"Help!" for: Electronics

[thatdecade]

Also, where could I get some cheap LED lights online?

The forum admins don't like me advertising, but my store has a cheap price on small led orders. I just updated the store to offer free shipping on small kits, like led lights.

making a lightsaber soon,(prop)

So you are just making the light saber hilt? Is a cramped working space, so be sure to use small and flexible wires. The easiest method is to use a micro controller to blink all those LEDs and give you a battery indicator, can also do the push button press on, press off. You would program the microcontroller to go into low power sleep when off to save battery.

Check out this one. Easy to learn and small enough to fit in a light saber.
http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/244

Edit: some notes from the saber smiths
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.co...llers-but-was-afraid-to-ask&highlight=Arduino

 

[SpartanT117]

Check out this one. Easy to learn and small enough to fit in a light saber.
http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/244

Edit: some notes from the saber smiths
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.co...llers-but-was-afraid-to-ask&highlight=Arduino

Thanks! glad to have experts like you here on the forum!

 

[SpartanT117]

so, it was kinda confusing, would you mind giving me an outline of how it works/you set it up?

 

[thatdecade]

What part has you confused? The hardware or software part?

For the hardware I can draw you a picture of how to wire the arduino to the switches and LEDs.

For the software, you are more on your own. I can give you a rough outline of the software functions and flow, but is up to you to write the code. Is simple enough, but will take some trial and error to get working the way you want.

 

[SpartanT117]

kind of an all around outline, what basic code I could write and how to wire it to different leds and a battery indicator and such. It would be awesome if you could suggest a good microcontroller to begin my quest with.

 

[thatdecade]

Combined with an arduino beginners guide, this should get you the lightsaber hilt lighting you want. For now, the best thing to do is get the arduino, the USB cable, and some LEDs / switches. Just play around with it following a guide, you'll be surprised how easy it is to use.

 

[SpartanT117]

ah, so with a simple starters' guide, I could get a little more in depth with the wiring, but the code is quite simple looks like. power on, animation, button switchoff=false, loop until button switchoff=true, then power off, low sleep level=true. fairly simple!

 

[thatdecade]

Right, it's not so bad when you break it down into blocks. Then you can learn how to do each block and put it all together.

 

[SpartanT117]

thanks alot man! you know where I could find a battery indicator?

 

[thatdecade]

Use this part connected to your arduino, also comes in red yellow and blue
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9938

Start a post on the sparkfun or arduino.cc forums, they'll be able to get you more help. I like arduinos a lot, but don't use them enough to give specific examples.
http://forum.sparkfun.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=24701
http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1199738420/8

YouTube:

 

[Antidromic]

Not to detract from the current discussion of Arduino goodness (I'm in the market for a kit, actually), but as serendipity would have it, a friend of mine just linked a neat I/O controller board project on Facebook called Makey Makey. It's a hybrid of a small arduino controller with a set of universal input pins that can be connected to any conducting object via alligator clip.

They've got a kickstarter going currently, and have a demo video showing it off far better than I could explain it. The arduino output portion is fairly well covered in other posts. My question to the crowd here is, can you think of anything awesome to do with the input capabilities with regards to costuming ideas?

- electronic triggers
- Light-up AI chips/helmet slots
- tac-pad wrist modules
- etc...?

(Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the Makey Makey project or its creators. I just think it's cool.)

[Edit] Here's a link to the Makey Makey video on YouTube so it hopefully remains linkable after the Kickstarter ends.

 

[thatdecade]

Pretty cool kickstarter. Not sure what I would do with a custom usb keyboard on a prop.

In arduino mode, is no different than any other arduino running HID libraries. Slightly more expensive, but the PCB is shaped like a gamepad, neat!

 

[boombudder]

Hello guys, I wanted to put speakers in my helmet. I dont know what to do, can it be with bluetooth? I have a bluetooth headset, can I use parts of it? Im sorry if this question is completedly dumb

 

[thatdecade]

Bluetooth is troublesome. You can connect it to your phone, maybe run a megaphone app, or take calls.

What did you have in mind for functionality? Voice changing, playing music?

 

[boombudder]

I only want to hear music, nothing else. But voice changing sounds interesting...

 

[thatdecade]

For playing music that only you can hear, a headset which can be wired or bluetooth will be just fine.

Playing music for others, a small speaker amplifier would be best. The kind they sell for mp3 players.
Amazon Search: mini mp3 speaker

 

[THRILL]

Bluetooth is troublesome. You can connect it to your phone, maybe run a megaphone app, or take calls.

What did you have in mind for functionality? Voice changing, playing music?

I'm trying to put a voice changer in my Mark VI helmet. Is this something that people do? If so, do you know what product I would need to purchase?

 

[thatdecade]

The best voice changers come as kits, but there are also some toy voice changers that work alright. You can pick them up clearance after Halloween or on amazon year-round. There are a bunch to choose from.

Voice Changer Fun World Costumes - http://amzn.com/B000XEYZFY

If you have too much cash, can go all out and get this one. Demo videos are at the bottom of the page. Is very good, has radio static and everything.
http://www.plecterlabs.com/catalog/...d=137&osCsid=aee3d17a58077ad4cb0d39952571d77e

I found this advice over on the rpf. Make sure that your voice changer has lots of amplification, so you can talk quietly and people only hear your voice from the speaker... plus it's a funny video lol
http://www.therpf.com/f9/star-wars-voice-changer-question-140749/#post2156800

 

[THRILL]

The best voice changers come as kits, but there are also some toy voice changers that work alright. You can pick them up clearance after Halloween or on amazon year-round. There are a bunch to choose from.

Voice Changer Fun World Costumes - http://amzn.com/B000XEYZFY

If you have too much cash, can go all out and get this one. Demo videos are at the bottom of the page. Is very good, has radio static and everything.
http://www.plecterlabs.com/catalog/...d=137&osCsid=aee3d17a58077ad4cb0d39952571d77e

I found this advice over on the rpf. Make sure that your voice changer has lots of amplification, so you can talk quietly and people only hear your voice from the speaker... plus it's a funny video lol
http://www.therpf.com/f9/star-wars-voice-changer-question-140749/#post2156800

Thanks. Its a little out of my price range but I may add it later.

 

[SpartanT117]

Ok, so in current speech of my lightsaber project, I wanted to include a recharge port, but not exactly sure what I need for it, ordering parts from the custom saber shop. got a 2mm power jack, and a chargeable battery pack. what else do I need?