Adding Electronics to our Models

[NZEOD]

Yeah it looks to be tiny optic fibres...

Guessing the are split into two bundles that terminate at a single LED each and they are set on an alternating blink/flash cycle.

Edited October 7, 2016 by NZEOD

[arbit]

There is certainly a pattern to them. So they are very intentional.

[arbit]

all the same input voltage? If so, yes. Just make the main line in a decent quality and good sized one. The servos will have a good current draw down on them. With Neos you can run a common negative AND positive line

You said to make the main line a good size, does that mean one magnet wire wont be enough to handle the draw down from several servos and leds?

[NZEOD]

As long as its not a tiny single strand wire. Same gauge as the servo leads should be ok

[arbit]

As long as its not a tiny single strand wire. Same gauge as the servo leads should be ok

Okay my magnetic wire is rated 30awg, which is just as strong as my thicker kynar wires.

Follow up dumb electronic question: If I have two 5v servos operating at the same time, does that mean 10v are going to ground, or still only 5v? (My power source is 5v board, as mentioned before.)

Granted, my understanding is probably all wrong about ground, and its not measured in volts.

Edited October 10, 2016 by arbit

[NZEOD]

5v, its the amps that go up not the volts.

So say one servo rated at 5v, 250milliamps at full load is combined with another thats still only 5v BUT its not at 500millamps at full load (full load meaning the servos are working their hardest).

Think like you PC power supply. They all output 12v but its the Watts that needs to go up with each bigger graphics card, set of fans, lights, new cpu etc.

your board will say what its output will be in volts and milliamps as will your servos and the LEDs

[NZEOD]

Havent read this article yet, will do today on a break but it COULD be useful for wirelessly powering LEDs in a model

http://www.instructables.com/id/Simplest-Wireless-Electricity-Transmission-Experim/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email

[arbit]

That's crazy! I didn't know there was such a thing.

[NZEOD]

there has been induction charging of batteries for some time now, I have a few large ball lights that get rolled under trees and things in the back yard that are fully sealed and they recharge by sitting on top of an induction plate. No direct connection.

Edited October 25, 2016 by NZEOD

[arbit]

I didn;t know it could be done without physical touching.

The future will definitely be wireless. I'm sick of having 20 USB cables and power cords at my feet.

[NZEOD]

You just dont want to be transmitting high currents yet as we all dont know that the side effects of doing that would be yet.

I do a lesson for the Tankies to stop them parking outside ammo dumps and transmitting on their radios... telling them not to never gets through their thick skulls so I just throw them a Fluoro Light tube to hold outside their wagons and when they transmit, its lights up in their hands. Go Luke Skywalker!

Its a lot more effective lesson that just beating them with a length of Det Cord.

Once it dawns on them the energy in a radio wave they slowly work out how an Electric Detonator may just initiate from them transmitting... and the Ammo dumps hold thousands.

3W of transmisson energy at the aerial of your cell phone alone!

Edited October 25, 2016 by NZEOD

[arbit]

I've got Arduino Uno doing everything I set out to do for my battleship: multiple Leds, servos and neopixels are all working together and timed without any problems in a combined sketch.

For some background, I have no electronics knowledge what so ever, I have zero programming or computer skills, and I am not technically inclined in any way. I learned the difference between the black wire and the red wire a few months ago. Basically, I am the one who just calls the tech guy for everything, if you know what I mean.

So if you can figure out the + and - on an LED, you can easily figure out how to use this stuff.

The Uno itself is a breeze. Very stable. No computer glitches. It does everything the guides tell you it does and you don;t need any programming knowledge to run pre-made sketches and edit them to your needs.

The Adafruit Trinket on the other hand is a different story. With my zero programming skills, I have faced a lot of hurdles and problems with it. Its slow, it needs to bootload, its finicky. I am not saying its for experts only, and I am not giving up, but there is a big difference on user friendliness compared to the Uno.

So if your interested, go for it. The Uno will work.

[NZEOD]

Might try the UNO and see how much more fun it is.

[arbit]

Might try the UNO and see how much more fun it is.

