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View Full Version : Neopixel blade and an illuminated blade plug?



Starganderfish
02-18-2018, 04:41 AM
It's been a few years since my last saber build so I'm a little out of touch with the latest and greatest in technology. However, my next two hilts are in the planning stages - Korbanth ANH Graflex and Korbanth ROTJ Luke/gullwing. I'm looking at the whole neopixel idea and I think it sounds pretty cool - the brighter blade and the ability to add some custom ignition/retraction effects is cool.
But one of the things I really enjoy about the tri-cree/LED star setup, is the ability to display the hilt both with and without a blade and retain the light-up feature. One of the problems for me with string blades has always been the lack of a light-up display when the blade is removed.
I'm wondering if there is a workaround with the NeoPixel setup? Thanks to the TCSS quick connect neopixel PCB connector, you can easily remove the blade, complete with the NeoPixel string. This is handy for transport and display but unfortunately leaves the hilt without a light up feature. What I would like to know is, how feasible is it to create a separate blade plug that also has a quick connect and a NeoPixel component?
I came across these NeoPixel Jewels https://www.adafruit.com/product/2226 from Adafruit. A bit like a tri-cree star, with 7 x 5050 RGB LED with Integrated Drivers mounted on a round PCB - 23mm diameter. A 1" thin walled blade has an inner diameter of 22.2mm.
A single thin walled blade will make multiple plugs (with a number of cool ideas out there for adding an "emitter" on top) and with a little sanding or dremelling you could easily take another millimeter or so off the interior thickness of the plug, for maybe the bottom 5-10 mm of the plug. That's enough space to insert a neopixel jewel, mounted on a quick connect PCB.
Pretty much the same idea as the standard neopixel bade, only instead of two strips glued inside the blade and connected to a quick release plug, you have a small round PCB on top of a quick connect, all inside the plug. Won't be as bright as the 144 per/m strips but for a hilt only display piece, it could be fine. And at $6 a pop for the jewel, $10 for a thin wall blade and $17 for a quick connect PCB, it seems worth investigating.
In that scenario you could even skip making a seperate blade for every hilt, just have one or two full blades to swap around and an individual neopixel plug for each hilt.
Is there anything obvious that I'm missing that prevents this from working? Not sure if the Jewel is addressable in the exact same fashion as a strip, but it looks like it is?

minorhero
02-18-2018, 08:06 AM
I can remember seeing at least one video pre-tcss quick connect that did exactly what you are describing and I admit I have thought about doing the same. I am weak in the area of electronics however and I don't know what kind of other issues you might have to overcome in order to make it work.

jbkuma
02-18-2018, 11:55 AM
I've been making just that sort if thing for a couple years, and I made my first blade plug exactly as you described with the "Jewel." There are smaller chips out there that fit better, too, or you can just use some scraps from the blade strips tucked in a ring.

Starganderfish
02-18-2018, 02:24 PM
Very cool. Thanks @jbkuma. Was the jewel relatively easy to work with?
While you could most likely do something similar with a standard LED star or a similar style of chip, I like that the Jewel basically uses the same parts, wiring and control scheme as the strips in the blade. Thanks to the quick connect there's no need for additional wiring to support a tri-cree or similar. Using scraps from the neopixel strip used in the blade is another great idea.
The appeal for me with the Jewel was that it was pre-assembled, size is almost perfect for the plug, hopefully the sound card will treat it exactly the se as the strips in the blade, and at $6 a piece it's cheap.
The near plug and play functionality of the idea appeals. Knowing that it's been done before is encouraging. Hopefully there were no major roadblocks in your previous implementations?

PCModulus
02-18-2018, 03:07 PM
I was gonna use these to make plugs to sell, but its too cost prohibitive given you cant just buy the blade half from TCSS.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/WS2812-5-Bit-5V-SMD-5050-RGB-LED-Module-Lamp-Panel-Board-Round-LED-Driver-Board/122261584173?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

The LED's fit perfectly inside the thin wall tube, but the board doesnt unless you remove some material.

Starganderfish
02-18-2018, 03:44 PM
Oh, that's cool! So these are the other sorts of chips that jbkuma was talking about? They're like the non-branded knock-off neopixel strands that can be purchased for a lot cheaper than the adafruit stuff. Looks like they'll work the same as the strips or the jewel when used with a sound card.
Yeah the most limiting factor does seem to be the price of the PCB from TCSS. But the way I see it, I'm going to buy one of the TCSS set's for each hilt anyway, in order to handle the quick release string blade (I've looked at other DIY options out there but a lot seem to be using substantially larger/longer connection types, which isn't ideal, especially for a shallow emitter kit like the Korbanth ROTJ Luke.) So whether I do a full string blade or a plug, I'll need one of the TCSS kits for each hilt. I just need extra kits for however many extra blades I want, and at this stage, two would probably be enough - to allow dueling. Even if I end up converting all my sabers to neopixel, I wouldn't need both string blade and illuintaed plug for all of them. Plus, having forked out US$250 each for the Korbanth kits, another US$60 for Nano Biscotte's, and more for batteries, speakers and internal components, plus the led strips for the blades, an extra $12 for a second quick connect PCB is a minor addition.
I can definitely see how it would be cost prohibitive to sell them though. In theory there are other way's to do a similar quick connect hilt that are a similar low profile. Saw a guy who was using copper washers, rivets and neodynium magnets to create a magnetic coupler. https://medium.com/@jym/magnetic-connector-for-led-strip-lightsabers-4722503801d1
Very cool idea but for the effort needed for a few personal builds, the TCSS kit is easier for me. There are no doubt options though for those who wish to make and sell add-ons.


