Nano Christmas Tree

[MrAl]

Hi there,

I am getting ready for Christmas and i like decorations, so here's a little project prototype that is very simple to construct.
It's a 2d LED Christmas tree controlled by a Nano micro controller

It was fun to build really, and didnt take too much time. It's programmable so you can change the way the lights blink.
Too bad i cant take a video yet, as the lights are too bright. I might try dimming them later to get a video. It's hard to understand how cool it looks as the LEDs blink at random rates and times so it looks pretty nice.
If you make one you can be a little more elaborate too, i just wanted to stay simple so it didnt take too much time. I might make a better looking tree cutout though later some time.

The pics are shown in the attachments, but keep in mind that the brown bottom part folds under to act as a stand for the tree. As the photos show, that is not folded under yet. The Nano and driver transistors are clearly visible from the back but will not be seen from the front. A closeup of the Nano controller is also included.

 

[Andrei_D12]

Very, very nice job!! Congratulations!

I am planning to make decorations like theese too, but I want to collect some LEDs.
It would be even more interesting to use LED strips to make something larger, but even this will surely impress people, especially because it's homemade!

 

[Andrei_D12]

Question: what kind of module have you used for the tree (I mean the command module)?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Question: what kind of module have you used for the tree (I mean the command module)?

It's in the title, it's an (Arduino) Nano.

 

[MrAl]

Very, very nice job!! Congratulations!

I am planning to make decorations like theese too, but I want to collect some LEDs.
It would be even more interesting to use LED strips to make something larger, but even this will surely impress people, especially because it's homemade!

Hello there,

Well that is nice of you to say, and thanks much.

As Nigel thankfully pointed out, the controller for this was the Arduino Nano. I chose that module because it is self contained and ready to go, and maybe more important, it's SMALL. It's only about three quarters of an inch wide by maybe 3 inches long, so it fits right on the tree in the bottom section without getting in the way at all. The board i used did not have headers on it either, like many of them do. I got it that way so i could hard wire it up to whatever i was going to use it for and that would make the electrical end of it more stable. The Nano also took only about 15 minutes to program with the random blink code using the Arduino IDE software set.

You might also note that this is probably the simplest tree you can make. Some other ideas you might like are:
1. You can go 3d, making the tree have depth as well as width and height, so you can have LEDs visible from the sides as well as the front.
2. You can go super 3d, where you make the entire tree out of LEDs running up all sides.
3. You can go super duper 3d with girth, where you actually fill the entire 3d cone space with RGB LED's, where each one is individually controlled. That would be the ultimate Christmas tree i think. The LEDs can then be illuminated not only at the surface of the tree, but actually inside the tree body also. The lighting/blinking pattern could be quite awesome to watch. Of course it would be much harder to build and you'd need several communicating controllers so you would have enough i/o pins to drive each LED RGB pins separately. They also make serial programmable RGB LEDs now too though, if you wanted to try those instead.

 

[Tony Stewart]

Nice job. THis may inspire me to add to my Lights this year.

OTA roof top antenna

$1 Chinese lanterns and just 4 LEDs, nothing else used in 12.0V parallel string. (salvaged from 16 LED Ambulence LEDs scrapped, found at scrap metal yard for the alum. substrate. hundreds of boards for $20) Clear sprayed to protect from weather.

AWG 30 magnet wire to 18AWG speaker wire to small 12.0V SMPS.

 

[Andrei_D12]

It's in the title, it's an (Arduino) Nano.

Hmm, very interesting. I've seen things like that on some damaged PC boards: they had memory, procesor, crystal and other components... but they weren't Arduino. Recently I have seen a thing just like Arduino, but made by Microchip. It is called Pinguino and it looks like this.

I've done a bit of research and found out that these modules aren't as expensive as I thought (around 6-10 dollars, refering to Arduino nano), which is awesome...

Hello there,

Well that is nice of you to say, and thanks much.

As Nigel thankfully pointed out, the controller for this was the Arduino Nano. I chose that module because it is self contained and ready to go, and maybe more important, it's SMALL. It's only about three quarters of an inch wide by maybe 3 inches long, so it fits right on the tree in the bottom section without getting in the way at all. The board i used did not have headers on it either, like many of them do. I got it that way so i could hard wire it up to whatever i was going to use it for and that would make the electrical end of it more stable. The Nano also took only about 15 minutes to program with the random blink code using the Arduino IDE software set.

You might also note that this is probably the simplest tree you can make. Some other ideas you might like are:
1. You can go 3d, making the tree have depth as well as width and height, so you can have LEDs visible from the sides as well as the front.
2. You can go super 3d, where you make the entire tree out of LEDs running up all sides.
3. You can go super duper 3d with girth, where you actually fill the entire 3d cone space with RGB LED's, where each one is individually controlled. That would be the ultimate Christmas tree i think. The LEDs can then be illuminated not only at the surface of the tree, but actually inside the tree body also. The lighting/blinking pattern could be quite awesome to watch. Of course it would be much harder to build and you'd need several communicating controllers so you would have enough i/o pins to drive each LED RGB pins separately. They also make serial programmable RGB LEDs now too though, if you wanted to try those instead.

