Evening All,

I wonder if you can help me?

I am a motor sports marshall and frequently have to use my car to either fend off or as a warning vehicle.

I would like to put together an LED net scrolling sign for the rear windscreen. I have seen one online that a chap has put together himself, but there are not really any instructions.

Do you think this is something that could be put together by a complete novice such as myself? I have pretty much zero experience in electronics!

thanks in advance for your advice.

Robin

 

A scrolling sign is probably too ambitious as, apart from developing the electronics hardware, you would have to learn to program a micro-controller. If the sign does not need to scroll and you just need to display a very limited number of static messages then it is possible.

 

A scrolling sign is probably too ambitious as, apart from developing the electronics hardware, you would have to learn to program a micro-controller. If the sign does not need to scroll and you just need to display a very limited number of static messages then it is possible.

thanks Blocco. i'll have a think about it

 

If you mean like the video as below then that is a big engineering, but I think you could buy it online:

 

thanks Blocco. i'll have a think about it

Essentially, it's just a case of figuring out what you need and working out the most economical way to display that information by arranging the LEDs on a board. It sounds very low-tech (and it is) but I often see this approach used on LED road signs that are required to display a limited amount of information; perhaps 2 or 3 states. If you need some of them to flash, that should also be achievable for a novice.

 

Essentially, it's just a case of figuring out what you need and working out the most economical way to display that information by arranging the LEDs on a board. It sounds very low-tech but I often see this approach used on LED road signs that are required to display a limited amount of information; perhaps 2 or 3 states. If you need some of them to flash, that should also be achievable for a novice.

If the leds want to be the sign of direction then it can be use ne555 and cd4107 plus some leds.

 

if you look at independent building blocks its not dificult.

You could use Arduino and TM1638 LED driver IC

LEDs you only need to wire them up in a XY matrix.
There are ready made modules but these have small LEDs only and may not be very bright.

 

this is the kind of thing i was hoping for:-

https://picasaweb.google.com/104475112007830201673/LEDScroll#5664874298273614306

and the chaps instructions are here:-

https://docs.google.com/presentatio...Ve2m1nPCi8i3Kt3VedeDNn5Q/present?slide=id.i92

 

Trust me, a scrolling sign like that is not a realistic project for a "complete novice". Even if you can get hold of the plans and the software, putting it all together and making it work will be a considerable challenge.

But, here's a starting point and a useful exercise; create a block diagram for the system hardware and then produce a flow-chart for a basic single message scrolling algorithm.

 

If it's to be used during a race, nobody is going to slow down to read a sign. You'll do well to get them to see warning arrows, at best. Just my $.02...