CF-like board but purely amed at sound and the movement stuff. It's nice to make stuff myself but this will entail a certain amount of reading and learning. And of course money. But I'm in no rush

I must say that has been a big part of this project, just trying stuff. It's not always easy to determine what will work best or what the size impact is of a part until I was able to actually hold it in my hand. I must say I kinda like that and as I go I am noticing that I'm getting better at it
Looking into how Erv's disc was set up by reverse engineering the pictures, Erv's feedback, looking at stuff from Adafruit and other companies to figure out what works/gets the result I want, reading datasheets, there are so many apsects to doing this

 

[erv]

There's nothing wrong with your design ! regarding the CF custom firmware made back then, it's currently evolving to make it more compatible with 3rd party devices connected to it, and a friend of mine is also working on a disc replica, so, there should be options in the future to use the CF as a base for such a project.

 

[GITM]

There's nothing wrong with your design ! regarding the CF custom firmware made back then, it's currently evolving to make it more compatible with 3rd party devices connected to it, and a friend of mine is also working on a disc replica, so, there should be options in the future to use the CF as a base for such a project.

Thank you Erv. I am glad with the design I have right now, I definitely do not feel bad about it.
I would have like to have used your CF but not being able to use it has lead me to investigate my options further/for myself and this has been really informative. I have learned a lot from all the things I looked up to find the best parts to get wat I wanted
It has raised my understanding of electronics and what the different things do. I think that is the best thing about making things yourself, you learn so much from it

Great to hear that a new CF is in the works! I would definitely buy one right away instead of making my own as soon as it come out
Definitely looking forward to that