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Author Topic: LED string saber with Arduino  (Read 6421 times)

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Offline Obi_1

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LED string saber with Arduino
« on: November 27, 2015, 01:54:16 PM »
Hi Girls and guys, I'm new to the forum, I have been lurking on it for quite a time and some may know me from the TCSS Forum (Obi1).

After months of research, designing, planning, building and software development it's compeleted.

It's my first Arduino based saber board for LED string sabers.

(Disclaimer: sorry for my broken English, just concentrate on the saber sounds, they are loud enough)
LED string blade Arduino Saber (HD) - YouTube

I named it AS2 for Arduino Saber 2, honoring JakeSoft's first Arduino based saber, who motivated me and gave valuable advices.

If you are interested in more technical details, you can read more on the Arduino Forum:
Arduino Lightsaber for/with LED string blade


I made a pic of the module showing the 3 of the 4 main components (LED Driver transistors are on the backside).


This video shows the same saber with my Serial class III red blade (anyone knows how to embed a YouTube video? )
DIY Arduino based LED string saber electronics - YouTube

Features:
 - drive for 6 LED segments (Class II. or III. Serial) -> like MR/Hasbro or CF-LS (now I know why these have 6 segments, most of the controllers usable for this size of PCB have up to 6 PWM capable channels)
 - resistorless setup with drive adjustment
 - blade scrolling with higher resolution than other LS boards, including smooth transition (not just swicth on/off of segments, this is especially important for long ignition/retraction schemes)
 - supports up to 3 sound fonts, selectable using a combination of aux. and main switch
 - Flash-on-Clash (native using LED string drive adjustment, mainly because I know from experience that a FoC string is a bad idea)
 - Blade Lockup
 - Blaster bolt deflect, random segment flare like CF-LS
 - different hum FXs -> either synchronised random flicker or "blaze" effect, because I like the Kylo Ren saber flicker and with LED strings I can simulate that
 - 7.4V battery setup
 - 3W speaker output (4Ohm or 8Ohm) -> extremely loud! At the end I was amazed, that the mp3 player I choose was the only one capable of gapless playback, was by far the smallest and had the most powerful audio driver
 - programming through mini-USB port
 - small enough to fit into most saber hilts

Let me know what you think about it, your Feedback is very much appreciated.

Cheers!
Andras
« Last Edit: November 27, 2015, 02:30:06 PM by Obi_1 »

Offline EXAR KUN

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Re: LED string saber with Arduino
« Reply #1 on: November 27, 2015, 03:25:02 PM »
Hey Andreas,

I love what you've done! Great work. I know that has taken a huge amount of time and a huge effort.

I love the blade effects and especially the radical scroll sequences. Very, very cool.



Offline JakeSoft

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Re: LED string saber with Arduino
« Reply #2 on: November 28, 2015, 06:21:39 AM »
Nice one, Obi.

I'm glad to see others doing this kind of development. Barring lucky finds on ebay, there's a huge price and functionality gap between the cheap eccono boards and the high-end commercial products. Home-brew solutions like this really help fill that gap and push our hobby forward with new ideas. Keep up the good work!

Offline Obi_1

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Re: LED string saber with Arduino
« Reply #3 on: November 28, 2015, 01:36:03 PM »
Thanks a lot SpanceWindu and JakeSoft! I definitely plan to further improve my solution and will for sure post the updates.

A lot of time and effort went into designing this "toy", but every minute spent was worth it, it was a great fun and a lot of experience!

As to filling a gap, yes, this gave me the Impulse to start with. I remember the other day I posted an enquiry on another saber forum if established saber board manufacturers plan on making a mid-range LED string saber board. The answer was a clear no way and the way the answer was formulated made me suspect that they foound the Notion ridicolous. So I opted for a high-end commercial LS board and while I was fascinated by what it could do, I also see a great potential to improve some features for this much neglected but exciting field of LED string sabers. I'm simply happy with the outcome and I guess it will really bring the Hobby Forward by presenting new ideas and explornig new vistas! I would love to see the comminity of explorers grow  :grin:

Offline racemaniac

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Re: LED string saber with Arduino
« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2015, 10:46:29 AM »
Hi there, someone linked me to your saber in the thread about my first saber with ledstrings: Homemade RGB lightsaber [nofollow]
It's nice to see other people experimenting with arduino (or in my case arduino like ^^) devices & making awesome lightsabers with them :).

Offline neskweek

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Re: LED string saber with Arduino
« Reply #5 on: February 21, 2016, 02:50:40 AM »
There's a lot of exciting news on this project :

- New "all included" PCB in developpment
- Full OpenSource OS with :
    * homemade ledstring support (with poweron/poweroff effec)
    * RGB Led support (where you can configure colors and assign them to each soundfont)
    * Single Led support
    * Intelligent two button use (handles short and long presses + double clicks)
    * "on flight" configuration menu
    * swing/clash/twist wrist detection
    * blaster/lockup/force effects

Offline yirmeyahu_cynge

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Re: LED string saber with Arduino
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2016, 10:24:19 PM »
Very impressive, Obi_1. I look forward to seeing your continued advancements! - YC  :police:

Offline EXAR KUN

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Re: LED string saber with Arduino
« Reply #7 on: July 28, 2017, 09:31:32 AM »
Hey my friend, I can no longer find the manual for DIYino. Is there a new link?

Also, is there support for more than 3 sound fonts on the newer versions? Thanks again,



Offline jbkuma

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Offline Obi_1

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Re: LED string saber with Arduino
« Reply #9 on: July 29, 2017, 10:38:13 AM »
Hey my friend, I can no longer find the manual for DIYino. Is there a new link?

Also, is there support for more than 3 sound fonts on the newer versions? Thanks again,

Hi Anthony,

Actually I usually use 5 saber fonts with the Prime (the one you have as well), and 3 on the Stardust due to the SPI Flash having less space than an SD-Card. But code-wise you can go up easily to more. In the FX-SaberOS I rewrote the whole sound font library handling, making it easier to use for first-time-programmers and also freeing up a lot of dynamic memory in the process.

As we discussed a while ago regarding mature saber smiths going for single colors, it's a similar topic for me when it comes to sound fonts. I have a large library of sound fonts I purchased on SaberFont but if you look at my videos you will see that I always use the same few. It's a lot of fun to experiment with new sound fonts, and there are some which I simply can't resist to buy (like Madcows new Splitfire, superb, or jbkuma's Fire which fits a neopixel fireblade perfectly), but with time I always go back to my favorite few, therefore I think that 3-5 are really a good compromise. But as said, the DIYino boards can support more.

Ps.: I mean to get back to our LED-string discussion, just that currently our upcoming family vacation in the US occupies all my thoughts! I wish the States would be a bit smaller and I could visit some of you guys!!!

 

retrousse