D's Color Shifter with NB and Crystal Chamber

[dgregory]

Starting a build thread for my new saber. This one is a color shifter using a tri-rebel R/G/Rb. I'm using two SPDT slide switches (on-off-on) to control the color. I wired one to red and blue and the other to green and blue. I can get all six colors (red, green, blue, purple, orange, and cyan) by changing the switches. The crystal chamber also color shifts with the blade (5 mm rgb led). This switch setup also has the added benefit of not allowing for all three die to be powered at once, which would be over the 2 Amp cap on the Nano and might damage it. I adjusted the drive output on the Nano so I didn't need a resistor on the green and blue. I only needed resistors for the red die and for the accent led.

I put the resistors and slide switches on a small control board mounted next to the Nano. I'm using a 1 1/4" sink tube for this so I'll have to shave off those switches quite a bit so they fit inside the saber.



Here's the side-mounted recharge port below the control board. It was right below the Nano so I couldn't mount it vertically.



Here's the crystal chamber mostly finished. Just need to add covers to the threaded rods and a pass through for wires.



Wiring diagram.



Here's a video of my test of the circuit. The accent led for the crystal chamber is on the breadboard.



More to follow. I'm building this one from the inside out. I haven't really thought about the hilt yet, just that I need some large access ports to get to the switches, SD card, and recharge port. I'm thinking of having a hinged or removable section in the middle.

[dgregory]

Small update. Got the chassis built. Just need to make a speaker holder. This is going to be a long one, 13.5" or so. That pesky control board added a couple inches. I also made a 2" long crystal chamber. I may put the NB on top of the battery instead. Then I could mount the recharge port vertically and maybe shave off an inch or so. Sink tubes are only 12" long. The blade holder can protrude a little and I can add some length with aluminum shrouds, but I'd like to shorten it if possible.

[dgregory]

So I just discovered that when you file down those three way switches, they have a tiny spring inside that puts tension on the base below them to keep them from sliding on their own. If you take off about half the length of the switch button you'll see the spring. I filed the springs down in the process and took the tension out of the slides, so now they don't stay put. Late last night I replaced them with some tiny screws and a drop of gorilla glue to keep them in. Hopefully that'll work. If not I'll have to replace them. So if anyone decides to use these and file them down, just watch for the spring and remove it as soon as it's visible. You can put it back in later and glue it down and it should work fine.

[dgregory]

Small update

I redid the chassis to make the saber shorter. It was about 13.5 inches. Now it's about 12. I turned the recharge port vertical and will mount the NB underneath the control board. I also used a smaller battery.



I finished the speaker housing. I used a piece of metal tube from an old desk, same place I got the thick aluminum discs for the crystal chamber. With a little hot glue collar, the 2W speaker fit perfectly. Though I did have to make small cutouts so it won't short out against the metal housing.





Now that the chassis is basically built, I can start working on the hilt itself.

[dgregory]

Got some work in on the hilt this week. I still need to clean up the edges and gaps, but it's coming along. I'm also planning to do some acid etching on the aluminum shroud pieces.

Here's the hilt with a skeleton chassis installed to show how the crystal chamber will look.


This port opens on a hinge to allow access to the two switches that control the led color.


The bottom shroud piece covers the recharge port and the section that will contain the NB and SD card.

[Silver Serpent]

Your saber appears to be coming along nicely. That hinge is a neat feature.

[Flyby Knight]

This is turning out really, really cool

[dgregory]

I finally got this saber wired up. Having a RGB crystal chamber and a tri-rebel RGB was quite a pain, but worth it.

Here's the completed chassis all wired up.


The central section with the control board and NB and recharge port.


The control board on the bottom with the switches, dyna-ohm resistors for the crystal chamber, and resistors for the main red die.


The access hatch on the bottom to expose the switches and change the saber color.


I even acid etched a code in the bottom so I could remember the colors. The left switch has red and blue, the right has green and blue.

[dgregory]

I used acid etching for the outer shrouds, with mixed success. The acid solution lost its punch pretty fast, so some of them got more deeply etched than others. I'm going to put some aluminum black in the recessed areas to make them consistent.






Here's my wiring diagram. Not sure why it keeps posting it upside down....


The blue die lit.


The green.

[dgregory]

A few more shots of the other colors. I think the red die is under powered. I set the drive adjust on the NB to 3.45 V since I didn't resistor the blue or green. I might put it back at 3.7 and see what happens. I've got two 1 ohm 2 watt resistors wired in series on the red die. And it's obviously not very bright. The purple is pretty blue and the orange is almost all green.

Here's just the red die


The red/blue for purple, more purplish blue though.


The orange that's mostly green.


And the cyan.


And a close up of the crystal chamber.