Spinning your life and brightening your ideas!
ELECTRONIC PROCESS
FIRST STEPS
How we did it
For the first steps of this project it was essential to choose the right components. The choice was based on the needs required by the pototype. We focused on over-the-counter components that were easy to purchase.
COMPONENTS
Choice of components
The first thing we did was look at other similar projects to get inspired and not be so lost when choosing. We were clear that we wanted a wide range of colors in the device and we opted for 5mm RGB LEDs. Next we had to choose the components that were more obvious, such as: motor, X material base, cables, resistors, PCB board, Protoboard (to test the components), power supply, structure where everything will go, Arduino and switches.
ARDUINO NANO
We chose an Arduino as the brain of our project because it is a very easy-to-use microcontroller and we are also familiar with its software and functionalities. The chosen model was the Nano for two simple reasons, speed and size. The Arduino Nano was fast enough to perform the function that was required of it. In addition to its speed, there was the size, being a project of reduced dimensions, we needed an Arduino just as small, and the Nano, as its name indicates, is the smallest on the market.
SHIFT REGISTER
SN74HC595N
74HC595 IC is a 16-pin shift register IC which consists of a D-type latch along with an on-chip shift register. It receives serial input data and then sends this data out through parallel pins. In addition to parallel outputs, it also provides a serial output. It has separate clock inputs for the shift register and the D latch. This feature together with pin 13 OE (negated) that corresponds to the output activation, we can turn on the LEDs simultaneously without having to deal with the delay of the arduino. So we can see the LEDs in vertical line. With all these factors clarified, we use a shift register for each color of the LED, that is, 3 shifters for 3 different colors, to use the basic ones simultaneously and to be able to create more colors.
MOTOR DC (UVIC)
For the motor we chose one that was provided to us by the university. We do not know the exact specifications of this but we know what to demand of it. To create the optical effect we need 30 revolutions per second (rps) therefore we multiply this value by 60 and it gives us a value of 1800 rpm for our motor.
POWER SUPPLY
Power source and 9V battery
When it came to powering the system, we realized that the rotating part (Arduino and LEDs) could not be connected to the current, so it occurred to us to power this part independently with a 9V battery. The static part, which is basically the motor, is connected to the current with an adjustable 3V-12V plug.
RESISTORS
Due to the specifications of the RGB LEDs which consists of three colors (red, green, blue) each color needs a specific amperage to give the adequate luminosity for our purpose. Now, we did some calculations to determine what value we needed in the resistance of each color. The data is extracted from the component's datasheet. (See in the image)
ELECTRONIC SCHEMATIC
To have everything ready, we made an electronic scheme with the program recommended by Professor KiCad. There we were able to put all the joint components to later put it into practice using a guideline. (See the scheme in the image)