About 15 years or so ago, I bought a battery-operated toy "robotic" dog as a gift for someone. As I remembered, it was a pretty simple toy, but, at the time was novel. It would make noises and had an LED display for eyes. You could "communicate" with the toy by pressing a button on it's head and by making noises (I think a newer version had a "bone" with a magnet in it that you could holding near the "mouth" and the toy would respond. It also had minimal walking ability and ear-flapping. It could also go to sleep.
The idea was that you had to keep communicating with the dog to make/keep it "happy" and, when it was happy, its eyes would light up with hearts and it would play a song and a whole bunch of junk.
Recently, the recipient told me that it no longer worked but it was really liked and they wondered if it could be fixed. I took a look and [quietly] groaned that the screws had been striped and a few pieces disassembled (obviously someone had already attempted a fix). So, I said I would see what I could do. Long story a little shorter...I found a new one for ~$20 with shipping as a replacement and that left the old one to be brutally salvaged....by me. The LED "display" seemed pretty cool to me and this is why...
Here is the display as hearts.
and the "sad" eyes display
and either the right or left "eye" could also appear like this:
There are only four LEDs and these are not LED strings. Instead, they are normal LEDs (maybe high intensity at the time). Four layers of "lens'" were used.
What is cool (to me) is that each "lens" is pattern drilled...here is the hearts "lens"...
and a close up of some drilled "jewels"
The key is that the LEDs are mounted so that they are at different levels - Top and bottom and two middle levels for the left and right "half lens"
Pretty cool. Has anyone ever made something like this in any of their projects?
I may replace the LEDs with bi-color ones and slap a couple of touch switches in a box with this display...add a controller and some power and program a "Love Detector". Two people each put a finger on a touch pad and some sounds are played while flashing the LEDs for the different "symbols". Finally (after a few seconds) the display ends with two hearts for a love match or two others for a mismatch. Of course I would need a third, hidden, switch so it could be rigged
The idea was that you had to keep communicating with the dog to make/keep it "happy" and, when it was happy, its eyes would light up with hearts and it would play a song and a whole bunch of junk.
Recently, the recipient told me that it no longer worked but it was really liked and they wondered if it could be fixed. I took a look and [quietly] groaned that the screws had been striped and a few pieces disassembled (obviously someone had already attempted a fix). So, I said I would see what I could do. Long story a little shorter...I found a new one for ~$20 with shipping as a replacement and that left the old one to be brutally salvaged....by me. The LED "display" seemed pretty cool to me and this is why...
Here is the display as hearts.
and the "sad" eyes display
and either the right or left "eye" could also appear like this:
There are only four LEDs and these are not LED strings. Instead, they are normal LEDs (maybe high intensity at the time). Four layers of "lens'" were used.
What is cool (to me) is that each "lens" is pattern drilled...here is the hearts "lens"...
and a close up of some drilled "jewels"
The key is that the LEDs are mounted so that they are at different levels - Top and bottom and two middle levels for the left and right "half lens"
Pretty cool. Has anyone ever made something like this in any of their projects?
I may replace the LEDs with bi-color ones and slap a couple of touch switches in a box with this display...add a controller and some power and program a "Love Detector". Two people each put a finger on a touch pad and some sounds are played while flashing the LEDs for the different "symbols". Finally (after a few seconds) the display ends with two hearts for a love match or two others for a mismatch. Of course I would need a third, hidden, switch so it could be rigged