Light Painting Workshop, Part 2 Preparation

[Tim Stephens]

Hi,

We held the first part of the light-painting workshop series in the space last Monday, and it was awesome fun. We took a bunch of photos using my LED strip and Hugh's various light-sources (including EL wire, colour-changing LEDs, torches, and laser pointers). For part 2 of this series, I'd like to spend some time helping you to make your own LED painting rig. To do this, you'll need to go shopping for some parts (or you may have some of them kicking around at home). I've made what I think is a complete bill of materials here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17faO5wq0rpBXEE63fIpT_wOazihE3WijWMtckUwkPCI/edit?usp=sharing


Several of these things (including the LED strip) are shipped from China, so may take up to four weeks to arrive. There's also some things that are in quantities larger than you'd need to just make the kit, so a group-buy may save a few pounds in shipping fees and create less wastage.

If you'd like to make a strip (or even just buy some of the components as a group), post here and we'll see what we can work out.

Once everyone who's interested has bought the parts, we'll arrange to get together to assemble the strips and make some more pictures.

Cheers,
Tim

(For part 3, I was thinking of using a microcontroller of some sort to make something that will go into a bike wheel for true persistence-of-vision effects -- let me know your thoughts).

[Jake Adams]

That sounds cool, I think I might get involved in this.

[Peter Lister]

Me too! I'm thinking of this for Code Club. True persistence of vision would be great.

BTW, see the front page of the printed Oxford Times for a picture of Hugh's laser light painting and the space's URL!

There's an online pic on the Oxford Times's Facebook page, though not the main OT web page.

All the best,
Peter

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[Jake Adams]

Just seen the photo, I'm in

[Lauren Hutchinson]

Yes, I need to get some copies of that asap.

When we spoke to the Science Oxford trustees last Friday, during a conversation about our educational workshops, one asked straight out if that was us on the cover!  It caught me by surprise as I hadn't realized they were the same paper.  It was so nice to be able to say, "Why yes!"  ;)

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[Peter Lister]

Just to be clear, for Jake and anyone else who might read this thread: Tim's suggested 2nd workshop is for LED array light painting, as opposed to Hugh's red laser stuff featured by the Oxford Times.

Peter

[Jake Adams]

Yep, that's what I thought I signed up for (LED array painting)

[iamthespaceinvader .]

Did you manage to get copies of this?  I've been dutifully hunting for it online without success.

I'd love to see the article (and indeed the photos, any chance of them being shared with the list?).

Phil

[Matt Westcott]

Don't know if it's the same one that was in the print edition, but there's a very neat photo on the Oxford Mail's Instagram here: https://instagram.com/p/zhfYeyo3er/

- Matt

[Jane Charlesworth]

Can I put me & Hugh down. Probably we can make one and share it?

cheers

Jane

[Peter Lister]

On 04/03/15 10:32, Matt Westcott wrote:
> Don't know if it's the same one that was in the print edition, but there's a very neat photo on the Oxford Mail's Instagram here: https://instagram.com/p/zhfYeyo3er/
>
>

Yes, same picture.

I'll buy a copy for us, though Hugh has a photocopy on the wall in the
OVADA office, if anyone wants to have a look.

Peter

[Tim Stephens]

On Tue, Mar 03, 2015 at 06:22:55PM +0000, Peter Lister wrote:
> Me too! I'm thinking of this for Code Club. True persistence of vision
> would be great.
>

My maths says that this is a possibility. The code does a bit of waiting so that you don't have to walk too fast for the photos, but without the delays, I think that update rates of >100Hz ought to be possible.

[Lauren Hutchinson]

I'd also be up for joining in with this, and the visible ones sound great.

[Glyn Kennington]

Tim Stephens wrote:
> If you'd like to make a strip (or even just buy some of the components as a group), post here and we'll see what we can work out.
>
> Once everyone who's interested has bought the parts, we'll arrange to get together to assemble the strips and make some more pictures.

Count me down for one for the group-purchase.

