SunLED also makes some diffuse side lookers. These are 3.6mm domes (they also have some 1.5mm):
http://www.sunledusa.com/SearchResult.asp?Series=XSxx92D&SubCategoryDescription=Cylindrical, Rectangular, Triangular and Flat Top Shape LED Lamps.

Here's a reference for liquid tape:
http://www.plastidip.com/industrial_solutions/Liquid_Tape_-_Electrical_Insulation.

 

All I have is questions:

Is this the correct layout and "blinky" pattern?
Where is the yellow LED?
Excluding the "open, says-a-me" scene, do we see his arm open?

joe

Edit 1 -added yellow LED strip

EDIT 2 - artwork removed, updated in a later post

 

Ok, more info,

The actual scene can be seen here on novamovie here, its 36mins in (close the adveetisement window that trys to get you to click play now, or downloand. Just click the play symbol on the actual player)

http://www.novamov.com/video/4a92e025d0a26

As for a picture, here is my example. NOW, i have started right from the connector and work my way in. What isnt clear on the photos, is there is another row of yellow leds in the middle, sandwiched between two bits of plastic. These are static as far as i can tell (youn can see the botton of them in the pic which shows the two black lights. ALso, on my picture, the small boxes with '2' written above it is actully the leds in the flip part of the arm, but its really hard to see where it goes. ALSO, not all wires for the staic leds are accounted for, as they too are sandwiched inbetween two bits of plastic, which i also think the resistors are connected to. Basically, i have included everything i can see and get to!

I think the hardest part of this will be getting the lights to cascade, or even work, but i beleive that the blue lights should be easy enough to get to work, just 4 wires, and also the the circuit as expertly imo drawn out some pages back.

Also, by connector, i mean the wire is connected to the other wires by that black liquid stuff.

So, who wants to design and tell me/build a thing to power this up? Even if we can get half of it to work, its better than nothing. Of course, I would like to recompense anyne for their work, eother cash, or if you want some authentic scottish stuff, liek whiskey etc, im sure i can fedex some stuff over ;-)

 

ps, my local electronics store is maplins

http://www.maplin.co.uk/home.aspx

 

SunLED also makes some diffuse side lookers. These are 3.6mm domes (they also have some 1.5mm):
http://www.sunledusa.com/SearchResult.asp?Series=XSxx92D&SubCategoryDescription=Cylindrical, Rectangular, Triangular and Flat Top Shape LED Lamps.

Those look like they could be good candidates for replacements if necessary. The Vf's are a bit different though, so if any LED were burned out, all LEDs in parallel would have to be changed, and the parallel current limiting resistors would need changing as well (or they would need separate resistors). That could be problematic, as the LEDs you found seem to have a higher Vf than the Panasonics that I found. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. If Craig exercises great care in testing and verifies voltages/currents at every step, he should be OK.

Here's a reference for liquid tape:
http://www.plastidip.com/industrial_solutions/Liquid_Tape_-_Electrical_Insulation.

Yep, I've seen that stuff before. Never used it, but it would be quite handy for things like this.

 

Ok, more info,

The actual scene can be seen here on novamovie here, its 36mins in (close the adveetisement window that trys to get you to click play now, or downloand. Just click the play symbol on the actual player)

http://www.novamov.com/video/4a92e025d0a26

Great! That's a big help.

<snip>
Also, by connector, i mean the wire is connected to the other wires by that black liquid stuff.

OK, we need to keep terminology straight and things labeled, otherwise things can get confused very quickly.

I'll propose the following naming and labeling standards for this project:

Generic format will be a 1 or 2 character abbreviation, followed by a number indicating the number of wires if a plug, jack, splice point, circuit board or assembly w/individual LEDs, then the circuit number surrounded by dashes, followed by a unique sequence number within the circuit.
Example:
abbrXX-y-z

If wires are coming out of a connecting device which has male pins, that device should be named a "plug"; shortened to "P" as a prefix, with the number of pins immediately following - as in "P15", then a dash, then the circuit, then another dash, then the sequence within the circuit.
So, for the 15 pin plug that is the 1st item in circuit 1, the name would be:
P15-1-1

If wires are coming out of a connecting device which has female pins, that device should be named a "jack"; shortened to "J" as a prefix, with the number of pins immediately following, as in "J15", followed by dash-circuit-dash and the sequence #.

If a wad of wires simply disappear into the black liquid stuff, it is more properly called a "splice point", shortened to "SP" as a prefix; then the # of wires connected to the splice point, then circuit number and sequence number.

If wires are connected to a single piece of circuit board, "CB" then the same as SP.

If wires are connected to a group of LEDs not on a circuit board, but on an assembly, then an abbreviation for the assembly will be determined by Craig that will be meaningful.

[eta]
Color names also need to be standardized and shortened to 3 characters; this is standard in the industry.
0) BLK: Black
1) BRN: Brown
2) RED: Red (this one's hard to remember. )
3) ORN: Orange
4) YEL: Yellow
5) GRN: Green
6) BLU: Blue
7) VIO: Violet (this is used instead of Purple)
8) GRY: Gray/grey
9) WHT: White
These are also the color codes for resistors, and color codes for capacitors where applicable.
If wires are more than one color in a length, then the predominant color is shown first, then a forward slash "/", then the secondary color; ie: if you have a white wire with a red stripe, it would be noted as WHT/RED.

