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polaritySILVER Member
veteran
1,228 posts
Location: on the wrong planet, United Kingdom


Posted:
If you've been to Play or the last couple of Nuneaton meets, you've probably seen my previous prototypes in action.



I've nearly completed the third set of prototypes, and I'll be taking them to The Bristol Juggling Convention this weekend.



I'm documenting as much of the design process as I can over at https://polar-lights.org.uk, so that anyone else interested in building their own LED poi can get a headstart. Now that I'm happy with the prototypes, and don't need to spend so much time actually building things, I'll be working on the site more.



I'm hoping to add sections on Assembly language programming for PIC microcontrollers, and step by step instructions for assembling the latest prototypes.



Seeing as the site wiki is read only (for the moment), I'd welcome comments and suggestions, on the poi and the site.

You aren't thinking or really existing unless you're willing to risk even your own sanity in the judgment of your existence.

Green peppers, lime pickle and whole-grain mustard = best sandwich filling.


Suibomaddict
577 posts
Location: Oregon, USA


Posted:
Woohoo! Thanks polarity smile

*runs over to view the site*

-- comments and suggestions to follow at some point.

Definition of poi- A Hawaiian food made from the tuber of the taro that is cooked, pounded to a paste, and fermented.

Ahnold discussing poi - "It is naht a toober!"


*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
I'd love to see your mark III's.. but unfortunately, I'll be in Milton Keynes visiting my missus. Any chance of some sneak-previews of what they look like these days?

Cake or Death?


thelostSILVER Member
mmm...i feel all warm and fuzzy... 'no dude, that's your hair on fire'
355 posts
Location: Birmingham, Australia


Posted:
Just been to the website and eek at the number of programmable sequences for colours/patterns.

Can't wait to see your next version finished after seeing your Mk II's biggrin

It's better to burn out than to fade away


polaritySILVER Member
veteran
1,228 posts
Location: on the wrong planet, United Kingdom


Posted:
At the moment I'm using 38 patterns that are combined to make these 25 sequences.

Constantly on: (each uses a single pattern)
Red
Green
Blue
Cyan
Magenta
Yellow
White

Strobe (on/off): (each uses a single pattern, but runs them at different speeds for each LED)
Red
Green
Blue
Cyan
Magenta
Yellow
White

2 color cycle fades: (each uses two patterns)
Red-Cyan-Red (goes white between the two colors)
Red-Magenta-Red
Red-Yellow-Red
Green-Cyan-Green
Green-Magenta-Green (goes white between the two colors)
Green-Yellow-Green
Blue-Cyan-Blue
Blue-Magenta-Blue
Blue-Yellow-Blue (goes white between the two colors)

Full spectrum fades: (each uses the same six patterns, but at different speeds)
Red-Yellow-Green-Cyan-Blue-Magenta-Red Fast
Red-Yellow-Green-Cyan-Blue-Magenta-Red Slow


There isn't enough space in the chip's memory to add any more, until I simplify the code, although I could put any of the patterns on that page into the chip's memory. If I have enough time after finishing the assembly (still procrastinating here) I'll put some better sequences on before Bristol.

All 3 versions of the poi can use the same program (which is being developed seperately), that's because they all have 4 LEDs hooked up to 16F88 PICs.

I'll be working on having removable memory cards eventually, even a 16mb mini-SD card will allow every pattern imaginable.

You aren't thinking or really existing unless you're willing to risk even your own sanity in the judgment of your existence.

Green peppers, lime pickle and whole-grain mustard = best sandwich filling.


Suibomaddict
577 posts
Location: Oregon, USA


Posted:
Very nice smile



I had been gathering all the LED data through search engines earlier this week, and now there's more to add to it. Thanks for sharing the info! The poi are beautiful, and watching jem spin them was a blast.



Lookin forward to more.

Definition of poi- A Hawaiian food made from the tuber of the taro that is cooked, pounded to a paste, and fermented.

Ahnold discussing poi - "It is naht a toober!"


polaritySILVER Member
veteran
1,228 posts
Location: on the wrong planet, United Kingdom


Posted:
I've got pictures of the Mk3s up here.



I've also done some work on the program. I've got rid of the 2 color fades, as they didn't look too good, and compressed the pattern code a lot. At the moment I'm using less than half the memory on the chip biggrin I've also put some rather nice sequences on, but you'll have to wait for the Bristol photos to see those wink

You aren't thinking or really existing unless you're willing to risk even your own sanity in the judgment of your existence.

Green peppers, lime pickle and whole-grain mustard = best sandwich filling.


Suibomaddict
577 posts
Location: Oregon, USA


Posted:
Slick!
Beautiful!
Yay!!
smile

Definition of poi- A Hawaiian food made from the tuber of the taro that is cooked, pounded to a paste, and fermented.