> (For part 3, I was thinking of using a microcontroller of some sort to make something that will go into a bike wheel for true persistence-of-vision effects -- let me know your thoughts).

This sounds fun - were you thinking motion sensors, other position
sensors, or turning the wheel at a fixed speed?

Glyn

[iamthespaceinvader .]

I'd guess fixed-speed, but you might run into issues getting it to run fast enough for a decent refresh rate unless you have multiple strips on multiple spokes.

Presumably you can account with the controller for the differential rate of motion between central and circumferential LEDs?

I'd love to see persistence-of-vision animation done this way, so count me in if I can be helpful, but this is somewhat outside my normal comfort zone - though I'd be happy to supply animated GIFs for testing purposes!

Phil

[Tim Stephens]

> On 4 Mar 2015, at 17:45, iamthespaceinvader . <@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > (For part 3, I was thinking of using a microcontroller of some sort to make something that will go into a bike wheel for true persistence-of-vision effects -- let me know your thoughts).
>
> This sounds fun - were you thinking motion sensors, other position
> sensors, or turning the wheel at a fixed speed?

The easiest is to turn the wheel at a fixed speed, but that's no fun!
I've used a reed switch in the past to trigger an image to display at a fixed speed, but I've thought of a wheeze to use some of the handier features of a microcontroller (timers and interrupts) to make one that adapts to the speed that the wheel's spinning. This is just an idea though, so I think that we'll need to hack that together to get it working (although it shouldn't be too hard).

[Tim Stephens]

> On Monday, 2 March 2015 22:41:56 UTC, TimS wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >

> > For part 2 of this series, I'd like to
> > spend some time helping you to make your own LED painting rig. To do this,
> > you'll need to go shopping for some parts (or you may have some of them
> > kicking around at home). I've made what I think is a complete bill of
> > materials here:
> >
> >
> > https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17faO5wq0rpBXEE63fIpT_wOazihE3WijWMtckUwkPCI/edit?usp=sharing

So I think that there are now five people who are interested in making one of these strips:

Peter
Jake
Lauren
Jane
Glyn

Have I missed anyone (or misinterpreted anyone)? Assuming that you've not got an Arduino, the parts will be about £23 per kt at this quantity, plus you'll need to supply 6xAA batteries; a piece of material to fasten it to (wood, pipe, Aluminium extrusion, garden cane, etc.); and a project box (i.e. an old ice-cream tub, project box, ball of tape, etc.). I'm happy enough to buy the parts and trust you all to reimburse me once they arrive (or in the interim) -- I'll work out what the total cost is, and then divide it by the number of participants to get a final cost.

Note: I DON'T PLAN TO BUY ANY ARDUINOS FOR THIS. I'm hoping that there are enough left from the space's group buy last year and that we'll be able to use those (or that you'll bring one that you've got lying around).

If you're interested in making one of these strips, and your name doesn't appear above, please post ASAP since I'd like to get things on order so that we can have the workshop in reasonable time. I'll wait until after social night tonight (05 March 2015) before I place the order for the various parts.

Tim

[Glyn Kennington]

Tim Stephens wrote:
> Note: I DON'T PLAN TO BUY ANY ARDUINOS FOR THIS. I'm hoping that there are enough left from the space's group buy last year and that we'll be able to use those (or that you'll bring one that you've got lying around).

I still have one lying around from the bulk order. But I think the last
one left in the space was claimed about a month ago.

Glyn

[iamthespaceinvader .]

There's still an Arduino R3 (I think) in the microcontroller night box, but it's not for sale.  Could happily be used for testing however.  Similarly, if I'm available I'll happily lend mine for testing (and if there's room I'l like to come down for the
workshop, though I won't be building my own), but it's not for sale.

Phil

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[Tim Stephens]

No problem. There's any number of nano clones on ebay for about a fiver. I'll source one from there.

Can everyone who's wanting in on this please let me know if you need me to get you an arduino?

