My ASHPD Testing shall commence in 3, 2, 1

Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

Gixxerfool said:
Thanks so much. The lighting came out just as I pictured which is very exciting. I'm still working on the fan speed, I didn't quite achieve the effect I wanted. It seems pulse width modulation is the solution. I 555 timer circuit is what I am trying next. If I can achieve the effect I want, I will leave it and move on.

Up next is mounting the barrel. Since I wanted to make it repairable if necessary, I have a solution worked out, but as of now it's untested. The main body will be PCV, the part that houses the lit chamber and such. As for the white parts, I was going to use floral foam originally, I may still use that as a form. For me, by time I got done casting two parts, it would more money than the rest of the unit. I have never casted before and would need fairly large molds. I may use the foam or even papier mâché as a form then fiberglass them as a final product. Still haven't made a decision.
Click to expand...

Great to hear that everything went as expected for you :)
What kind of effect are you heading for?

Dude that casting material is some expensive stuff, yeah! Anyway I will have to buy quite a lot of it for my project aswell.
Since I heard and read only good things about Smooth-On I'll definitely head for their products, even they are a little bit more expensive than the other brands.
Alon for the Xen-crystals all in all would sum up to about 250EUR, which is CRAZY! :(
Good choice on using floral foam, definitely the way to go! :)
 
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

supermaRiio said:
Great to hear that everything went as expected for you :)
What kind of effect are you heading for?

Dude that casting material is some expensive stuff, yeah! Anyway I will have to buy quite a lot of it for my project aswell.
Since I heard and read only good things about Smooth-On I'll definitely head for their products, even they are a little bit more expensive than the other brands.
Alon for the Xen-crystals all in all would sum up to about 250EUR, which is CRAZY! :(
Good choice on using floral foam, definitely the way to go! :)
Click to expand...

Originally I was trying get it to idle slow and then when the button press is performed it would speed up momentarily. I would still like that effect, but I would settle for a slow enough speed it can be seen. The brushless motors make this very hard to achieve. I am going to grab some components tonight and see if I can make it happen. If it doesn't work, I will need to rethink my plan.

Yeah. Single castings are a lot of money. I even have a friend who worked at Smooth-On for a while and said they have some of the best and easiest products out there. Once I get a shape constructed I'll make a decision, I know the foam requires some special handling to be durable, so there is a trade off.
 
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

I have been working with different circuits to achieve the fan effect I want. After some looking it seems that regulating the fan isn't an option. So my friend suggested another route. Here's a quick video of a test of that. It shows promise.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

CSMacLaren said:
That lightshow looks utterly incredible!
Click to expand...

Thanks! I am trying to get out to the store to get the rest of the parts to maybe have another test, but I'm struggling to get there.
 
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

I know it has been a while since an update. Let me start by thanking those still following along. Progress has been nil. I know everyone wants pics, as do I. Soon hopefully. Here is where I am at.

After exhaustive testing and prototyping, I have come to the conclusion the fan idea wasn't going to happen. I was at a stalemate...with myself. I knew just putting a light in there was not going to cut it for me. While the fan was possible, I decided after some time away, it was a really cool idea to shelve for a later project but a different route was required for this.

In the interest of full disclosure, once the warm weather hits, prop making goes to the wayside for another passion of mine, riding. So all the free time I would dedicate to building goes to riding until the cold weather creeps in.

The other day I had an epiphany on how to finally get this barrel done and move on to the rest of the project, I know some people like to move to other parts while the "problem" simmers, but this being my first big build wanted to make sure I had one part tackled in order to focus on the next with my undivided attention. As quickly as my bulb turned on, it burnt out. I started to explore my backup idea again and the details just wouldn't flesh out.

With the help, and my never-ending thanks, @PropBox came through.

He recommended Arduino a while back and I steered away from it for a couple of reason.

1) I was really looking forward to strengthening my electronics skill with this project. Particularly the design and implementation phase. I have done that to a fairly good extent.
2)I tried coding and we have a mutual agreement, we hate each other.

After some research, and a lot of PM-ing we have put together a plan, that is simple, feasible, and won't break the bank.

Stay tuned.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

Small update, but significant. My Adafruit items arrived this morning.

image.jpeg

From left to right:
-16 pixel Neopixel ring
-12 pixel Neopixel ring
-7 pixel Neopixel jewel
-Adafruit Trinket in the 5 Volt flavor

Off to learn some programming.

Keep your dial locked.
 
