The Twist, Turn, and Move Robotics Design Challenge with TE Connectivity
Intro
This project has a lot of moving parts (literally) and not all parts are here to be worked on so I will have to work on bits that I can while waiting for deliveries. This blog will cover the character display electronics and font that will be used on Sammy Semaphore's chest to display the character he is signaling with his flags. The LED display is an 8 x 8 matrix of addressable NEO pixels which is capable of all kinds of fancy visual effects. However for this project I will only be implementing a simple green character font. The blog will also cover assembly of a very cool TE Connectivity signal connector.
Display Description
The display is driven by one pin of an Arduino UNO that was included in the challenge kit. This demo simply cycles through the alphabet to have a look at the font and the colour. The display has a white diffuser inside an antistatic envelope to provide nice contrast. I hope to expand this program to allow remote entry of characters via a Bluetooth module.
Here is a quick video of the display showcasing its font:
I like the green colour - it is easy on the eyes.
TE Connectivity M8 Signal Connector
This TE Connectivity M8 signal connector is really cool. Whoever designed this connector had his or her thinking cap on - it has an impressive list of features. This model has 4 pins capable of carrying 4 Amps each. The metal shell is waterproof, dustproof (IP67) and fully shielded. Both connectors can be field installed without soldering or crimping. The only tool needed is a small Allen key that comes with the connector. Here is a video showing how I assembled one of them - it also includes a demo of assembling another TE Connectivity connector from their MTA line. That assembly features my favorite AMP (another TE Connectivity brand) tool that is about the fastest way to make a connection:
I am very impressed with the high quality field installable signal connector.
Here is the demo firmware for the display above:
//Arduino UNO 8x8 NEO pixel display font demo
//by Doug Wong 2022
#include <FastLED.h>
#define NLEDS 64
#define LEDpin 2
CRGB leds[NLEDS];
byte AL[26][8] = {
{129, 129, 129, 255, 129, 129, 66, 60}, //A0
{127, 129, 129, 129, 127, 129, 129, 127}, //B1
{124, 130, 1, 1, 1, 1, 130, 124}, //C2
{63, 65, 129, 129, 129, 129, 65, 63}, //D3
{255, 1, 1, 1, 63, 1, 1, 255}, //E4
{1, 1, 1, 1, 63, 1, 1, 255}, //F5
{124, 130, 129, 225, 1, 1, 130, 124}, //G6
{129, 129, 129, 129, 255, 129, 129, 129}, //H7
{28, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 28}, //I8
{30, 33, 33, 32, 32, 32, 32, 248}, //J9
{129, 65, 33, 17, 31, 33, 65, 129}, //K10
{255, 129, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1}, //L11
{129, 129, 129, 129, 153, 165, 195, 129}, //M12
{129, 193, 161, 145, 145, 137, 133, 131}, //N13
{126, 129, 129, 129, 129, 129, 129, 126}, //O14
{1, 1, 1, 1, 127, 129, 129, 127}, //P15
{190, 65, 161, 129, 129, 129, 129, 126}, //Q16
{129, 65, 33, 127, 129, 129, 129, 127}, //R17
{126, 129, 128, 64, 62, 1, 129, 126}, //S18
{8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 127}, //T19
{126, 129, 129, 129, 129, 129, 129, 129}, //U20
{24, 36, 36, 66, 66, 129, 129, 129}, //V21
{129, 195, 165, 153, 129, 129, 129, 129}, //W22
{129, 66, 36, 24, 24, 36, 66, 129}, //X23
{16, 16, 16, 16, 24, 36, 66, 129}, //Y24
{255, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 255} //Z25
};
int abc, rc, cc;
void setup() {
FastLED.addLeds<WS2812B, LEDpin, GRB>(leds, NLEDS);
FastLED.setBrightness(50);
}
void loop()
{
for (abc = 0; abc < 26; abc++)
{
for (rc = 0; rc < 8; rc++)
{
for (cc = 0; cc < 8; cc++)
{
if (bitRead(AL[abc][rc], cc) == 1)
{
leds[rc + cc * 8] = CRGB::Green;
}
else
{
leds[rc + cc * 8] = CRGB::Black;
}
}
}
FastLED.show();
delay(600);
for (int ac = 0; ac < 64; ac++)
{
leds[ac] = CRGB::Black;
}
FastLED.show();
}
}
Discussion for Blog 3
I am very impressed with the high quality field installable signal connector from TE Connectivity, it has all the features I like to see in a high end connector. I can't think of a connector that has a better feature set.
The NEO pixel display font took quite a bit of fiddling around to use the 8x8 pixel format, but I like how it turned out. It should be readable from many meters away.
The fourth blog will likely cover design of Sammy Semaphore, and possibly the build.
The fifth blog will likely cover firmware for Sammy Semaphore.
The sixth blog will cover the Connector Tester build and operation.
A seventh blog may be needed to wrap up the project.
Relevant Links:
Twist, Turn and Move Design Challenge with TE Robotics
Sammy Semaphore - blog 1
Connector Tester - blog 2
NEO Pixel Display - blog 3
Sammy Semaphore Torso Demo - Blog 4
I Am Sam I Am - Blog 5
TE Connectivity Connector Tester Blog 6
Sammy Semaphore Fully Functional Blog 7