Its a blast. Most fun I've had in years. Anyway, you got me into it in the first place!

You can have an insane light show for your diorama: Rotating and firing destroids, explosions everywhere in the refinery, etc.

[NZEOD]

already working on that. Buildings will light up as the room gets dark, neon roof top signs, Phone LCD screens for Jumbotron advertising, Air traffic hazard lights on the skyscraper roofs flashing, traffic lights, street lights, fires etc...

will have sounds too

going for an average of 10 stories up to 20 in the centre for the buildings.

thinking the Arduino Uno r3.

Edited October 30, 2016 by NZEOD

[arbit]

already working on that. Buildings will light up as the room gets dark, neon roof top signs, Phone LCD screens for Jumbotron advertising, Air traffic hazard lights on the skyscraper roofs flashing, traffic lights, street lights, fires etc...

will have sounds too

going for an average of 10 stories up to 20 in the centre for the buildings.

thinking the Arduino Uno r3.

I have the R3 from DIY mall. its perfect.

I am also looking for a way to rotate the stands on the 1/100 Factory. Not much space down there, and I dont want to raise the base.

The shortest motor i can find at gizmoszone is 8-10mm. Too big.

Edited October 30, 2016 by arbit

[NZEOD]

Belt drive it...

[arbit]

NZEOD, You said you will add sound to your diorama. I would like to know how you go about it.

I am trying to work sound into an Arduino sketch... tough going.

This is the only example I have so far.

[NZEOD]

http://www.robotoid.com/sound/soundingoff-sounds.html

http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?doc_id=1324853

For a simple gun sound use...

https://www.adafruit.com/product/2133

And of course for big sound files like I'm building...

https://www.adafruit.com/products/94

Edited November 7, 2016 by NZEOD

[arbit]

http://www.robotoid.com/sound/soundingoff-sounds.html

http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?doc_id=1324853

For a simple gun sound use...

https://www.adafruit.com/product/2133

And of course for big sound files like I'm building...

https://www.adafruit.com/products/94

Thanks. I have actually been studying those for days now. My goal is to play .wav files from the memory inside a sketch, so for example, as LED 01 blinks, I want 01.wav file to play, and so on.

- The Wave Shield is probably the best solution, but too big for what I am trying to do. I also wonder how many pins I will lose from the controller which I need for other activities. I assume the shield is what everyone will use for large projects.

- I am very intrigued by the Adafruit FX Sound Board. Its small and neat. But I cant find good instructions.

The step by step on Adafruit shows how to make 11 triggers which activate 11 specific sounds.

This is kind of cool, but not what i want.

Instead of button triggers, can these tracks be triggered with a sketch like turning an Led on?

This Sound Board is also "stand alone", so I wonder how these "triggers" would work in tandem with a normal sketch on another microcontroller running the other lights and servos.

Even if I wanted to push sound triggers on a diorama for example, I would want lights to go along with the sound, and I don't see any examples for doing that.

[NZEOD]

Ahhh, that's different from mine, mine plays a soundtrack of events when its triggered. Radio comms then foot falls of the glaug, then the ambush, gun fire, explosions, the glaug falling though metalwork, the fuel burning, the valks walking away.

My show car had a primitive version of the soundboard that played short sounds on 8 different trigger states tied into the ECU for things like shift light, red line, low fuel, temp, seat belt etc.

Edited November 8, 2016 by NZEOD

[arbit]

Sound is clearly more complex. It will take a lot more studying.

But I'm not too frustrated, considering that I learned servos and lights so quickly.

[NZEOD]

its that sound files carry a lot of info to decode and play back. You could load each sound file onto a separate small adafruit card and set to trigger from the Arduino boards outputs.

[arbit]

This example is kind of like what you are saying, but may be able to access multiple sound files from one SD card within a sketch.

Not sure it will work.

The downside is that it has a crappy amplifier, which I will try to replace with a breakout amp.

[arbit]

This is my wiring plan.

For prototyping, I'm using the Arduino.

But there will be 10-20 magnet wires coming out the side.

