XPS Ground Effects

[rendermandan]

Hi Everyone, Its been a while since my last mod. I've been pretty busy with work, my son, and Summer activities, so I haven't had much time to do any modding worth mentioning. So for my birthday, I got myself a nice, new shiny XPS Laptop to play with. I got the XPS 1530, you can read about it and see some pics on this post; http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15286

So, now that I've got it, I realized how I really would have liked to have some of the lighting effects like the 1730 has. I really didn't have $3000 to spend on one, so I figured I'd add some lights to my 1530.


After talking with a few friends to help me out with some electronics, here is what I plan on doing. I'm not really ready to crack this baby open and void the warranty, Its just too new for that... So what I'm going to do is add the lights to the outside. They will be mounted inside a simple square box that will fit on the underside of the laptop and shine out to the sides and front similar to undercar neon lighting that those ricer cars have.

Here are a few images of what I'm referrring to.

This shot shows the black box that I will build to house all the electronics and be mounted to the bottom of the laptop. It will be pretty thin, but the extended battery that my laptop has, raises it up just enough to make it work.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_4541-1.jpg

The light should escape out the sides and front and create a nice glowing effect around the base of the laptop.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_4536-1.jpg

You can kind of see how much space I have from this side view.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_4520-1.jpg


The power for this will come via a usb cable that I can plug into the side of the laptop with hopefully as low a profile as possible.

Now for the really cool part, Eveyone knows how much I like the color blue, but here is the most difficult part, It won't just be blue, or even red, or green, It will be any color you want. Yep, I bought some RBG 3 color LEDS for this, so it will make any color you want. I've enlisted the help of a friend, custom_electronics_man, who is actually a co-worker of mine who does some excellent work with electronics to help me build the electronics to control the leds.

I'd like to add some lighting effects like strobing, color changing or pulsating etc. but we'll see.

I also am enlisting some programming skills of another friend that will help me write a windows interface for this too. I should be able to select a color from a color wheel and have it change the color of the leds.


So far, I've ordered 10 RBG Color LEDS, some electroncis, a USB to serial converter chip and some other odds and ends.

the bad news is I just found out I have to go out of town this Saturday for work and won't be back for at least a week and a half.

So stay tuned, this should look pretty cool, I think...

[rendermandan]

Hey guys, I got back from my trip to Philly yesterday. We worked our butts off so we could get done early and head up to New York for a day. that was a lot of fun! -then on the way back, we stopped in Sandusky OH, at Cedar Point. The roller coaster capital of the US. We managed to get in 10 of the 17 roller coasters in less than 5 hours there. It was a lot of fun too, except on the 9th coaster, I lost my glasses. So I had to get another pair today, set me back $385 OUCH!.

I wasn't even wearing them, I put them in my pocket for the previous 8 coasters with no problems, Not sure how they worked their way out on this ride, but it happend, and I have no idea where or when.

I'm pretty sure my electronics came in to the office while I was out of town.
I should be able to snap a few pics tomorrow.

[rendermandan]

Well, I was right, my electronics did come in. Here is a pic.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/IMG_5166.jpg

I ordered a usb to serial adapter, some small gauge wire, small heat shrink, some resistors, 10 RBG LED's and a IC chip.

I still have to get the prototyping board and some other odds and ends.

[rendermandan]

Well, I've been working on the prototyping boards with my friend to test the circuit. here are a few shots.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_0232.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_0234.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_0235.jpg

-Sorry this is kind of slow going. Once we have the circuit tuned and adjusted, we can design a Custom PCB board and order it. Then solder the components on to it. but for now, Its a mess of wires.

-It just occured to me that with 10 rbg leds requiring 4 wires each, thats 40 wires that will have to fit into the small box. WOW

[rendermandan]

Yes, We've got the light working. My Friend is working on gettting all the lighting effects programmed. I'll try and get some video of it up later.

Here is a video of what I have so far. The green is a little dim, so we will have to increase its current. I also will have to difuse the light by sanding the led's a bit.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/th_100_0236.jpg (http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/?action=view&current=100_0236.flv)

[rendermandan]

well guys, I finally had some time tonight to get some real work done on this project.