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

So coding is going slow but sure. I have started my sketch and ran my first test today. Its not where I want it, but its a step in the right direction. Hopefully I will get what I need done sooner than later. Here is a little video from this morning's test run.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!


I fixed my code and have both rings lighting proper now. Mostly. Still have one more tweak to fix then I can move on.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

After a lot of hair pulling and trial and error I finally got my initialization on its way. Still some tweaking to do, but it's taught me a lot and got me back on task. These aren't the final colors, I just wanted to be able to differentiate easier during testing.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

This should be it for the initialization procedure. Now that this is done, time to start working on the idling sketch then the Input portion.

Thanks for looking!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

Now that I removed what was left of my hair, I have a strong base sketch going. The startup procedure is finalized. The "idle" pattern however was a test sketch to help me understand the process involved getting there. Now that I have a sketch that tests all the requirements I need I can start writing my final sketch and get back to the mechanics of the build. Here's a little video for you.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

I actually quite like the test idle pattern. One thing i've noticed is that all of the patterns seem to be quite slow. Is that a limitation of the hardware, or are you deliberately setting them to that speed?
 
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

Fishbowl said:
I actually quite like the test idle pattern. One thing i've noticed is that all of the patterns seem to be quite slow. Is that a limitation of the hardware, or are you deliberately setting them to that speed?
Click to expand...

The pattern is not quite what I wanted yet. It's not bad, I want something similar to this, but not as muddled to the eye. There will be a diffusing layer in front of it.

From what I can tell, there's aren't many limitations to the hardware. I am keeping one spinning ring from my original design and it runs a little slow, that's by design. I set these to this speed until I can get everything together and then decide on how I want it to look. It helps for me to see what the pattern is doing too so I can tell if it's doing what's it supposed to.

Thanks goes out to ThePropBox and xl97 for all of their help.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

This is the pattern I am using for the final product. I need to tweak the speed and possibly the color a bit. I may also only leave the two bigger rings chase and do something different with the center. But this sketch is about 98% complete.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

Another update. My sketch is complete for the most part. It needs a little timing tweaking but that will be easier after I get it together and add a diffuser plate.

I want to thank xl97 and ThePropBox for all of their help. Learning coding on the fly isn't easy for me, but they were huge in helping.

I have some stuff coming up that will prevent me from being able to work on this for the next week and half or so, it was important for my sanity and motivation to get this done by tonight. It's a huge boost to get this done.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

Dude this more than awesome! I tried my best to be a good teacher in the basics of the stuff but it seems you already got a hang of it! :)

It's great you got your motivation back to move on with this project as I cannot wait how it's going to evolve further.
Again, incredible job on the sketch!! :)
 
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

ThePropBox said:
Dude this more than awesome! I tried my best to be a good teacher in the basics of the stuff but it seems you already got a hang of it! :)

It's great you got your motivation back to move on with this project as I cannot wait how it's going to evolve further.
Again, incredible job on the sketch!! :)
Click to expand...

Thank you for the kind words. I can't wait to get back to it. Saturday maybe Sunday. I'm hoping to have a full electronics test with everything mounted in the barrel by the end of next week.

Did you use stranded wire for yours? I used solid core for my testing, but would like to be able to use stranded core for final assembly.

Thanks again
 
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

I used stranded wires, yes. Haven't worked with ones having a solid core yet but most likely never will since I don't really like them that much!
Just ordered a bunch of different colored wires for all the motors and leds to have it more easy to seperate them in the end :)
 
Re: My ASHPD Please look directly into the operational end of the device UPDATED!

ThePropBox said:
I used stranded wires, yes. Haven't worked with ones having a solid core yet but most likely never will since I don't really like them that much!
Just ordered a bunch of different colored wires for all the motors and leds to have it more easy to seperate them in the end :)
Click to expand...

Where did you source them from? I got a box of standard colors from Amazon. I'm looking for stuff that it different since I have so much working to install.
 
This thread is more than 3 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.

Similar threads

SwiftCoder
Big Trouble in Little China - 1:24 PorkChop Express
2
Replies
36
Views
1,754
TreeMunky
TreeMunky
C
My first model in 40+ years (picture heavy)
Replies
1
Views
374
stussy
stussy
TazMan2000
M60 Machine Gun Prop 3D printable 1:1
2 3
Replies
48
Views
2,719
Bengrim09
Bengrim09
Valor
Mission Impossible 3: The Rabbit's Foot
Replies
3
Views
265
Valor
Valor
Palantirion
My fake 1/4 scale Aliens Sulaco floor tile build
Replies
1
Views
597
joberg
joberg
Back
Top