First Attempt With Home-Made Pixel Stick

Thanks for the info - coding isn't something I know about really so might see if my lad knows any more about it;)
 
JulesP said:
Thanks for the info - coding isn't something I know about really so might see if my lad knows any more about it;)
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No me neither, it's like talking a different language........... another thing i was never good at in school

If you do make one though i'm sure i'd be able to send you my version of the code over somehow (email etc) if you like
 
Thanks - I might take you up on that offer - the bits are all in the post so should be here any day:)
 
Wow these are all great shots being shared! Looks like I will need to purchase this new toy soon
 
You can make your own images, all you need to do i create a .bmp that is 144 pixels wide (1 pixel per LED) and as long as you like
 
Anyone else having a bash at making one?
Spent some time this evening overcoming a hurdle but that's now sorted (Never understand coding) and now just need a few bits to finish and then final build:)
 
Electronics all fully working, images loaded and tested - final build then playtime:)

And as Rich said, it's not that difficult - most of the errors I made were not reading things properly.
 
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Thats impressive!
 
Looking good Julian, what did you use as a diffuser for the LEDs as that is still something i am experimenting with
 
I'm using the elastic - same as the tutorial - it works but could be better and am on the lookout for something better
 
I'll let you know if I find anything more suitable - can see the elastic getting quite grimey with age.
 
@rpsmith79 - I've emailed a couple of suppliers for Perspex and acrylic quotes for a strip cut to size - will let you know the outcome and price if they get back to me
 
@rpsmith79 - I got hold of some acrylic from Southern Acrylics (http://southernacrylics.co.uk/) and they were about the only ones who could cut a strip 20mm wide - all the others were 50mm minimum - cost me £25 posted :exit:
They sent me two strips 20x1200mm, 1 strip frosted clear and the other frosted white. The frosted clear is too clear in my opinion and the frosted white seems just about right. I've wedged it in to my frame and stuck it down with clear silicon sealer - looks ok to be fair:)
I've also got hold of some black vinyl wrap and used that at the ends to ensure the strip cannot fall out - the good thing about vinyl wrap is when you heat it with a hair dryer, it goes really pliable and the glue melts and sticks better.
So, all in all, a little tidying of edges etc and its now good to go.

One thing I did notice is when you use a really bright image with low batteries it tends to crash - I think that's just the LED strip drawing too much power and not leaving enough to supply the Arduino - trying high power rechargeables now.
The script otherwise seems stable and much more user friendly;)

Thanks

Julian
 
JulesP said:
@rpsmith79 - I got hold of some acrylic from Southern Acrylics (http://southernacrylics.co.uk/) and they were about the only ones who could cut a strip 20mm wide - all the others were 50mm minimum - cost me £25 posted :exit:
They sent me two strips 20x1200mm, 1 strip frosted clear and the other frosted white. The frosted clear is too clear in my opinion and the frosted white seems just about right. I've wedged it in to my frame and stuck it down with clear silicon sealer - looks ok to be fair:)
I've also got hold of some black vinyl wrap and used that at the ends to ensure the strip cannot fall out - the good thing about vinyl wrap is when you heat it with a hair dryer, it goes really pliable and the glue melts and sticks better.
So, all in all, a little tidying of edges etc and its now good to go.

One thing I did notice is when you use a really bright image with low batteries it tends to crash - I think that's just the LED strip drawing too much power and not leaving enough to supply the Arduino - trying high power rechargeables now.
The script otherwise seems stable and much more user friendly;)

Thanks

Julian
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Yes, i always use Rechargables in mine, seem to work much better than plain batteries

And funnily enough, i am doing a little project at work where i have had to source some frosted plastic sheet (we had currently been cutting up plastic milk bottles, lol), so when that arrives i will give it a go myself, but one thing i do know is that the distance from the frosted plastic to the LED strip makes a bog difference to how much it diffuses the LEDs, so i may have to stand-off the frosting from my LEDs a little to get the level of diffusion i want

This is the stuff i have been looking at https://www.kitronik.co.uk/43131-frosted-polypropylene-sheet-08mm-x-1100mm-x-650mm.html its actually frosted polypropylene, only 0.7mm thick and is cuttable with scissors (or craft knife)

Good call with the vinyl wrap too, i used to dabble in a but of vinyl wrapping back in the day when it was all the rage with wrapping car bodies and the like, i might still have some left over in the garage....... will have to go an rummage this evening after work
 
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No need to rewrite the sketch, just upload the sketch to the Arduino, and stick your images onto the SD card, then every time you turn it on it goes through the images on the card and checks the brightness of the all and writes it to another file, all this is done automatically though, so no need to worry about it
 
londonbackpackr said:
First picture with the DIY lightstick, working fine running the fastLED sketch and most of the demos. Still having problems getting it draw any pictures and can't get the potentiometer and trigger to work yet but still learning about the Arduino and electronics in general :)


light by George Griffin, on Flickr
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Nice, very abstract, have you not fitted a diffuser yet, that is the bit i am struggling with, trying to get enough diffusion tonot see the individual LEDs, but not too much that it looks soft
 
I need a bit of help with this. I have the stick working fine using the fastLED sketch and can make lots of different light patterns but no matter what, I can't get the image (neopainter) to work.

