Project:USB Disco Dance Floor/v1 - Revision history

Dmi: Updated project log

2011-04-21T12:14:34Z

Updated project log

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:14, 21 April 2011
Line 44:		Line 44:
	;2011-04-15:		;2011-04-15:
	:*Redesigned [[Media:DDF-PCB-v0.2-20110415.png\|the PCB]] as described above and ordered a prototype from [http://www.spiritcircuits.com/services/go-naked Spirit Circuits] again. This board should be more solder-friendly due to thinner traces (smaller thermal area) and copper hints about what goes where. As another new feature, this board has mounting holes set at the corners of a 2.5" square. The board itself is 3.35" by 2.83". With luck, I should be able to fit 12 of these on a 1sqft panel via [http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/spirit-electronics Spirit Circuits' eBay store], so each PCB would cost in the region of £2.		:*Redesigned [[Media:DDF-PCB-v0.2-20110415.png\|the PCB]] as described above and ordered a prototype from [http://www.spiritcircuits.com/services/go-naked Spirit Circuits] again. This board should be more solder-friendly due to thinner traces (smaller thermal area) and copper hints about what goes where. As another new feature, this board has mounting holes set at the corners of a 2.5" square. The board itself is 3.35" by 2.83". With luck, I should be able to fit 12 of these on a 1sqft panel via [http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/spirit-electronics Spirit Circuits' eBay store], so each PCB would cost in the region of £2.
			;2011-04-19:
			:*Soldered the rest of the LEDs, with some help from Sam (another one) and [[User:elliot_w\|elliot_w]].
			;2011-04-20:
			:*'''IT WORKS!''' ... more or less. Some of the LED channels aren't working, but that seems to be just down to dodgy wiring.

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Dmi: Linked to eBay store

2011-04-18T11:38:31Z

Linked to eBay store

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:38, 18 April 2011
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	:*Ended up soldering the PCB (with help from [[User:Samthetechie\|Samthetechie]]) and currently awaiting spare TLC5940s to arrive from TI. I love their "free sample" service! I also plan to redesign the PCB to be smaller and use smaller trace widths, as well as reorganise a couple of components.		:*Ended up soldering the PCB (with help from [[User:Samthetechie\|Samthetechie]]) and currently awaiting spare TLC5940s to arrive from TI. I love their "free sample" service! I also plan to redesign the PCB to be smaller and use smaller trace widths, as well as reorganise a couple of components.
	;2011-04-15:		;2011-04-15:
	:*Redesigned [[Media:DDF-PCB-v0.2-20110415.png\|the PCB]] as described above and ordered a prototype from [http://www.spiritcircuits.com/services/go-naked Spirit Circuits] again. This board should be more solder-friendly due to thinner traces (smaller thermal area) and copper hints about what goes where. As another new feature, this board has mounting holes set at the corners of a 2.5" square. The board itself is 3.35" by 2.83". With luck, I should be able to fit 12 of these on a 1sqft panel via Spirit Circuits' eBay store, so each PCB would cost in the region of £2.		:*Redesigned [[Media:DDF-PCB-v0.2-20110415.png\|the PCB]] as described above and ordered a prototype from [http://www.spiritcircuits.com/services/go-naked Spirit Circuits] again. This board should be more solder-friendly due to thinner traces (smaller thermal area) and copper hints about what goes where. As another new feature, this board has mounting holes set at the corners of a 2.5" square. The board itself is 3.35" by 2.83". With luck, I should be able to fit 12 of these on a 1sqft panel via [http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/spirit-electronics Spirit Circuits' eBay store], so each PCB would cost in the region of £2.

