H A P P Y N E W Y E A R ! ! ! !

RGB LED Persistence-Of-Vision Display (PIC12F629 & WS2812Bs)

I played around at creating a POV display with red LEDs before - I really want to make another using 24 WS2812B RGB LEDs. So, since I lack parts, I decided to draw up plans. No hardware or software yet - just plans :)

The big question - since the LEDs are addressed serially, and there's 24 LEDs x 24 bits apiece (576 bits total), and the serial bus has a speed of 800Kbps - will I be able to address all of the LEDs in time, or will there be a visually perceptible lag between LED 1 and LED 24?

Fun With A PIC, LEDs, And A Motor

This is a couple of years old, but I never posted it. So, for posterity, here is my attempt at a 'persistence-of-vision' display. Only 5 LEDs on a spinning arm, and definitely a junkyard build, but effective. I used a micro-switch that was bumped every revolution as my '0 degree' indication, which made a lot of noise and reduced the revolutions a bit. It would have been better if I had used a 'hall-effect' sensor (but I didn't have one) or even an infrared emitter/detector. Next revision?

 

Typhoon Yolanda Relief

If you are considering donating monies for Typhoon Yolanda relief, I would ask you to consider donating to this charity in Davao City.

From a friend of mine who lives in Davao City and works with the Family Circus outreach:
 
It's been an honor to work with Darrell & Sandy Blatchley as well as their son Darrell every week at the Family Circus outreach to the poor of Davao City. I need to ask those of you who pray to remember Sandy & Darrell, Jr. They are on their way to the areas struck by the typhoon. One of their tasks will be to handle bodies of the deceased. This is a potentially dangerous mission, because there's the possibility of violence as rescuers meet desperately hungry survivors. Again, I'm honored to know them, & again, please pray for "DD" & his mom.

Homepage: http://familycircus.org/
Donations: http://familycircus.org/html/donations.html

Baby Crib Toy

My wife and I are enjoying the company of our new son - Ethan Christopher - who is almost 3 weeks old. We bought a crib for him the other day with one of those wind up crib toys that he can watch and listen to and (hopefully) be entertained.

The problems are:
1) It needs to be wound up. Constantly. If it stops, Ethan cries.
2) It only has one song.
3) There is no control of the song volume.

So, I am going to take the 'Cat Ball' design and make a crib toy out of it. Hopefully I can find all of the bits and pieces I need to do this project.

Plus, my lab is a mess. Actually, my lab is now a big messy pile of junk in one corner of the old flat. We turned the new MadLab office space into our bedroom, because we were able to easily seal off the room and add air conditioning. Which means before I put the project together, I have to put the MadLab back together first. Somewhere. I haven't figured out where, yet.