techno blinky flashy electromechanicalish sometimes artsy projects from my workbench…
I’m quite interested in animatronic control, it’s a nice mix of electronics, mechanics and software. But for a hobbyist there are not many inexpensive options for controlling them. There are commercial programs like VSA (Visual Show Automation) but not many other choices. I have a page that lists different ways that I am aware of for making your prop move and talk… You can find it here.
Things have been quiet lately but I did start a page for various pixel based LED art (well, artistic to me anyways) projects I have done lately. Because you can never have enough LEDs…
Check it out here..
I finally decided to replace my finicky home made usually not working Prusa i3 with an Ender 3 V2 and could not be happier (especially since the Prusa hasn’t been functional for a few years!!). It pretty much prints perfectly out of the box.
I have been wanting to make some more animatronic skulls and the Lindberg Skull models are no longer made so there are no cheap alternatives. One of the users on the Xmas lighting sites posted a version he designed on Thingiverse:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3803762
So far I have just printed the skull top and it worked out fine.
We will see how the rest goes……
While the ESPixelStick based controllers are great sometimes you want (or need) a wired Ethernet connection. One of the Xmas lighting site members (Barnabybear) has written code for a great range of controllers using an Arduino Nano, ENC28J60 Ethernet shield and a RS485 module. You will not find a cheaper wired solution that these. You can find more information on various postings on the DIYCHRISTMAS.ORG site. Here is a summary of his projects:
Cabled E1.31 to 16 on/off outputs, test firmware and parts:
https://diychristmas.org/vb5/showthr…ll=1#post91147
Cabled E1.31 to WS2811 pixel:
https://diychristmas.org/vb5/showthr…ll=1#post91536
Cabled E1.31 to 4 outputs WS2811 pixel hardware:
https://diychristmas.org/vb5/showthr…ll=1#post95062
Cabled E1.31 to DMX:
https://diychristmas.org/vb5/showthr…ll=1#post91537
Cabled E1.31 to TLS3001:
https://diychristmas.org/vb5/showthr…l=1#post100881
All firmware variants and set up code as .HEX files.
https://diychristmas.org/vb5/showthr…ll=1#post97088
The above board is a the single output WS2811 pixel controller. As you can see there are not many parts required. It uses a inexpensive RS-485 module as a invertor driver for the pixel data line as the NANO outputs negative logic (so it needs to be inverted).
Well sort of updated…
I moved to a new hosting provider and ended up re-building the site from scratch…
it`s pretty much identical to the old site but I cleaned up a fair bit of behind the scenes stuff..
I have added a new page for a Pixel Goggle kit I have made up for members of my local Makerspace. You can find more information here.
I’m a hobbyist…
I like to build things…
Mostly electronic things that have lights, motors and sometimes sounds. My intent is to post information on the various projects that I done. My hope that others may find the information interesting and possibly useful.
For the projects I do post about, I will try to include as much information as possible as I have always appreciated that when I have searched for ideas on things that I want to make.