The LED's fit perfectly inside the thin wall tube, but the board doesn't unless you remove some material.
I guess the choice is to remove a little material from the inside of the blade plug or from the outer edge of the board.

I think I may give this 5050 SMD board idea a go when I source the parts for my two Korbanth builds.

PCModulus
02-18-2018, 04:27 PM
I guess the choice is to remove a little material from the inside of the blade plug or from the outer edge of the board.

I think I may give this 5050 SMD board idea a go when I source the parts for my two Korbanth builds.

You can trim some from the board to make it fit, but i think it would be moot with how youll use Weld-On to adhere the pieces together. The LED's will keep it centered.

jbkuma
02-19-2018, 01:13 AM
Rather than being knock-off neopixels, neopixels are just branded versions of these sorts of things. Adafruit didn't invent it, and despite what people think, they don't make their strips either.

You can just search for WS2812 to find similar things. There are also 5mm LEDs, but the color order is different, with the R and G being swapped.

I can't find the thread where I originally posted these things, but I did post this picture when I was working on my holiday saber a couple years ago, with a bonus shot of the candy cane blade!
https://i.imgur.com/OtCc2H1l.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/vReD7tVl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ileYScQl.jpg

jbkuma
02-19-2018, 01:19 AM
Here's another shot of various adapters. Not shore what I took this photo for. The silver tube with red cap is the programming and charging adapter, which I also plug in through the blade socket.
https://i.imgur.com/JNNv9NCl.jpg

jbkuma
02-19-2018, 08:32 AM
Related note, in the clear version above I epoxied in the stater and LEDs to make it more durable.. the epoxy seems to have expanded and I needed pliers to yank it out!

deviltronix
04-04-2018, 12:34 PM
I've seen people use short string blades made out of a few neopixel straw hat leds....this seems like the most straightforward plug, your making in essence a mini blade.



It's been a few years since my last saber build so I'm a little out of touch with the latest and greatest in technology. However, my next two hilts are in the planning stages - Korbanth ANH Graflex and Korbanth ROTJ Luke/gullwing. I'm looking at the whole neopixel idea and I think it sounds pretty cool - the brighter blade and the ability to add some custom ignition/retraction effects is cool.
But one of the things I really enjoy about the tri-cree/LED star setup, is the ability to display the hilt both with and without a blade and retain the light-up feature. One of the problems for me with string blades has always been the lack of a light-up display when the blade is removed.
I'm wondering if there is a workaround with the NeoPixel setup? Thanks to the TCSS quick connect neopixel PCB connector, you can easily remove the blade, complete with the NeoPixel string. This is handy for transport and display but unfortunately leaves the hilt without a light up feature. What I would like to know is, how feasible is it to create a separate blade plug that also has a quick connect and a NeoPixel component?
I came across these NeoPixel Jewels https://www.adafruit.com/product/2226 from Adafruit. A bit like a tri-cree star, with 7 x 5050 RGB LED with Integrated Drivers mounted on a round PCB - 23mm diameter. A 1" thin walled blade has an inner diameter of 22.2mm.
A single thin walled blade will make multiple plugs (with a number of cool ideas out there for adding an "emitter" on top) and with a little sanding or dremelling you could easily take another millimeter or so off the interior thickness of the plug, for maybe the bottom 5-10 mm of the plug. That's enough space to insert a neopixel jewel, mounted on a quick connect PCB.
Pretty much the same idea as the standard neopixel bade, only instead of two strips glued inside the blade and connected to a quick release plug, you have a small round PCB on top of a quick connect, all inside the plug. Won't be as bright as the 144 per/m strips but for a hilt only display piece, it could be fine. And at $6 a pop for the jewel, $10 for a thin wall blade and $17 for a quick connect PCB, it seems worth investigating.
In that scenario you could even skip making a seperate blade for every hilt, just have one or two full blades to swap around and an individual neopixel plug for each hilt.
Is there anything obvious that I'm missing that prevents this from working? Not sure if the Jewel is addressable in the exact same fashion as a strip, but it looks like it is?