	<br style="clear: right">		<br style="clear: right">

Dmi: Missed a link :-)

2011-04-18T11:35:09Z

Missed a link :-)

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:35, 18 April 2011
Line 43:		Line 43:
	:*Ended up soldering the PCB (with help from [[User:Samthetechie\|Samthetechie]]) and currently awaiting spare TLC5940s to arrive from TI. I love their "free sample" service! I also plan to redesign the PCB to be smaller and use smaller trace widths, as well as reorganise a couple of components.		:*Ended up soldering the PCB (with help from [[User:Samthetechie\|Samthetechie]]) and currently awaiting spare TLC5940s to arrive from TI. I love their "free sample" service! I also plan to redesign the PCB to be smaller and use smaller trace widths, as well as reorganise a couple of components.
	;2011-04-15:		;2011-04-15:
	:*Redesigned [[Media:DDF-PCB-v0.2-20110415.png\|the PCB]] as described above and ordered a prototype from Spirit Circuits again. This board should be more solder-friendly due to thinner traces (smaller thermal area) and copper hints about what goes where. As another new feature, this board has mounting holes set at the corners of a 2.5" square. The board itself is 3.35" by 2.83". With luck, I should be able to fit 12 of these on a 1sqft panel via Spirit Circuits' eBay store, so each PCB would cost in the region of £2.		:*Redesigned [[Media:DDF-PCB-v0.2-20110415.png\|the PCB]] as described above and ordered a prototype from [http://www.spiritcircuits.com/services/go-naked Spirit Circuits] again. This board should be more solder-friendly due to thinner traces (smaller thermal area) and copper hints about what goes where. As another new feature, this board has mounting holes set at the corners of a 2.5" square. The board itself is 3.35" by 2.83". With luck, I should be able to fit 12 of these on a 1sqft panel via Spirit Circuits' eBay store, so each PCB would cost in the region of £2.

	<br style="clear: right">		<br style="clear: right">

Dmi: Added link to Spirit Circuits

2011-04-18T11:34:39Z

Added link to Spirit Circuits

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:34, 18 April 2011
Line 31:		Line 31:
	;2011-04-03:		;2011-04-03:
	:*I have finished soldering the LED array onto the board, including resistors, and I have now made a start on wiring the LEDs to the controllers. I also connected all of the common anodes		:*I have finished soldering the LED array onto the board, including resistors, and I have now made a start on wiring the LEDs to the controllers. I also connected all of the common anodes
	:*I decided to connect the LEDs to the drivers sequentially, so R0 -> OUT00, G0 -> OUT01, B1 -> OUT02, etc. This was partially prompted by designing [[Media:DDF-PCB-v1-20110403.png\|a PCB]] for future use. I hope to have a prototype of the board produced professionally, so I can test and refine it. A future version of the board will have the microcontroller embedded (as described below), or ''possibly'' done as an Arduino shield. Turning it into a shield is unlikely, however: the board would be quite large, and routing might be complex. It would likely be more than my version of Eagle can handle!		:*I decided to connect the LEDs to the drivers sequentially, so R0 -> OUT00, G0 -> OUT01, B1 -> OUT02, etc. This was partially prompted by designing [[Media:DDF-PCB-v1-20110403.png\|a PCB]] for future use. I hope to have a prototype of the board produced professionally by [http://www.spiritcircuits.com/services/go-naked Spirit Circuits' Go Naked service], so I can test and refine it. A future version of the board will have the microcontroller embedded (as described below), or ''possibly'' done as an Arduino shield. Turning it into a shield is unlikely, however: the board would be quite large, and routing might be complex. It would likely be more than my version of Eagle can handle!
	;2011-04-10:		;2011-04-10:
	:*The prototype PCB has arrived, but I'm not sure it will be the final design. Might be worth playing with, however. Perhaps I will solder it with chip holders instead of soldering the chips directly.		:*The prototype PCB has arrived, but I'm not sure it will be the final design. Might be worth playing with, however. Perhaps I will solder it with chip holders instead of soldering the chips directly.

