Novus Animus

[Arkanjel]

No one EVER said that this would be a "cheap" hobby.

Not true. I told my wife it was a cheap hobby. *shhhhhhhhhh*

[Naigon]

Wow you did a really good job on this project. It sure brings back memories of me on my breadboard, writing first incarnations of the firmware and working with the colors the first time. Seeing multiple colors for the first time is a great experience. I also like how you integrated the existing sound, good cheap way to do it though I would have gone with an MR board.

Thanks for sharing and enjoy that saber, you should be proud.

[JakeSoft]

Wow you did a really good job on this project. It sure brings back memories of me on my breadboard, writing first incarnations of the firmware and working with the colors the first time. Seeing multiple colors for the first time is a great experience. I also like how you integrated the existing sound, good cheap way to do it though I would have gone with an MR board.

Thanks for sharing and enjoy that saber, you should be proud.

That's high praise coming from the creator of the awesome Igniter board. I'm a fan of your work! I'm honored.

Thanks everyone for your kind words. While I doubt that I'm the first person to stick an Arduino in a lightsaber, it's great to hear the effort is well received.

[Darth Ryo]

You can be proud indeed
Nice hilt and impressive work on the electronic side

[JakeSoft]

Here is a video I took while it was still a work in progress. The hilt was still in pieces and the SW had a few bugs that I fixed later, but you get the idea. It doesn't show all of the colors, but it does demonstrate how it works.




This was shot at 2AM, so please excuse if I don't sound very enthusiastic in the video.

Also putting this in the OP since I know not everyone reads the whole thread.

[whitmers]

Having just got all of my arduino parts in the mail to start tinkering with in my classroom... I was wondering about this very same thing. Shucks! Not an original idea on my part It's really fantastic what you have done. I tip my hat to you sir!

[hedgehog1]

I keep coming back to this post and re-reading it.

I really enjoying watching your design play out. True R&D like this (even when done to save money) is a golden moment for anyone. I can visualize the smile on your face when you first got the colors to change under software control - i know the first time I got stepper motors to move using a home-made interface from my Commodore 128 (yeah, I am rather old) was a moment like that. I can relate and will encourage you to keep moving forward.

Most of all - thanks for sharing your adventure. It reminds us all of the endless possibilities open to us.

[hedgehog1]

Having just got all of my arduino parts in the mail to start tinkering with in my classroom... I was wondering about this very same thing. Shucks! Not an original idea on my part It's really fantastic what you have done. I tip my hat to you sir!

Don't skip the project - you have a base to start from now, so try it yourself and see if you can improve on it. Take pictures and share your journey. Who knows what great idea you might have that takes things to the next level?

Besides - it is tons of fun.

[Lendo Avery]

Love what you did w/the Arduino! I've been wanting to play with one of these for years. After seeing what you've done, I'm going to try to pick one up sometime this year to play with!

Thanks for sharing.
Lendo

[JakeSoft]

I keep coming back to this post and re-reading it.

I really enjoying watching your design play out. True R&D like this (even when done to save money) is a golden moment for anyone. I can visualize the smile on your face when you first got the colors to change under software control - i know the first time I got stepper motors to move using a home-made interface from my Commodore 128 (yeah, I am rather old) was a moment like that. I can relate and will encourage you to keep moving forward.

Most of all - thanks for sharing your adventure. It reminds us all of the endless possibilities open to us.

I'm so glad you enjoyed the story. It was my pleasure. I wish a Commodore 128 would fit in a saber... just think about that!

Love what you did w/the Arduino! I've been wanting to play with one of these for years. After seeing what you've done, I'm going to try to pick one up sometime this year to play with!

Good for you! I encourage anyone who's been thinking about it to give it a try. I would love to see others take on Arduino-based saber projects like this. If enough people try it then it could become popular enough to become a whole new category of saber. Once it's wired up, the possibilities are limited only by your programming skills and your imagination.

If there is enough interest, I'd be happy to start a thread in one of the more technical TCSS sub-forums with lessons learned. I redesigned and rebuilt the internals about three times before settling on the final configuration. There were a few "gotchas" I had to work around.