36 LED Sequencer HELP NEEDED

[aquaviventi]

Hi, Guys
I'm trying to build a circuit using 4017's and 555's that can produce a 36 LED sequencer that starts with LED # 1 and stays ON all the way to LED #6 and then turns OFF LED # 1 and Turns ON LED # 7 and so forth all the way until LED 36, all of these arranged in a clock fashion mantaining always 6 LED's on at the same time. Kind of looking like a worm advancing in a circular fashion.
The main problem I'm trying to solve is having it go 3 times clockwise and then reverse direction and repeat this procedure counter-clockwise. So far I have been succesful with one way using 6 4017's but cannot find a way to count 36x3 and then reverse direction.
Does anyone have experience with sequencers that can show me a quick trick? Or even better a diagram? The effect it gives is similar to the "knight Rider" car front grill, except it is arranged in a circular fashion for a very different purpose.
Thanks...

 

[HarveyH42]

Shift registers might be a better choice. Not sure if there is a 36 I/O MCU, but there are ways to expand on that.

A 4017 will only have one LED on at a time.

 

[Blueteeth]

Yeah SR's will do just fine, and they're just as cheap as the 4017's. Consider using bidirectional shift registers, as that way you can move the 'bargraph' up and down (or CW/CCW for a circuilar arrangement). I've built one of these myself using a PIC.

Blueteeth

 

[HarveyH42]

I did the sequencer as my second AVR project, Tiny13 (only 5 LEDs though, pin 1 is also the Reset pin, and is dim, never figured out why).

 

[Sceadwian]

In order to use the reset pin as an I/O you have to set the reset disable fuse which allows it to be used as a general I/O. This makes it impossible to ISP program the chip. Only high voltage programming works after that. Keep in mind I don't think there are any protection diodes built into the reset line so it's important to watch your voltages, as you could accidentally enable the high voltage programming mode.

 

[HarveyH42]

I've only tried the ISP twice off board (programmer), ran into trouble trying to get the DEBUG wire thing, really messed up the chip. Had to reconfigure the programmer for HV, and programmed fine in the ZIFF. Have tried it again, but need to. I think I had the wrong emulator selected maybe. Still a lot of things to learn.

 

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