Dmi: Updated project log

2011-04-15T10:51:32Z

Updated project log

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:51, 15 April 2011
Line 37:		Line 37:
	;2011-04-12:		;2011-04-12:
	:*I finished soldering the required pins for the first chip's connection to the Arduino, which means that in theory the first five LEDs could be controlled correctly. I just have to wire them in!		:*I finished soldering the required pins for the first chip's connection to the Arduino, which means that in theory the first five LEDs could be controlled correctly. I just have to wire them in!
			;2011-04-14:
			[[File:DDF-PCB-v1-soldered-top.jpg\|thumb\|right\|Top of PCB prototype, as of 2011-04-14]][[File:DDF-PCB-v1-soldered-bottom.jpg\|thumb\|right\|Bottom of PCB prototype, as of 2011-04-14]]
			:*First version of the firmware written, but untested.
			:*Bother. After soldering in the connections for the first four LEDs, there was a problem with LED2: no matter what the firmware specified, it would be full-brightness green. It appears to be a problem with the chip itself, so something needed to be done.
			:*Ended up soldering the PCB (with help from [[User:Samthetechie\|Samthetechie]]) and currently awaiting spare TLC5940s to arrive from TI. I love their "free sample" service! I also plan to redesign the PCB to be smaller and use smaller trace widths, as well as reorganise a couple of components.
			;2011-04-15:
			:*Redesigned [[Media:DDF-PCB-v0.2-20110415.png\|the PCB]] as described above and ordered a prototype from Spirit Circuits again. This board should be more solder-friendly due to thinner traces (smaller thermal area) and copper hints about what goes where. As another new feature, this board has mounting holes set at the corners of a 2.5" square. The board itself is 3.35" by 2.83". With luck, I should be able to fit 12 of these on a 1sqft panel via Spirit Circuits' eBay store, so each PCB would cost in the region of £2.

			<br style="clear: right">

	== Future directions ==		== Future directions ==

Dmi: Clarified what I meant by "required pins"

2011-04-13T07:52:55Z

Clarified what I meant by "required pins"

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:52, 13 April 2011
Line 36:		Line 36:
	:*I have also considered the merits of having an onboard 4-port USB 1.1 hub and thinking about autodetecting module relative position and orientation		:*I have also considered the merits of having an onboard 4-port USB 1.1 hub and thinking about autodetecting module relative position and orientation
	;2011-04-12:		;2011-04-12:
	:*I finished soldering the required pins for the first chip, which means that in theory the first five LEDs could be controlled correctly. I just have to wire them in!		:*I finished soldering the required pins for the first chip's connection to the Arduino, which means that in theory the first five LEDs could be controlled correctly. I just have to wire them in!

	== Future directions ==		== Future directions ==

Dmi: Update to project log

2011-04-13T07:48:29Z

Update to project log

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:48, 13 April 2011
Line 35:		Line 35:
	:*The prototype PCB has arrived, but I'm not sure it will be the final design. Might be worth playing with, however. Perhaps I will solder it with chip holders instead of soldering the chips directly.		:*The prototype PCB has arrived, but I'm not sure it will be the final design. Might be worth playing with, however. Perhaps I will solder it with chip holders instead of soldering the chips directly.
	:*I have also considered the merits of having an onboard 4-port USB 1.1 hub and thinking about autodetecting module relative position and orientation		:*I have also considered the merits of having an onboard 4-port USB 1.1 hub and thinking about autodetecting module relative position and orientation
			;2011-04-12:
			:*I finished soldering the required pins for the first chip, which means that in theory the first five LEDs could be controlled correctly. I just have to wire them in!

	== Future directions ==		== Future directions ==

Dmi: Project log update

2011-04-12T13:38:12Z

Project log update

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:38, 12 April 2011
Line 32:		Line 32:
	:*I have finished soldering the LED array onto the board, including resistors, and I have now made a start on wiring the LEDs to the controllers. I also connected all of the common anodes		:*I have finished soldering the LED array onto the board, including resistors, and I have now made a start on wiring the LEDs to the controllers. I also connected all of the common anodes
	:*I decided to connect the LEDs to the drivers sequentially, so R0 -> OUT00, G0 -> OUT01, B1 -> OUT02, etc. This was partially prompted by designing [[Media:DDF-PCB-v1-20110403.png\|a PCB]] for future use. I hope to have a prototype of the board produced professionally, so I can test and refine it. A future version of the board will have the microcontroller embedded (as described below), or ''possibly'' done as an Arduino shield. Turning it into a shield is unlikely, however: the board would be quite large, and routing might be complex. It would likely be more than my version of Eagle can handle!		:*I decided to connect the LEDs to the drivers sequentially, so R0 -> OUT00, G0 -> OUT01, B1 -> OUT02, etc. This was partially prompted by designing [[Media:DDF-PCB-v1-20110403.png\|a PCB]] for future use. I hope to have a prototype of the board produced professionally, so I can test and refine it. A future version of the board will have the microcontroller embedded (as described below), or ''possibly'' done as an Arduino shield. Turning it into a shield is unlikely, however: the board would be quite large, and routing might be complex. It would likely be more than my version of Eagle can handle!
			;2011-04-10:
			:*The prototype PCB has arrived, but I'm not sure it will be the final design. Might be worth playing with, however. Perhaps I will solder it with chip holders instead of soldering the chips directly.
			:*I have also considered the merits of having an onboard 4-port USB 1.1 hub and thinking about autodetecting module relative position and orientation