To avoid that, I am planing to put an Adafruit Pro-Trinket inside, which is basically a micronized Uno. This will conceal all the wiring, except the USB. I hope the Pro Trinket will fit with all the pins in the engine section, other wise I have to place it below the bridge, which will require cutting the internal support rods. Not sure it will be sea worthy after that.

The biggest pain is actually the Micro USB cable. It is very thick, and may be difficult to fit in.

Sound components can be added any time later, but will have to remain in the base. Which is why I am avoiding the shield for this.

Edited November 8, 2016 by arbit

[NZEOD]

The pinouts wouldnt need to be pinsockets, just solder the wire direct to the board. If you need plugs to disconnect components, add them down the line closer to each item (turret servo/LED/what ever) that was your Trinket profile stays slim and may still fit in.

20161108_141810.jpg

This is my wiring plan.

For prototyping, I'm using the Arduino.

But there will be 10-20 magnet wires coming out the side.

To avoid that, I am planing to put an Adafruit Pro-Trinket inside, which is basically a micronized Uno. This will conceal all the wiring, except the USB. I hope the Pro Trinket will fit with all the pins in the engine section, other wise I have to place it below the bridge, which will require cutting the internal support rods. Not sure it will be sea worthy after that.

The biggest pain is actually the Micro USB cable. It is very thick, and may be difficult to fit in.

Sound components can be added any time later, but will have to remain in the base. Which is why I am avoiding the shield for this.

Sounds HAVE to be in the base as you'll want decent speakers and an amp to avoid it sounding tinny. I'm using Logitech Z333 speakers and sub for mine hidden in the cabinet holding the display.

Edited November 8, 2016 by NZEOD

[arbit]

Cool, I just fried my first servo.

Connected it to the basic Adafruit Trinket to test if it takes signals.

Now it just spins non-stop even when I connect it back to the Uno.

Did multiple tests, and no go.

Death by Trinket.

[NZEOD]

hmmmmm shouldnt have. Digital servo or analog?

Trinket Pro is 5V, was the servo?

Edited November 14, 2016 by NZEOD

[arbit]

I was using the normal 5v Trinket, not the Pro Trinket.

The servo here is also 5v.

Smallest I could find. I assume its analog.

When I hooked it up to the Trinket on the PWM pin, it started spinning non-stop.

[NZEOD]

i'll have to check my docs but i think they are setup for digital servos.

[NZEOD]

post up sketch or write up a description of what servo wires you have going where...

ON the Trinket you need a pot to set the sweep limit.

You hook it up then use the pot to define the maximum sweep point. IE turns on and turret sweeps to the left 90degs. Moving the pot will increase or decrease how far the turret will turn. On power off it sweeps back to its off position or 0Degs.

You write a sketch that tells it at what time in seconds to turn on (sweep to max turn) then for how long to hold there, then when to turn back to 0 degress.

Connections should be

Servo+ to Trinket USB+

Servo- to Gnd

Servo signal to Trinket Pin0

Pot outer pin to + or Trinket USB+

Pot centre pin to Trinket Pin2

Pot OTHER outer pin to Gnd

Now.... one reason your servo maybe spinning all day is its not getting a controlled (pot) signal AND it maybe a continuous rotation servo and not a sweep to stop servo.

[arbit]

Actually i dont know if its digital or analog. I dont even know if itsa continuous type or not. It works with the Uno if you recall my turret servo sweep on the Yamato. The servo specs are here.

The Trinket cant run a servo without a potentiometer. I was just testing direct signal as with Uno to see what happens.

Maybe I damaged it.

When i reconected to Uno, it continued to spin non-stop, but my other servos were fine.

Edited November 14, 2016 by arbit

[NZEOD]

CAN YOU MEASURE THAT FOR ME??!! I thought I had the smallest you could get stuffed in my destroids but that looks even smaller!

Edited November 14, 2016 by NZEOD

[arbit]

The stated Dimensions are correct. I cannot measure with better accuracy.

Dimensions: 19.6 x 8.20 x 19.50mm

[NZEOD]

sorry should have added... without the tabs.

I slice them off