I also suggest that a freeware schematic drawing tool be used, so that as updates become necessary, the changes can be easily incorporated rather than having to start from the beginning.

Cadsoft's Eagle comes to mind; but it might be difficult for a beginner to learn.

TinyCad is a possibility; although it's lacking in the symbol base.

Anybody have suggestions?

So, who wants to design and tell me/build a thing to power this up? Even if we can get half of it to work, its better than nothing.

Well, we really need to document as much as possible so we have as many "Knowns" as we can. You really don't want to leave "unknowns", as that will likely cause a considerable amount of work at a later time to add the feature(s) that were originally omitted - or you might inadvertently cause damage to the undocumented portions; something you most certainly want to avoid.

I can certainly understand that you are anxious to get this thing up and going - however, you're dealing with an artifact that is fragile, and you could cause considerable damage if you are hasty. It is much better to be methodical, and proceed cautiously in an organized fashion until any doubts are cleared up. The end result will be much more satisfying, I assure you.

 

SgtWookie: I suggest DipTrace. http://www.diptrace.com/

Craig51: The center LED strip (B) only has one wire? (Green?)
I count 6 LED's in the arm door?
And where are the "blacklights?"

joe

 

SgtWookie: I suggest DipTrace. http://www.diptrace.com/

I'm downloading the freeware version.

Craig51: The center LED strip (B) only has one wire? (Green?)

It would be helpful if you refer to the reply# and the photo sequence number.

I count 6 LED's in the arm door?

I only see two yellow (maybe orange?) and one clear white, near the top?
Where do you see six?

And where are the "blacklights?"

See reply #10, 3rd image. Craig explained that the circuit board in the middle has yellow LEDs on it.
Then on the 5th image down, you can somewhat see that the blacklights are on the underside of the arm; look for the white nylon Zip-ties.
In the last photo on that page, you can see some resistors, and the end of the PCB that has the yellow LEDs on it. It looks like there are a couple of resistors with long leads attached to the PCB, but no idea what the value is as I can't see the color bands.

 

I'm downloading the freeware version.

Pretty good stuff! I'm not using the new beta, I'm running the paid version on this computer and the freebie version on another.

It would be helpful if you refer to the reply# and the photo sequence number.


I only see two yellow (maybe orange?) and one clear white, near the top?
Where do you see six?

I was clear as mud, both of my questions were regarding his drawing of the circuit. His pictures show the "blacklight" tubes but his drawing doesn't.

There are six number "2" on his drawing indicating the LED's in the arm door.

See reply #10, 3rd image. Craig explained that the circuit board in the middle has yellow LEDs on it.
Then on the 5th image down, you can somewhat see that the blacklights are on the underside of the arm; look for the white nylon Zip-ties.
In the last photo on that page, you can see some resistors, and the end of the PCB that has the yellow LEDs on it. It looks like there are a couple of resistors with long leads attached to the PCB, but no idea what the value is as I can't see the color bands.

I sketched out a schematic from the pictures and it doesn't look at all similar to his drawing - 'course he has the actual goodie and I don't. His component count doesn't match mine.

Maybe I should add I coded up a little routine using a PIC18 and may port it over to PicAxe so Craig can play all he wants!

joe

 

Domt forget I have only listed those componets I could defo confirm, there are some missing. My picture doesn't include the backlights as they are on a different circuit which has already been covered.

 

Hmm, a PICaxe could be a good candidate for Craig, Joe. They're cheap, the BASIC language is easy to pick up; as long as someone set up the starting code to get things going...

There are so many LEDs involved, it's probably going to take some MOSFETs to enable turning on all those LEDs so it's not a strain on the uC's I/O pins. That'll mean having a 5v supply for the uC, and 3v for the LED supply - at least from what I can figure out thus far.

 

just home, i am going to download that diptrace prog and see ow i get on, will make it all clearer for you i think

ps the knowledge on here is amazing, i take it you guys do this pro, or as a hobby????

 

Hmm, a PICaxe could be a good candidate for Craig, Joe. They're cheap, the BASIC language is easy to pick up; as long as someone set up the starting code to get things going...

There are so many LEDs involved, it's probably going to take some MOSFETs to enable turning on all those LEDs so it's not a strain on the uC's I/O pins. That'll mean having a 5v supply for the uC, and 3v for the LED supply - at least from what I can figure out thus far.

I can either set him up with the preliminary PicAxe code, or write the whole thing for him! (I've been a bit starved for interesting projects lately!)

Maybe a couple of ULN2803's for the runs with just a few LED's and I agree, some MOSFET's for the yellow group and banks. It's just too early for me to guess driver hardware - I need more details!!

joe

 

i am giving this software a bash, but it seems hard.