I made the small plastic box that will fit under the laptop. It's 5/8" thick at the thickest point. that doesn't leave much room inside for electronics.

Here is a shot before I painted it black.

You can see the holes where I will mount the 10 rgb led's.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5214.jpg

and this is where it will go on the laptop.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5212.jpg

Here it is painted. I might try and find some of that "Rubberized" black paint somewhere, (anyone know where to get it?) for now, this will have to do.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5218.jpg

The light box control and power will be supplied via a USB port on the side of the case. I want to be able to leave this connected all the time, even when I put the laptop in my bag, and I don't want to take the chance of breaking the usb port when I do. So I need an extremely shallow usb connector. I could not find a shallow one, let alone one that did a 180 turn back towards itself. So I made one.

Here is what I started with. Its a standard black usb cord that I had laying around. You will notice that it sticks out way to far out the side of the laptop. This just will not do at all!!!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5187.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5188.jpg

So the first thing I did was carefully strip off the black rubber surround around the end.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5184.jpg

Then I cut some of the metal outer part of the usb connector off.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5189.jpg

and I matched the inside part leaving the metal connectors intact.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5190.jpg

I reasembled it together and bent the pins down.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5193.jpg

and it now looks like this on the side of the laptop.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5192.jpg

then I resoldered the wires on to the bent pins.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5194.jpg

Then I made a small rectangular form to fit around the usb plug.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5198.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5196.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5202.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5203.jpg

Then I simply filled the back side with some hot glue. -I really wish I could have found some Black hot glue but all I could find was clear.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5220.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5221.jpg

Then I simply painted it black.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5223.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5224.jpg

Now it takes up very little space to the side and directs the wire under the laptop to the light box.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5225.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5226.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5227.jpg

I noticed after I took the pics that there are some slight imperfections in the hot glue surface. They really don't show up to the naked eye. I think the camera flash accentuates them and makes them show more easily.
So what do you guys think so far?

[custom_electronics_man]

Wow nice job Dan. I will hit the electronics hard on Sunday and I should have the overall hardware built and the microcontroller for the LEDs programmed. The next step will be to fit everything on the board. I might draw up a layout for PCB to get it manufactured tomorrow too. We will see....

[custom_electronics_man]

He He I'm done with the last setting of the LEDs which is pulsating. Right now I'm trying to figure out why the transistors are not outputting enough current to LED. It's still a mystery for me... They are fully saturated - that's for sure... hm... I'm planning to output 10 mA of current per single color of LED which would add up to 300 mA of total current draw. This thing should be bright!!!

[rendermandan]

Excellent!!! I'll bring the box to work tomorrow so we can test fit everything. -I'll also bring my camera :)

[rendermandan]

Ok, Here is a video showing the different lighting effects we can choose from.

1st i solid on. wich can be any color I want.
2nd is a fading or pulsating effect. again -any color and speed.
3rd is a strobe effect. -any color and speed.
and lastly is a color changing effect that goes through all the colors.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/th_100_5285.jpg (http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/?action=view&current=100_5285.flv)


Too bad the camera does not do a good job of picking up the colors.
The led is much brighter now and I can't wait to see all 10 led's in action!!!

we are going to pickup a small solder type protoyping board to try and make all the stuff work first before I actually order a custom pcb. -Those are not cheap.


Later,

Dan

[rendermandan]

Tonight I've been working on learning a litle C# programming. Here is the windows interface I came up with to control the lights.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/Interface.jpg

I'd like to get the color pallet to appear in the main window, rather than having to hit the "Color" button and have it open in a seperate window.

[rendermandan]

well, To be honest, Yes that has crossed our minds. But We would make it more user friendly. Such as having led's prewired and be able to plug them into headers in a plastic box as the user needed. It would be designed to just sit inside a computer case somewhere and the wire management would be up to you. And obviously we woud give it a different name. We still have to figure out alot of stuff, such as cost of supplies, or Manufacturing cost. packaging etc.