	== Future directions ==		== Future directions ==

Dmi: Added link to USB hub chip

2011-04-07T10:23:03Z

Added link to USB hub chip

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:23, 7 April 2011
Line 36:		Line 36:

	[[File:Ddf-ddr-concept.gif\|thumb\|right\|Dance Dance Revolution/Guitar Hero mashup concept]]		[[File:Ddf-ddr-concept.gif\|thumb\|right\|Dance Dance Revolution/Guitar Hero mashup concept]]
	[[{{#titleparts:{{FULLPAGENAME}}\|-1}}\|Version 2]] of this project will provide RGB+UV for each cell, with pressure sensors. Ideally the pressure sensors will have a resolution of one cell, so that the floor could be used for games (e.g. Tetris or a mash-up of Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero). The Arduinos (or other microcontrollers) will be embedded into the board design, and the PCBs batch-produced.		[[{{#titleparts:{{FULLPAGENAME}}\|-1}}\|Version 2]] of this project will provide RGB+UV for each cell, with pressure sensors. Ideally the pressure sensors will have a resolution of one cell, so that the floor could be used for games (e.g. Tetris or a mash-up of Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero). The Arduinos (or other microcontrollers) will be embedded into the board design, and the PCBs batch-produced. The board will also have a [http://uk.farnell.com/texas-instruments/tusb2046bvf/ic-usb-hub-4-port-32lqfp/dp/1470507 4-port USB hub] built into it, for inter-module communication.

	Note: Tetris requires 10px wide by 20 high for the playing field. DDR would require ((NPlayers * 5) - 1)px wide. It looks like the floor would have to therefore be a minimum of 3x8 modules for Tetris, and probably the same for DDR (but perhaps shorter). For two players, DDR requires a minimum of 3 modules wide, but the height could be relatively variable. The example floor to the right is 3x7 modules.		Note: Tetris requires 10px wide by 20 high for the playing field. DDR would require ((NPlayers * 5) - 1)px wide. It looks like the floor would have to therefore be a minimum of 3x8 modules for Tetris, and probably the same for DDR (but perhaps shorter). For two players, DDR requires a minimum of 3 modules wide, but the height could be relatively variable. The example floor to the right is 3x7 modules.

Dmi: Added image of MIT 1E disco dance floor, as an example of what I aim to accomplish.

2011-04-04T11:41:42Z

Added image of MIT 1E disco dance floor, as an example of what I aim to accomplish.

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:41, 4 April 2011
Line 3:		Line 3:
	== Introduction ==		== Introduction ==

			[[File:DDF-MIT.jpg\|240\|thumb\|right\|Something like what I aim to accomplish]]
	The aim of this project is to create a USB-controlled, Arudino-powered 70's-style disco dance floor, inspired by a [http://www.scotttorborg.com/disco-dance-floor/ similar project] by a student at MIT. It will act as a modular, low-resolution RGB display. Each pixel will be 6-8" per side, and it will come in 4x4-pixel modules that can be connected together.		The aim of this project is to create a USB-controlled, Arudino-powered 70's-style disco dance floor, inspired by a [http://www.scotttorborg.com/disco-dance-floor/ similar project] by a student at MIT. It will act as a modular, low-resolution RGB display. Each pixel will be 6-8" per side, and it will come in 4x4-pixel modules that can be connected together.