Tim

[Lauren Hutchinson]

Hi Tim,

If I'm not mistaken, the Arduinos that were at the space from the group buy are now gone, with the possible exception of one that is now used at microcontroller nights.  At least, this is what I believe to be the current state of affairs.

Also, please add the space to the list as the "owner" of one--we'll be using the money from Yves' uservoice experiment for one I believe. ;)

Thanks for taking care of the details of this!  Going to be fun.

Lauren

Tim

[iamthespaceinvader .]

Can I put my name down to build The Space's one, perhaps?

I'd like to learn the skills, but I don't have any particular need or want for one of these for myself.

Phil

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[Jake Adams]

Hi Tim,

I'll put my name down for the group buy (sorry it's a bit late, school and all that), including the arduino.

Jake

[Jake Adams]

Also, just wondering how large/small the project box needs to be

On Monday, 2 March 2015 22:41:56 UTC, TimS wrote:

[Tim Stephens]

On 5 Mar 2015, at 18:50, Jake Adams <jacoba...@ymail.com> wrote:

Also, just wondering how large/small the project box needs to be

Not very large. An Arduino nano is 45x20x20mm. The whole circuit could probably be made on a 50x50 piece of perfboard (depending on how good your layout skills are), so a 60x60x40 box or thereabouts ought to fit. I'd advise that you wait to build the circuit before you buy a box though since your circuit may end up being a different size/shape. 

Also: project box measurements are often the outside dimensions, and don't take into account the thickness of the walls or any space for screw lugs etc. this can be a trap that means that you run out of space and can't fit something together. 

--

[Jake Adams]

Thanks

[Peter Lister]

I'd like in on the bulk order, but don't need an extra Arduino for this - unless the space wants to do another big bulk order anyway. (Yes, the last one of the last order was claimed a few weeks back.)

I was thinking of using 29mm oval PVC cable duct, as it is light, stiff and has a nice flat surface for sticking the LED strip onto. It comes in 3m lengths, so we could do 3x 1m pieces - you said 1.1m in the BOM: do you reckon 1m is OK if the box is mounted on the back? If so, I'll get some from TLC next time I'm up.

BTW, did anyone see the BBC4 program last night on climate change statistics? The presenters used 2m light painting rigs to show their graphs.

Peter
(Oop north just now and only intermittently in the datasphere)

PS I did get an Oxford Times for the archive.

[Tim Stephens]

Ok. I have ordered the parts...

I'm not completely sure what the final cost will be since a couple of things are priced in dollars, but it will be between £18 and £25 depending on whether we get customs charges or not. 

On 6 Mar 2015, at 18:15, Peter Lister <peter@.org.uk> wrote:

I'd like in on the bulk order, but don't need an extra Arduino for this .)

I was thinking of using 29mm oval PVC cable duct, as it is light, stiff and has a nice flat surface for sticking the LED strip onto. It comes in 3m lengths, so we could do 3x 1m pieces - you said 1.1m in the BOM: do you reckon 1m is OK if the box is mounted on the back? If so, I'll get some from TLC next time I'm up.

The strip will be 1m, so I thought that a slightly longer piece of support would be better to protect the ends but there's no reason that you couldn't use a shorter piece. 

Tim

[Jane Charlesworth]

Yes, we need an Arduino, please.

[Glyn Kennington]

> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17faO5wq0rpBXEE63fIpT_wOazihE3WijWMtckUwkPCI/edit?usp=sharing

> Battery Holder (6AA).

May be too late, but there is still a huge bag of 2AA holders in the
space, from the Artweeks bleeping/blinking/linking devices. I count 34
of them (and 4 more if we start disassembling the incomplete blinkers).

Glyn

[Tim Stephens]

It's too late: I have 6xAA holders here already for this project. They'll be more compact than using three 2xAA holders.
Tim

[Tim Stephens]

Hi,

Almost all of the parts for the LED light painting kits have been delivered (I'm only waiting for 5V regulators to turn up). Jake, Glyn, Jane/Hugh, Lauren, Peter, Phil (or whoever wants to assemble the space's strip): we need to agree on a mutually suitable time to hold the assembly part of this workshop.