Ahnold discussing poi - "It is naht a toober!"


mo-sephenthusiast
523 posts
Location: Edinburgh, UK


Posted:
Looking good mate!

biggrin

monkeys ate my brain


muggernewbie
1 post

Posted:
I just saw your Luxeon LED poi over at the Bristol Juggling Convention. Very impressive stuff...

I've posted a few pictures of them and other convention things here: https://www.firetoys.co.uk/modules/xcgal/displayimage.php?album=57&pos=23&pid=291


Keep up the good work smile

UCOFSILVER Member
15,417 posts
Location: South Wales


Posted:
I saw them too.

ubblove

SkulduggeryGOLD Member
Pirate Pixie Crew Captain
8,428 posts
Location: Wales


Posted:
I span them and they were not only pretty to look at but lovely to spin. I was really impressed with them. Now I'm just waiting for the Hula Hoop biggrin hug

It was good to see you at the weekend hun.

Feed me Chocolate!!! Feed me NOW!


*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
Wow, things have progressed a fair way since last I saw them! Impressive stuff Polarity - keep up the good work smile

Cake or Death?


anonomatosGOLD Member
enthusiast
389 posts
Location: Utrecht [NL], Netherlands


Posted:
Well, i've been off the internet for over 5 weeks now. Due to moving to a different city and stuff i haven't done much with my own programmable led-poi.

ATM i still only have a prototype pair of the 3x AAA powered 9 superflux (3 red, 3 green, 3 blue), 16f627A pic controlled ledpoi. Last time i did some programming i was trying to figure out PWM... that's where i'll pick up the pieces now.

ill be looking into some more codes the next day or so... ill keep you updated. are you guys (polarity and hyperlight) alreadt prepared to answer the next line of stupid programming questions? ;-)
(If this is the correct thread though for programming questions... is it?)

See ya guys!

"Don’t know how long, this one’s gonna take;
I could fail, but I’d rather be a fuckup, than a fake"


Cute Little Burning BallBRONZE Member
member
101 posts
Location: Here and There... mostly there., Germany


Posted:
i wonder what ever happend to the illuminati

Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless. - Calvin 'Calvin & Hobbes'


*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
I believe they're nearly ready for production. I seem to remember this autumn being quoted as the release date too! I could be wrong though wink

Cake or Death?


Cute Little Burning BallBRONZE Member
member
101 posts
Location: Here and There... mostly there., Germany


Posted:
hmmm that sounds goooood, is there any homepage where i can read more about it?

Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless. - Calvin 'Calvin & Hobbes'


jcrsGOLD Member
the floor is a sea of tigers...
404 posts

Posted:
I have a question here that probably either polarity or hyperlight can answer.

On both your LED poi demos, I've seen the colours fade smoothly. I'm guessing that the 3 primary colours are being pulsed at various rates to produce different colours and such. What I wanted to know is that what rates do you guys reckon would be optimum so that the colour won't appear to flicker during motion?
I'm estimating (very rough guess with no real calculations done at all) that my setup will allow me to get pulses up to 120Hz... not sure if that's enough.

Thanks

anonomatosGOLD Member
enthusiast
389 posts
Location: Utrecht [NL], Netherlands


Posted:
Another option:
2 colors @ 50% each, gives you a mix. And for a smooth color-fade: starting with one color @ 100%, then one color 99% / the other 1%; 98% / 2%; 97% / 3%... etc, etc.

It can be done with PWM (pulse width modulation)... but HELL thats hard to figure out :-| though im still trying, nothing worked yet. But it IS possible!


Although i can be very wrong... right guys? :-p

"Don’t know how long, this one’s gonna take;
I could fail, but I’d rather be a fuckup, than a fake"


*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
CLBB: I've screen shots of the website, but I've never found the site itself..



Oracle: You will need it running faster than that - try kHz!



anonomatos: What you said there will work. You just need to work out how to get PWM working now wink
EDITED_BY: *HyperLight (1129029519)

Cake or Death?


anonomatosGOLD Member
enthusiast
389 posts
Location: Utrecht [NL], Netherlands


Posted:
Talking about PWM, i've been trying to get it right for AGES and still haven't figured out how it works... but i think i got the basic principle:

-Start crappy not working code-
"Loop
Counter above value?
Value = 128
Counter = 0

No -> Light on
Yes -> Light off

Counter = counter +1
Jump to loop"
-End-

This should get the light at 50%, right?

Could you (hyperlight/polarity) please please please help me with the codes and commands for my 16f627a... i just can't seem to get ANY further, and looking to polarity's open source only gets me more confused.

