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  • Author Author: Workshopshed
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Tiny light cluster

Workshopshed

Here's my idea I'm afraid I did not quite have time to get it completed as I've had lots of other things on.

 

My first thought was what is the cheapest MCU I can find? I spotted the ATTiny10 chips for just 25p each so bought a handful of these along with some surface mount LEDs and resistors.

These would be powered from some button batteries I just happened to have lots of.

The nodes would be spaced out on a clear plastic sheet so you could see that there was no physical connection between them.

They would provide a synchronised pattern or message.

image

So how does the synchronisation work you ask? Well that would be done by using a camera flash and the LEDs acting as a sensor (a trick I learnt from the Microbit).

 

https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/902/detecting-light-with-an-led

 

Unfortunately I only got as far as wiring up the ATTiny to some wires and the LED to some wires. I do have a programmer for the ATTiny but I've not tried programming it yet.

  • Just got some UV resin for another project. Perhaps I'll get this one back up and running?

  • Looks as if I will be getting some of these to play with - when I have time!!

     

    Neil

  • These ATTiny parts are on of my favorites.  I have used these on a lot of simple device including my light ring for my microscope and my under cabinet LED lighting solution in my kitchen.

     

    I have also used these and some similar PIC chips to eliminate a bunch of discretes and logic gates in H-bridge drivers, using timers to manage on-off times to prevent low impedance paths between power rails (off before on protection).

     

    Nice of you to share your ideas even if you did not complete your entry.

     

    Gene

  • Andy,

     

    Maybe you haven't got as far as you'd have liked but thank you for sharing as you've given me some ideas for in the future. Your use of a small MCU was exactly along the lines of what I was thinking when I proposed the Project14 'Clustered MCU'. At the time I also had a whole strip of 6pin simple PIC MCU and was thinking what circuit could I replicate 20 times, each powered by a coin cell and each would do something fun. Perhaps scattering them on a table and watching them move or flash, organise or communicate. I then found that my PIC were so limited in program memory and RAM most of what I wanted to do wasn't feasible (even if went back to using assembly language).

     

    However you have overcome one issue I had....the lack of pins. Pin multiplexing with the ICSP pins would require some jumpers but even then there was little left over to do anything interesting. However I hadn't though of ever using the output LED as an input sensor and your idea of a flash setting them off works well too - a great way of synchronising units to do something at the same time (or delay from that point accordingly).

     

    So well done, you've got much further than me image

     

    Rod