(F)Light Suit Progress: Almost There!

So much progress in the last two weeks, the big milestones being...
  • I got the MOSFET boards and built three-- they worked right away! As expected I needed resistors between the 595 outputs and the MOSFETs; didn't notice that until I hooked up the third one and things weren't behaving. I'm not crazy about the screw terminals but they'll be OK.
  • Testing the MOSFET outputs with all 22 segments-- 53' of light, so bright! The first tests were just "All Fade" mode.
  • Expanding the program to sense arm angles. The routine automatically sets arm levels, either up/down or matching angle, and how many levels there are (since arms up can create a new level).
  • Adding a proper "Rolling" mode to sweep a band or bands over the whole suit, top to bottom, with variables delay (ms), brightness, direction, and number of bands (density). Seeing all the bands rolling through was a relief.
  • Sewing is awesome. I've sewn 10 out of 19 "loop" side Velcro bands into the suit: both legs and the hips and waist.
  • ZX-Sound works! Filtering and sampling will be the last things I dial in, but I have working bouncy light code, smoothed and at whatever Hz I want, dynamically computing the high and low so it will bounce if it's quiet or loud.
Still big items:
  • Integrate audio sketch into main line, finish filtering code, and use filtering code for gravity sketch,
  • Finish sewing hook-side Velcro strips onto the suit,
  • Cut the loop-side Velcro for the light strips and stick it on with silicone,
  • Measure and cut and route in-suit leads: 4 solder points each, 6 pieces of shrink,
  • Sew in conduit for left-to-right board, battery, audio, and accelerometer leads.
  • Address shoes, hat(s), headband mounting and routing...
That's all I can think of for now, back to sewing...

[original story: Jeff's Arduino Blog]

Jeff's Arduino Blog 25 Aug 04:43
flight  suit