PLEASE HELP! :hugs:

"Don’t know how long, this one’s gonna take;
I could fail, but I’d rather be a fuckup, than a fake"


*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
try something like:

bigloop
>
>counter=128
>
>turn LED on
>
>loop1
>>counter = counter-1
>>skip next instruction if counter is zero
>>go to loop1
>
>counter=128
>
>turn LED off
>
>loop2
>>counter = counter-1
>>skip next instruction if counter is zero
>>go to loop2
>
goto big loop

That will give you a neverending loop that turns the LED on for 50% of the time (hence 50% brightness).

Cake or Death?


CalliusBRONZE Member
newbie
13 posts
Location: USA


Posted:
Two questions:

I've perused the Wiki for these poi and it doesn't seem to give any dates for final release. Do you happen to have any estimates on release date or pricing?

Also, does anyone have any clue what's going on with the Illuminati? The PiP site is down, and I haven't seen anything about them in months... but, I still salivate over them.

*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
I could be wrong, but I was under the impression Polarity had no intention of building them to sell. I think that was (one of) his motivations behind making it all open source? ...of course I could be completely wrong smile

Cake or Death?


Suibomaddict
577 posts
Location: Oregon, USA


Posted:
Well, he does make reference to his poi being near production ready.. I took that to mean that he would be selling them as well.

Definition of poi- A Hawaiian food made from the tuber of the taro that is cooked, pounded to a paste, and fermented.

Ahnold discussing poi - "It is naht a toober!"


CalliusBRONZE Member
newbie
13 posts
Location: USA


Posted:
Exactly, Suibom, that's why I asked.

I'm horrible with electronics and anything involving soldering(sp)... trust me, we don't want me to do ANYTHING involving soldering.

Children... think of the children.

Suibomaddict
577 posts
Location: Oregon, USA


Posted:
Well, there's another similar thread that might be of interest to you:

[Old link]

The last link in that thread is an example from OneWheelDave on how to make some simple homemade LED sock poi. No soldering involved. It's got it's ups and downs, but might be good for a quick fix while waiting...

Definition of poi- A Hawaiian food made from the tuber of the taro that is cooked, pounded to a paste, and fermented.

Ahnold discussing poi - "It is naht a toober!"


CalliusBRONZE Member
newbie
13 posts
Location: USA


Posted:
Awesome, thank you very much.

polaritySILVER Member
veteran
1,228 posts
Location: on the wrong planet, United Kingdom


Posted:
By production ready I mean that enough problems are ironed out , and the design simplified enough that they could be produced in quantity.

I don't really want to be making loads of these and having to provide after sales service, so I'll just be providing instructions on how to make your own. If anyone want's to buy some I'd recommend that they have a friend around who can handle a multimeter and soldering iron, as the only after sales service I can provide is the instructions on how to make (and repair) them, and a list of suppliers for parts.

They will certainly need the odd repair now and then. The wires connecting the PIC to the LEDs are a weak point, and may break if they're used regularly. If I can find some thin coiled cables with 12 conductors, that can be soldered instead of using insulation piercing connections, I may be able to solve that problem though.

I could supply pre-programmed PICs, and if anyone else wants to make small numbers from my designs I'm OK with that, so long as I'm contacted first (It's open source, but not for commercial use. I've got to do some more work on the license).

At the moment I'm trying to save money, and I can't put step by step instructions together until I can afford the parts for a new set (£70 of RGB LEDs). I've also got to test some more heatsinks on the LEDs, as they don't get hot at all, and seem to be redundant. The heatsinks I'm using at the moment take a lot of work to fit to the LEDs, and make the LED mountings on the poi a lot bigger than I'd like.

You aren't thinking or really existing unless you're willing to risk even your own sanity in the judgment of your existence.

Green peppers, lime pickle and whole-grain mustard = best sandwich filling.


CalliusBRONZE Member
newbie
13 posts
Location: USA


Posted:
ah... oh... that... damn.

It's really cool that you're putting all the time into this, and sharing the information. I just wish I had some tech savvy friends.

Oh well, the electro sock poi are really nice. My ladyfriend and I made them last night.

polaritySILVER Member
veteran
1,228 posts
Location: on the wrong planet, United Kingdom


Posted:
Anyone who's tried to access polar-lights.org.uk since december will have noticed it's not there. I moved house in december, and it's taken ages to get ADSL turned back on (Muchly thanks to British Telecom), and to get the network in the house sorted out, as there isn't a space for all the servers yet, what with all the junk that's crammed in everywhere.

In addition I've got to put the latest version of OpenBSD on the server (becasuse the old version kept crashing at random intervals), and install all the packages I'm currently using.

Hopefully that will be completed in a month or so (allowing for problems), and I'll be able to get to work on the ASM tutorials, step by step instructions for construction, and an improved gallery with support for video.

I'll also be able to put up the latest ideas for an even better design with 32 LEDs, although I haven't got the money to try building them yet.

You aren't thinking or really existing unless you're willing to risk even your own sanity in the judgment of your existence.

Green peppers, lime pickle and whole-grain mustard = best sandwich filling.


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