Project: Epileptic...... The beginning.... Lots of electronics projects!!!

[Oneslowz28]

First of all I do not mean for the title of this mod to offend anyone or to poke fun at anyone with epilepsy. With that said we will move on.

The name comes from the fact that flashing lights can cause people with epilepsy to have a seizure. While I do not wish to cause someone to have a seizure I could not think of another name. If you have a better name idea then please post it.

So we have all seen or built a computer with some form of constant light inside. The light source has traditionally been constant. Meaning it was on and that was it. Yes we have seen some that have strayed form the norm and made their cffl's flash with the beat of music or put in a flashing led.

What I have not seen yet is a case with nothing but led's as the light source and at the same time having them flash and fade in and out at a user controlled rate which can be changed at will.

So what I plan on doing is building 2 circuits and having the boards professionally routed. I will then populate the boards with the various SMD and through hole components. While hand soldering SMD components is tricky it can be done. Luckily I have a good bit of experience in soldering and have some fairly decent soldering equipment.

I will be using Eagle (www.cadsoft.de/) to design and lay of the circuit and board. I have not decided on which fab house I will use to route the board.

I have the first circuit designed and laid out. The rough dimensions are 3.2"x3.4" It uses a standard 4pin Mate-N-Lok hhd connector (we like to call them molex) for 12v power and the wired leds will plug into the small 2 pin Mate-N-Lok connectors on the board. The trim pots will control the flash rate of a pair of leds. This will allow you to turn the flash rate so no 2 pair of leds flash at the same time. The circuit is designed for 12v input and to drive super bright (high mcd) leds. It will only run 10 leds but at 3.2"x3.4" 2 could be used to drive more leds. Here are screen caps of the schematic and the board layout.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/schematics/led_flasher_v104.gif

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/schematics/led_flasher_v104_brd.gif

The next circuit will be a LED Fading circuit where when one color of leds fade out another color will fade in. I am still doing some research on this but should have the circuit designed soon


So what about case choices you ask? Well I have not decide yet. I may use a clear plexi case to take full advantage of the light show or I may use a full tower case with a huge side window and add a plexi top to show off more of the light effect. The case choice and modding are the easy parts. The electronics are the hard part and what will take the most time.

[Jabyaeye]

It definitely sounds ambitious, but i like it. I vote for the clear plexi case for the full effect.

What range of colors do you plan on using?

[Oneslowz28]

I have not decided on colors. Maybe Green and blue or red and blue. Maybe red green and blue.

Does anyone have any ideas?

[jdbnsn]

You sound like just the person I need to get advice from on my project, provided I do get the chance to go back and finish it. Great plans so far! As for colors, I always thought red and green look weird together, too Christmasy if thats the word. Green-blue, maybe. But I would like white and blue together more than anything I believe.

Jon

[SXRguyinMA]

theres an LED in m CPU waterblock, its plugged into my CPU fan header, so it blinks blue :D

[msmrx57]

I'm with Jabyaeye the clear case would have the best effect. And if your good with soldering cable management wouldn't be an issue. As for color blue and red look good together, just always makes me think "police".:no:

[Jabyaeye]

I'm thinking something non-standard would be cool...like an amber and blue.

Maybe you could incorporate some pre-recorded sound byte that when you hit a hidden button, it played a tune with the light show incorporated into it. Like what was done with that one house at Christmas playing Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Wizard in Winter". :santa:

Christmas Lights Gone Wild (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmgf60CI_ks)

That would surely get the Epileptic blood flowing.

[Oneslowz28]

after reviewing my schematic and bread boarding it there are a few changes I need to make. Stay tuned for a revision.

[Oneslowz28]

Ok after consulting with a friend for the last hour we figured out what was wrong with my circuit. So I will have the final revision posted tomorrow. Now to source a cheap PCB house to route me a board and to put in an order to digikey and electronic goldmine.

Jdbnsn- what do you need help with?

[Oneslowz28]

Ok here is the final revision of the 10 led flasher circuit. Once I get the led fader circuit figured out I will send the board off to be routed. Then all I will have to do is populate it when it comes in and part 1 of Epileptic will be done.

Schematic
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/schematics/led_flasher_v105-Final.gif
I had to add a 1k OHM resistor to the sweeper leg of the pot to prevent it from adjusting down to 0 ohms.

PCB Layout
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s187/CJGanttphotography/schematics/led_flasher_v105-brd-Final.gif
Notice that I changed the trim pot size to smaller side adjustable versions that are about 30 cents each compared to the 89 cents each top adjust ones I had on the first revision. I also moved everything closer together to leave room for me to add the led fader circuit on the board so only one power source will be needed. This also makes having the pcb routed much cheaper because I can print them both on one board instead of 2 separate ones. I will have 5-7 extra of these boards as the 2 pcb houses I am looking at have a minimum quantity so I may sell the leftovers to recoup some of the cost.

[SXRguyinMA]

Nice Work, Cant Wait To See This Come Together :up:

[DonT-FeaR]

/\ agreed

[The boy 4rm oz]

I am liking those schematics, waiting for more.

[Oneslowz28]

It will be a few weeks before I can start any work on it. I am booked solid 7 days a week for the next 3 weeks with a combo of College Basketball,baseball, softball, tennis, High school Basketball, Church Basketball, and a few city league basketball teams.