William Grill wanted to customize the lighting for a model or simulator with a bit of illumination to create a nice touch. He wanted to move beyond a simple on or off and add a touch of refinement to a presentation. He created an inexpensive controller to do just that. His fader is based on a MicroChip 10F200 controller that includes both a fade control and mode settings to select both the fade rate (in seconds) and the internal processing for use with either a momentary button (push on, push off) or STST (single pole, single throw) switch.
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Great article/tip about using PWM with a lowcost micro to do LED fade-ins and fade-outs!!
SoCalPE,
I see that you put lighting into furniture. I am actively looking for artists to collaborate with for putting interactive and RGBW LEDs into artwork (yes furniture counts as artwork!!). Check out this quick little video and let me know if you are interested in trying one of our beta prototype kits. Thanks! -VoltVisionFrenchy
Well, I see you are still exhibiting your regular 'shocking' physical appearance! Not so sure I buy into the 'refined' part of your presentation but interesting none the less.
I recall a programmable, time variable, dimmer circuit that was in an old SCR applications book from the late 1960's. It did not require a programmed IC, and even more interesting, probably it could still be built today with equivalent parts readily available. Will that processor be available next year?
I'm a mechanical engineer (and I design/build furniture with built-in lighting) so I like to see these tips on electrical controls. This reminds me of soft eject mechanisms for cassette players (maybe I'm dating myself... :)
Andrew Morris designed a circuit that could detect a stroke victim's groan and convert the sound into a signal so caregivers would know when help was needed.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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