[rendermandan]

If you really would like one, we can build you one, but we would have to figure out a price and how long it would take to make. -after all, we are still building the prototype.


-Update on the project.
Sorry I don't have any pics for you of this work, I forgot my camera at home. :(
I'll try and take some pics tomorrow and update this post with the images.

I frosted all 10 led's with a file to help diffuse the light. They look much better!

Gediminas also finished wiring all the led's to the board. and They look kick ass, and very bright!

I did some more work on the interface too.

here is what it looks like now.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/Interface-2.jpg

You can see that I added an Icon for the program at the top left. I also removed the minimize and maximize buttons. and I added a color box to show what color was selected.
The right side shows the color selector box that pops up when you click the color button. I set the Effect speed slider to be greyed out when Constant on or Off is checked for the Lighting effect.
I also configured it to run as an Icon in the lower right and not as an open program in the task bar. That way its always running, but somewhat in the background. Lastly I made the Large XPS Image a link to a "Info" window that says what version, date, and thanks to my friends that have helped me figure all this out.

Tonight I had to modify a usb to serial controller since the one I bought did not work. I'll have to rma that baby back as it was $20.

Again, I'll take some pics tomorrow at work and get some uploaded, I'll also get some video done too.

Later,

[SgtM]

Is there any way to control it without the software? Like with a different micro controller on the board? That way, all the user has to do is supply power. Maybe have a switch to change between different functions (think flashy Christmas lights). I would LOVE to implement this setup in my truck... to replace my dome light of course.

[custom_electronics_man]

Oh yes that's completely possible. In our case we will need computer software just to change a setting. It will be enough just to supply the power and it will remember what was the last setting selected before shutting off and will keep doing that until the user launches the software and changes the setting. It's actually a lot easier to have a button which changes the modes. Also there could be 3 sliders which adjust the color. Piece of cake. Then you would need no external software and everything would be done by the same chip.

[rendermandan]

Today I got some more pics of the board and led's.

This is a shot of the frosted led's.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5289.jpg

and some of the wiring on the led's.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5292.jpg

Here is the circuit board with some of the components and led's wired up.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5294.jpg

[rendermandan]

Here is the video of the color changing effect. :banana:

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[custom_electronics_man]

I'm done with my part of the mod. Everything works great. Windows interface is also done. We had it nicely working during the day. I also mounted everything into the tiny box and everything is awesome!! I love how it turned out. Dan is playing bowling tonight so expect a long worklog with lots of pictures and videos posted tomorrow.

[rendermandan]

I'm done with my part of the mod. Everything works great. Windows interface is also done. We had it nicely working during the day. I also mounted everything into the tiny box and everything is awesome!! I love how it turned out. Dan is playing bowling tonight so expect a long worklog with lots of pictures and videos posted tomorrow.

Well, sorry guys, Gediminas is mistaken. Its not done yet. The modified usb connector must have a developed a short because it keeps dropping in and out. So now I have to make another.
The module does work but only with a standard usb connector. I can post some pictures and some video later tonight.

[rendermandan]

Well everyone, Its basically finished. Here is the final shot of it assembled.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5300.jpg

And now for some color shots!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5301.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5302.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5303.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5304.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5306.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5307.jpg

Then I mounted it to the bottom of my laptop. -you can see the custom windows program running on the desktop.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5351.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5352.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5354.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5356.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5357.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h205/rendermandan/XPS%20Laptop/100_5358.jpg


And lastly. a video showing some of the lighting effects. :banana::banana::banana:
I start by changing the color, then going through the pulsating, strobing and color change effects. If you look close, you can see the mouse icon moving on the screen.

The camera had a hard time picking up the brightness in video mode. -I need a better camear!


<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Zreh_Bcoac0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Zreh_Bcoac0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Thanks again goes to custom_electronics_man and Michael Kane for their help on this.

Well thats it for this work log. -Untill next time.

Rendermandan -OUT!


Link To Original Worklog (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15325)