Word Clock Project - Corsa Sport - for Vauxhall and Opel Corsa B, Corsa C and Corsa D

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John

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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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5th Dec 11 at 16:56

Going rate then. I'll have a look in the new year.
Be good to see yours finished.

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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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5th Dec 11 at 17:02

Think I'm going to have it framed too and use it as a desk clock - will be about the size of a 13" laptop.

Dom

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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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5th Dec 11 at 17:02

quote:
Originally posted by ed
One thought is, there's nothing stopping you making the lightbox partitions from thick cardboard and sticking it together with masking tape to seal all the gaps. You could then make a wooden surround from MDF which the partitions sit in - that would be much easier to cut as you could use a really sharp Stanley on the cardboard. You could also design it to sit in a photo frame from Ikea - they do some really deep ones which could look good.

You can buy the PCB etching stuff from Maplin, but ideally you'd need a UV lightbox and use photoresist coated stock rather than drawing the PCB out with a pen. You can also use a method called toner transfer to which is a bit more accurate than pen.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to purchase an Arduino (can pick them up for less than a tenner) and use a load of LED drivers if you haven't got the etching equipment?

As John said though, seen it before on MAKE but it's a pretty cool project

Btw, what soldering iron are you using? And is it any good as i'm needing a new one?

[Edited on 05-12-2011 by Dom]

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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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5th Dec 11 at 17:12

If you're going to do it that way, you can re-create the board I built using some strip board and an Arduino Pro - the Pro is designed to be embedded into projects as it's literally just a surface mount ATMega on a board with pins to allow it to socket mount or solder onto another board.

It's an RS soldering station, seems to do the job well but that was the first time I've used it because someone pinched my trusty 12w Antex.

Power up video's working now http://vimeo.com/33164436

Robin

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Registered: 7th Jan 04
Location: Northants Drives: Clio 182 Cup
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5th Dec 11 at 17:20

Are you planning on diffusing the light more Ed? it seems a little bright in the middle of each word, although it might be the camera?

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5th Dec 11 at 17:22

Need to figure out how to sort that issue - might need to diffuse the smaller partitions more and split the long LED strips in the middle to distribute the light better within the bigger partitions.

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5th Dec 11 at 17:23

Also it's held together with tape at the moment, so there is a bit of bleeding and the alignment isn't correct so that doesn't help matters either!

Robin

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Registered: 7th Jan 04
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5th Dec 11 at 17:25

What about mounting the leds on some 'legs' facing inwards and lining each partition with something reflective to stop any direct points of light from the front of the LED?

Graham88

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Registered: 16th Apr 07
Location: South East Kent Drives: E46 M3
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5th Dec 11 at 17:39

That's mental. Can't wait to see it finished

Jambo

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Registered: 8th Sep 01
Location: Maidenhead, Drives: VXR Arctic
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5th Dec 11 at 18:59

Great work Ed. you have a knack for electronics. Wired my Astra Gsi MfD into the LET a treat

John

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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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5th Dec 11 at 19:02

My antex has served me well for about 10 years.

Dom

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5th Dec 11 at 19:19

Am I right in assuming the controller board is 'standalone' as it were rather than it being an Arduino shield (ie: you still need an Arduino)?

See my thinking was to use a load of shift-registers or LED drivers (max7219/7221's) and then grab an Arduino (mini if you wanted a small package) or a replica board. Although thinking about it, it probably isn't the cheapest way of building the controller.

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5th Dec 11 at 21:54

It's a standalone board, but it basically uses an Arduino Uno merged with three shift registers and three Darlington drivers. It's also got a voltage regulator on it and a timing IC - I suppose you could make a shield for an Uno board but I'm not sure if that would be cheaper?

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5th Dec 11 at 21:55

Cheers for the compliments too everyone

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5th Dec 11 at 21:56

quote:
Originally posted by John
My antex has served me well for about 10 years.

Mine was returned to me so I'm happily reunited with it

pow

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Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
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6th Dec 11 at 10:01

Looks AWESOME

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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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6th Dec 11 at 10:15

Thanks Pow

quote:
Originally posted by Dom
LED drivers (max7219/7221's)

You've given me an idea for another clock now

If I can power up to 64 LED's from one IC then I could make a sort of 'binary' clock - 60 LED's that illuminate for each second, 60 LED's that illuminate for each minute and 24 that illuminate for each hour mounted into three LED arrays somehow. Utterly pointless, people wont know it's a clock and it wont be any use for telling the time but it might look cool

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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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6th Dec 11 at 11:23

It even talks to my computer

Word Clock Serial Monitor by edcs, on Flickr

Dom

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6th Dec 11 at 11:28

Remember it's multiplexed when using the maxim drivers but they are a piece 'o' pee to run from an Arduino, in fact you'll probably find a library for the 7219/7221.

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19th Dec 11 at 11:00

I properly assembled it with glue and screws yesterday. Then properly wired in the power jack so it can run off of an adapter (from an old set of Dell speakers).

Still going to take it to The Framers in Digbeth to get a nice frame put round it and I'll keep it on my dresser for now - in the future I intend on hanging on the wall (when I've my own place).

[Edited on 19-12-2011 by ed]

3CorsaMeal

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Registered: 11th Apr 02
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19th Dec 11 at 11:08

Wow, this is amazing, i'm really impressed.

I would buy one

Ben G

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Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: Essex
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19th Dec 11 at 11:48

very cool. how does it work? what if it was 7:44pm?

John

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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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19th Dec 11 at 11:51

Would either be half 7 or quarter to 8, not sure when it switches over.

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19th Dec 11 at 12:19

7:44pm would say 'it's twenty minutes to eight' - the clock has a resolution of five minutes and the time changes every fifth minute. It would possibly be more 'correct' if the time changed every 7th minute and 30 seconds as that would follow standard round up rules.

I'm going to have a crack at re-writing the software that it runs on, as well as hacking the PCB to include a light dependant resistor on a breakout board so it dims better in the dark because it's bloody bright!

[Edited on 19-12-2011 by ed]

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19th Dec 11 at 12:19

Cheers 3CM too