Wiring an LED bar graph array?

[eastern57]

Impressed I am also with the progress you have made in the last couple of months! Great shroud work on that hilt man. Love the little band around the accent LED. *Fender' apologizes in advance for stealing that idea*

Whoa cool, I didn't even notice that - that's right up your alley, Fenders!

And Matt, just to plant the seed, if you're going to be using an MR mace board... you might be able to get a little more out of that bargraph (ref: fishbone/obsidioro - hintimus hintacai). I, me, myself will certainly be using that concept more often now.

EDIT: this is what I mean: http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...d/fishbone.jpg

[Matt Thorn]

Impressed I am also with the progress you have made in the last couple of months! Great shroud work on that hilt man. Love the little band around the accent LED. *Fender' apologizes in advance for stealing that idea*

Thanks. I did a half a dozen drafts before I settled on that design for the band that crosses the accent LED.

Whoa cool, I didn't even notice that - that's right up your alley, Fenders!

And Matt, just to plant the seed, if you're going to be using an MR mace board... you might be able to get a little more out of that bargraph (ref: fishbone/obsidioro - hintimus hintacai). I, me, myself will certainly be using that concept more often now.

EDIT: this is what I mean: http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...d/fishbone.jpg

Ah-hah! Wish I had seen that earlier. I've already got it wired and in the hilt. Well, the seed is planted now, and I still have a bunch of the LED bar graph arrays, so someday!

[eastern57]

I just drew it up today. So I doubt you would have seen it before today...

[Matt Thorn]

I just drew it up today. So I doubt you would have seen it before today...

Ha-ha. You're late in dropping your hints.
Here's the finished saber. Unfortunately, the LED bar graph is so bright I couldn't get a sharp picture of it! Of the three sabers I've made to date, this is by far my favorite. And hopefully it will be reasonably duelable. I added a couple of close-ups of the switch, which I also think is pretty cool.

[cardcollector]

Very nice!!! I like the red accent LED. it gves it a perfect touch!!

[Frank G]

Someone with more electrical savvy than I should have no trouble transferring the "ramp-up/ramp-down" effect to the LED bar. That would be pretty sweet, particularly since that effect is lost when using a single LED like a Luxeon III.

If you are using an UltraSound Board, you would have to make a separated circuit to have that effect on the bargraph. But, if you are using a MRfx board then it is quite simple:

MR boards turn on a full blade in 6 segments(red/orange/yellow/green/blue/purple)

• Hook up the one that lights up the first segment to your 3W LED(dont remember if its red or purple)
• Then hook up the rest of the five wires to the bargraph (in order, 2 segments of the bargraph per wire)
• Remember that the wires are "negatives" and the brown wire is a common positive

You will need 1 resistor for each segment-pair
Be very patient an it will work like a charm!

[Sairon]

That looks great Matt! But I would change the switch from red to black, black seems to fit better.

[Matt Thorn]

If you are using an UltraSound Board, you would have to make a separated circuit to have that effect on the bargraph. But, if you are using a MRfx board then it is quite simple

Thanks, Frank. Eastern provided a great diagram for that very setup...after I finished the saber.

That looks great Matt! But I would change the switch from red to black, black seems to fit better.

Hmm. Black would definitely be less conspicuous, which is what I originally wanted. I think after finishing my incredibly subdued color-changing saber hilt, I subconsciously wanted to go for more bling.

BTW, the red accent LED is out. I don't know if it's because I broke a connection in the crowded emitter end of the hilt, or if it was burned out by too much power. I'll have to dissect it once again to find out.

Also, the LED bar graph array, in addition to being really bright, gets quite warm. I wonder if that's normal, or if it's getting too much juice.

[Kal El Rah]

Warmth is excess voltage being bled off, so yeah most likely to much JUICE.

[eastern57]

If you are using an UltraSound Board, you would have to make a separated circuit to have that effect on the bargraph. But, if you are using a MRfx board then it is quite simple:

MR boards turn on a full blade in 6 segments(red/orange/yellow/green/blue/purple)

• Hook up the one that lights up the first segment to your 3W LED(dont remember if its red or purple)
• Then hook up the rest of the five wires to the bargraph (in order, 2 segments of the bargraph per wire)
• Remember that the wires are "negatives" and the brown wire is a common positive

You will need 1 resistor for each segment-pair
Be very patient an it will work like a charm!

You would be an absolute genius... about five months ago.