A tree like that is a true jewel.

Nice job. THis may inspire me to add to my Lights this year.
View attachment 95088

OTA roof top antenna
View attachment 95089

$1 Chinese lanterns and just 4 LEDs, nothing else used in 12.0V parallel string. (salvaged from 16 LED Ambulence LEDs scrapped, found at scrap metal yard for the alum. substrate. hundreds of boards for $20) Clear sprayed to protect from weather.
View attachment 95090
AWG 30 magnet wire to 18AWG speaker wire to small 12.0V SMPS.
View attachment 95091

Great job!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I've done a bit of research and found out that these modules aren't as expensive as I thought (around 6-10 dollars, refering to Arduino nano), which is awesome...

No they are quite cheap, and while it's a lot cheaper to use a plain PIC (under a dollar if you choose the right one) the Nano is a complete 'system' so doesn't require a programmer.

I bought a few Nano's earlier this year - not played with them yet - but they were too cheap not to buy

 

[dr pepper]

Pro minis can be had cheap too, as theres no serial on board, and they are smaller too, and for once the cheapo ones are better as at least mine has an extra header that has io on it the original doesnt have.

 

[jpanhalt]

Arghh...Pinguino?

I hope Microchip isn't that desperate. Will we see Intelinguino nest? Sounds like a pasta.

John

 

[dr pepper]

Yes they probably are.
The 'duino is succesfull in the hobby industry, there are allready plenty of rip offs, even a couple of 32 bit ones.

 

[jpanhalt]

Yes they probably are.
The 'duino is succesfull in the hobby industry, there are allready plenty of rip offs, even a couple of 32 bit ones.

That was my point. Maybe Microchip should focus its resources on its product base rather than playing second fiddle to the Arduino.

John

 

[dr pepper]

Agreed.
Maybe release something better than.
The hobby industry can only be a small part compared to commercial business, so maybe the hobby side has a big impact on the commerical side, or microchip are wasting time, also your point.

 

[MrAl]

Nice job. THis may inspire me to add to my Lights this year.
View attachment 95088

OTA roof top antenna
View attachment 95089

$1 Chinese lanterns and just 4 LEDs, nothing else used in 12.0V parallel string. (salvaged from 16 LED Ambulence LEDs scrapped, found at scrap metal yard for the alum. substrate. hundreds of boards for $20) Clear sprayed to protect from weather.
View attachment 95090
AWG 30 magnet wire to 18AWG speaker wire to small 12.0V SMPS.
View attachment 95091

Hi Tony,

OH yes, very nice. I guess you like to decorate a 'little' to around that time of year.
Looks like a lot of LED's...do you have a parts count?

Where did you get the Chinese Lanterns?
That adds an interesting touch too.

 

[MrAl]

Hmm, very interesting. I've seen things like that on some damaged PC boards: they had memory, procesor, crystal and other components... but they weren't Arduino. Recently I have seen a thing just like Arduino, but made by Microchip. It is called Pinguino and it looks like this.

I've done a bit of research and found out that these modules aren't as expensive as I thought (around 6-10 dollars, refering to Arduino nano), which is awesome...

A tree like that is a true jewel.

Great job!

Hi again,

Yes the Nano's can be had for pretty cheap in the online Chinese marketplaces.

That red board Pinquino, that is made by Microchip? How much does that one cost?

 

[MrAl]

No they are quite cheap, and while it's a lot cheaper to use a plain PIC (under a dollar if you choose the right one) the Nano is a complete 'system' so doesn't require a programmer.

I bought a few Nano's earlier this year - not played with them yet - but they were too cheap not to buy

Hi,

That's a good point. My first PIC cost me an extra 40 bucks (USD) for the programmer. My first Arduino cost me literally zero dollars, and my second one (Nano) cost me about four dollars (USD).

 

[dr pepper]

My mrs said she wants me to do something with leds for an xmas decoration, to be honest I'd rather do something else, but do you have any suggestions?
Maybe buy some ready made cheap chinese thing, mess with it so it looks like something I've made.

 

[MrAl]

Arghh...Pinguino?

I hope Microchip isn't that desperate. Will we see Intelinguino nest? Sounds like a pasta.

John

Hi John,

Guess what? They have been tinkering for quite a while now and we already have several boards to choose from already, with a new one out next year that runs at 400MHz.
* Edison
* Galileo
* Curie
Sounds like ghosts from the past

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Arghh...Pinguino?

I hope Microchip isn't that desperate. Will we see Intelinguino nest? Sounds like a pasta.

Just as the Arduino was nothing to do with Atmel, the Pinguino is nothing to do with MicroChip - both are just third party development boards using micro-controllers sourced from those companies.

Interestingly the Arduino was originally going to be based on a PIC, but the lack of a free fully featured C compiler meant they moved to the AVR instead.

 

[MrAl]

Hi Nigel,

That's interesting, and i kind of wish they went with PIC. Too bad MicroChip was so stingy, i bet they regret it now.