I have done the 3 check stages and they all work correctly, lights on their own, SD card being read, and power.

When running the neopainter sketch nothing happens, no lights at all.

The only thing I can think is wrong are the components I am using to make the switch

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/10k-andohm-miniature-linear-single-gang-potentiometer-jm71n

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/square-push-to-make-switch-red-jb00a

Anyone have any ideas :)
 
londonbackpackr said:
I need a bit of help with this. I have the stick working fine using the fastLED sketch and can make lots of different light patterns but no matter what, I can't get the image (neopainter) to work.

I have done the 3 check stages and they all work correctly, lights on their own, SD card being read, and power.

When running the neopainter sketch nothing happens, no lights at all.

The only thing I can think is wrong are the components I am using to make the switch

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/10k-andohm-miniature-linear-single-gang-potentiometer-jm71n

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/square-push-to-make-switch-red-jb00a

Anyone have any ideas :)
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Have you set all the configurable items on the NeoPixel_Painter sketch, CARD_SELECT and CURRENT_MAX are the 2 that usually need changing from default
 
londonbackpackr said:
I have CARD_SELECT 10
LED_PIN 3 this is my data input

I haven't changed the CURRENT_MAX as I assumed that this is standard for the 5v coming in from the UBEC
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Not sure then i'm afraid, you say all the tests work up to the point where you put the NeoPixel_Painter sketch on, and then it stops working
 
londonbackpackr said:
Yep :) all working apart from drawing images. I think I will try replacing the 10k pot and switch. Its probably something simple that I'm just not seeing :)
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Are you using your own images are have you created your own, as i once created one and saved it in the wrong form of BMP and it wouldn't work

Also, try it with the Pot in both directions as you may have set it to minimum brightness, hence not showing anything

And remember, the brightness is set on startup, so make you you switch it off when trying different brightness settings
 
Are you putting the images in a folder on the SD card or straight on to the card?
They need to go straight on the card.

Also have you tried it with just one image on the card as it needs to process them first?

I take it your images are 144 pixels wide? They need to be rotated so the width is right or they don't seem to work.
Also they must be 24 bit bitmap images and not jpeg or anything like that.
 
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JulesP said:
Are you putting the images in a folder on the SD card or straight on to the card?
They need to go straight on the card
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Good point, they need naming correctly too, starting with frame000.bmp, then 001, 002 etc
 
JulesP said:
Are you putting the images in a folder on the SD card or straight on to the card?
They need to go straight on the card.

Also have you tried it with just one image on the card as it needs to process them first?

I take it your images are 144 pixels wide? They need to be rotated so the width is right or they don't seem to work.
Also they must be 24 bit bitmap images and not jpeg or anything like that.
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Straight on the card , no folder. I only use a 512mb card with one image on. Set one side to 144 pixel which was the longest side.

rpsmith79 said:
Are you using your own images are have you created your own, as i once created one and saved it in the wrong form of BMP and it wouldn't work

Also, try it with the Pot in both directions as you may have set it to minimum brightness, hence not showing anything

And remember, the brightness is set on startup, so make you you switch it off when trying different brightness settings
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I tried with my own image and also one of the dragon images for the tutorial. Saved as windows 24 bit BMP. Tried the Pot in directions and nothing. I still think it maybe the Pot and switch as everything else works fine :)
 
Surely there must be a button/switch testing sketch somewhere in the Arduino software, might be worth going back to basics and testing that first

Or if not a quick Google search should turn up something

EDIT: Indeed there is, under File, Examples, 02 Digital, Switch

You will need an LED connected to pin 13 though
 
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Ok I think I may have it working, like @rpsmith79 said go back to basics. I have the whole thing on a breadboard and now looks to be drawing a picture, I can set the brightness and the speed via the Pot.

I also think that although I was saved as 24 bit, the advance mode was only showing 16 bit.

Just need to get it off the broad and re-assemble and then wait for dark :banana::woot:
 
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londonbackpackr said:
Ok I think I may have it working, like @rpsmith79 said go back to basics. I have the whole thing on a breadboard and now looks to be drawing a picture, I can set the brightness and the speed via the Pot.

I also think that although I was saved as 24 bit, the advance mode was only showing 16 bit.

Just need to get it off the broad and re-assemble and then wait for dark :banana::woot:
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Good luck:)
 
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