Pyro.699

Hello,

Ive been looking around the forum too see if anyone else is tackling this project, and it turns out there are many. Some of them were helpful, and others were not as inviting. To put it simply, my project will consist of a panel with 6x10 led lights (Red). I will be building many of these panels and connecting them to make what will look like to be a big overhead sign you can see at amusement parks. Where it will have "Welcome" scrolling across the top in a marquee. The one i am looking to design will have the following functions:

-6x10 RED LED grid
-usb compatible
-will plug into an 128v home outlet
-many display styles:
--Marquee
--None (will have to remain a single word)
--I was wondering if there was a type of transaction i could use, like in power point presentations
-Does not need to be plugged into a computer to function. The computer will remain as a tool that i can use to alter what the scrolling text is.
-[a-z]+[A-Z]+[0-9]+[Some special characters] (I have the patterns already done up)
-1mb storage (where i can leave the *.txt in which it can read from)
-An easy to manage application (not to advanced, but not too simple)
-Will showup as a removeable storage when windows xp detects its presance
-Some way to give information about my device (under the device manager, in windows xp)

I am up for the challenge, so please throw your ideas at me in a huge pile and ill do my best to sort through them, and use them to my advantage.

//What i know...

-Will require microcontrollers
-Programming required
-LED's require around 1v
-This will be a huge project

(That's not much is it '-.-)

Thankyou very much
~Cody Woolaver

Sceadwian

Get cracking =) It is a big project, but not overly difficult. Get yourself started with a micro controller and a few LED's run off the I/O pins and work your way up from there. Each panel could be daisy chained to the next one.

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Pyro.699

Hey,
Thanks, but that doesn't really answer any of my questions. What kind of microcontroller do i need, brand wise? And where would i find these? This may sound funny, but can all of the parts that im going to need be found at the source/radio shack? And how would i be setting this up, ive looked at some circuit diagrams, and i can understand them... i just dont know if the ones im looking at will work with my plans. BEcause it will be reading the data from a file, how would i also do that?

Thanks again
~Cody Woolaver

Gayan Soyza

Before connecting to a PC you must know how to scroll a display in normal mode(without a PC).Similar to a thread like this already discused in the microcontrollers Section.See the 10x7 Display project.It will meet Half of your functions what u require.Lot of experts have put there own advanced methods to it.You can take a good pickup from there.As a beginner to a microcontrollers its a little bit advanced circuit.

Pyro.699

I looked around on the forums quite a bit (regarding the led lit ones). and have gotten a bit of information (I'm going to use a 7x10 instead of a 6x10).

I'm searching eBay right now and have come across a lot of 1000 RED DEFUSED LED lights. and am wondering what else i should be looking for. I know i will be needing some ohm resistors but what kind?

I spend the last few weeks designing this program, it creates a grid in which you can turn leds on and off ^^. Take a look if you want.

I guess the main thing I'm going to need is a customized schematic.

I'm going to have to change some of my ideas, because from what i read, in order for it to be independent, it will have to have a small operating system xD So...

It will run off of a usb port for the data transfer. and will also have to be plugged into the wall... (120volts i think)... I know i will need a chip, and i don't know what one... Ive looked around and its not helping much... I will need to buy 7 of them they will be independent boxes that i can connect in a sequence to make a matrix if I'm missing any big details please let me know... i really want to do this, i have so many ideas that i can apply this too

Thanks so much
~Cody Woolaver

Attached Files

leds.zip (48.9 KB, 14 views)

kchriste

The hardest part of this project will be the USB interface. To make it easier, I would suggest you buy a USB to serial adapter and design your project to use the serial port. If you don't want to use an adapter, there are chips available that convert USB to serial but they are NOT available at RadShack.

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Pyro.699

Where would i find the bulk of the suplies that i will need for this project? does anyone really know. I would prefer a site that accepts paypal

kchriste

You can try:
http://www.glitchbuster.com/
But they are pulling the plug sometime this month, so you'd need to get your order in quick. They accept paypal.
Then there are the large companies such as www.digikey.com and www.mouser.com but they don't accept paypal.

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picasm

Are those standard brightness LEDS?, You may need high brightness ones if you want it very visible in daylight.
Red LEDs can be bought cheaply from China suppliers, get the brightest ones with a fairly wide viewing angle if possible.