If you have any specific q's, ask them now and i will answer. i cant gaurentee this will work

 

i am giving this software a bash, but it seems hard.

If you have any specific q's, ask them now and i will answer. i cant gaurentee this will work

Craig, I'm perfectly okay with your pen & paper drawings!

Please see post #22 for the first questions from my pile of many questions.

joe

 

ps the knowledge on here is amazing, i take it you guys do this pro, or as a hobby????

I'm now disabled and have days on days where my back hurts so bad I'm useless as anything but a doorstop. For years I played with electronics, I have a E.E. but mostly my income was from writing code.

I am a nerd. A geek. I admit it.

I'm counting on your project for my entertainment! Please don't hold back the information you possess - it's all I have to keep my brain kickin'!!

joe

 

ok, that program and me didntmix well.n

SO, here is a 2nd revision, far better IMO.

First off, in the flap, there are 2 small leds which are powered by the 'B' component wires (GRN+BLU). the big single led is powered by the 'A' component (YEL+ORG),

Second, my diagram shows small boxes with a '1' inside it. this symbolises the orange leds on the surface (see 2nd diagram), There are 23 of these, but my diagram only shows 14. its really hard to see how they are alkl wired as they are sandwiched between to pieces of glued plastic.

Third, i havnt showed the black lights, or the other circuit, as they have already been diagrammed as per previous posts, and are quite simple.the black lights are not part of the 15pin connector, but are just 4 stipped wires.

Fourth, the resistors are all linked together by very thin metal wire type material, soldered by the looks of it.

Diagram 1

Resistor 1 (1 Kohms, +/-5%)

resistor2 (30 ohms, +/-5%)

resistor 3 (30 ohms, +/-5%)

resistors 4-7, left to right (4=10 ohms, +/-5%,5= 10 ohms, +/-5%,6= 30 ohms, +/-5%,7= 30 ohms, +/-5%)

layout plan as requested, doesnt include the yellow leds, but they should be there. i think there are 24 yellows in there

 

I can either set him up with the preliminary PicAxe code, or write the whole thing for him! (I've been a bit starved for interesting projects lately!)

You go, Joe!

Maybe a couple of ULN2803's for the runs with just a few LED's and I agree, some MOSFET's for the yellow group and banks. It's just too early for me to guess driver hardware - I need more details!!

We really, really must have all of the details sorted out first. If we're not sure about something, we're bound to make mistakes that will lead to breaking something, or burning something up - that would be very disappointing.

I suggest that our best course of action is to continue to improve and expand the documentation on "what is", until we're quite certain that it is correct as best as we can get it. This also means that Craig should start attaching labels to the wiring harnesses (in a non-destructive manner, of course) so that it will be easy to locate a particular connector, splice point, or wire anyplace in a hurry, and be certain that it's the right part to look at.

One of the problems is that only Craig is available to look at the actual item. This is nothing against Craig, it has everything to do with human nature. After you've looked at a problem for a period of time, you tend to get "too familiar" with it, and you simply overlook things that someone coming in "fresh" would usually spot almost immediately. I realized this a long time ago, and so would frequently exchange tasks with a co-worker so that we could each benefit from the others' "fresh look" at what we had been individually working on. As a result, we invariably found at least a few things that needed attention in each others' work within a short span of time, that made both of us much more productive.

As far as the UNL2803's - I'd discounted bjt's (standard transistors) due to the unknown Vce (saturation voltage) and the inability of an I/O pin to source sufficient current; the ULN2003/ULN2803 would exacerbate that uncertainty. The minimum Vce, even with a light load, would be around .62v; under heavy load the Vce could exceed 1.4v. That makes obtaining the proper LED current much more difficult.

By comparison, logic-level MOSFETs are very easy to drive; as once the gate is charged or discharged, no current is required to maintain the state - they are voltage controlled rather than current amplifiers. Also, MOSFETs are available with very low Rds(on); so the voltage drop from source to drain is quite minimal. This makes it easy to assure LED currents, once the variables of the project are known.

 

Domt forget I have only listed those componets I could defo confirm, there are some missing. My picture doesn't include the backlights as they are on a different circuit which has already been covered.

OK, if you find something that you can't confirm or don't understand, then just pencil in a question mark or two ?? so you'll remember that you need to go back and figure out what that 'whatzis" is.

Another thing that's missing is documentation on what is the anode/cathode of each LED, or at least ONE of the LEDs that is in the "string" - otherwise, it will be difficult to tell what was connected to the more positive voltages; which way the current was supposed to flow through the LED.

As far as the resistor colors, here's a visual resistor calculator:
http://www.dannyg.com/examples/res2/resistor.htm

Just open that page, and use the pull-down menus to select the color bands on the resistor. It will tell you the value and accuracy tolerance of the resistor. I'm virtually certain that all of these resistors were bought at a Radio Shack store in the States, as they all look exactly like other Radio Shack resistors that I have, and they used a piece of Radio Shack circuit board for that junction panel.

 

Hello,

Here is a list of resistor coolr codes:

This picture is linked from this page:
http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/Electronics/Color/

Bertus