In terms of timing, I'd imagine that someone skilled in the art of soldering stuff together could comfortably manage this in a couple of hours by themselves. Since we're going to have some group inertia by virtue of us being a group of 6, I suggest that we allow at least twice that amount of time. We can either hold the assembly part over a couple of evenings (perhaps a pair of Mondays), or maybe as one session on a weekend afternoon. What do you think?

Tim

> On 2 Mar 2015, at 22:42, Tim Stephens <@> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> We held the first part of the light-painting workshop series in the space last Monday, and it was awesome fun. We took a bunch of photos using my LED strip and Hugh's various light-sources (including EL wire, colour-changing LEDs, torches, and laser pointers). For part 2 of this series, I'd like to spend some time helping you to make your own LED painting rig. To do this, you'll need to go shopping for some parts (or you may have some of them kicking around at home). I've made what I think is a complete bill of materials here:
>
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17faO5wq0rpBXEE63fIpT_wOazihE3WijWMtckUwkPCI/edit?usp=sharing
>
>
> Several of these things (including the LED strip) are shipped from China, so may take up to four weeks to arrive. There's also some things that are in quantities larger than you'd need to just make the kit, so a group-buy may save a few pounds in shipping fees and create less wastage.
>
> If you'd like to make a strip (or even just buy some of the components as a group), post here and we'll see what we can work out.
>
> Once everyone who's interested has bought the parts, we'll arrange to get together to assemble the strips and make some more pictures.
>
> Cheers,
> Tim
>
> (For part 3, I was thinking of using a microcontroller of some sort to make something that will go into a bike wheel for true persistence-of-vision effects -- let me know your thoughts).
>

[iamthespaceinvader .]

Happy with either option; mondays or weekend afternoons are fine for me.

Maybe put up a doodle?

Phil

[Tim Stephens]

> On 25 Mar 2015, at 23:27, iamthespaceinvader . <iamthespa...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Happy with either option; mondays or weekend afternoons are fine for me.
>
> Maybe put up a doodle?

Was going to do that once I know what the preferred format is: I figured it would be a bit complicated if I just offered a poll with lots of options.

> To post to this group, send email to oxford-h...@googlegroups.com.

[Lauren Hutchinson]

I'd prefer a weekend for work reasons if possible, or alternatively if we could squish it into a pair of Thursdays that would work for me, but opinions may vary on the practicality of that. We'd definitely have interesting things to show social night though.  Thanks Tim!

[Jane Charlesworth]

Weekends are pretty crammed for me bc of roller derby games coming up.

Thursdays would be my preferred option. Mondays, I may be able to do, but some Mondays I may be coaching derby!

Jane

On 25 March 2015 at 22:29, Tim Stephens <t...@tjstephens.com> wrote:

[iamthespaceinvader .]

Thursdays are also viable for me, for the record.

Phil

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[Tim Stephens]

On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 09:46:39AM +0000, Jane Charlesworth wrote:
> Weekends are pretty crammed for me bc of roller derby games coming up.
>
> Thursdays would be my preferred option. Mondays, I may be able to do, but
> some Mondays I may be coaching derby!

I think that Thursdays are not a great idea because we'd need all of the table space that we currently have available (unless you imagine waiting until we expand into the new space) and we'll need it to be quiet enough that we can ask and answer questions.

Tim

[Glyn Kennington]

Tim Stephens wrote:
> In terms of timing, I'd imagine that someone skilled in the art of
> soldering stuff together could comfortably manage this in a couple of
> hours by themselves. Since we're going to have some group inertia by
> virtue of us being a group of 6, I suggest that we allow at least
> twice that amount of time. We can either hold the assembly part over a
> couple of evenings (perhaps a pair of Mondays), or maybe as one
> session on a weekend afternoon. What do you think?

Evenings work best for me, but I can do weekends with a bit more
notice.

Glyn

[Jake Adams]

Over the next few weeks i'm free whenever

Jake

[Peter Lister]

On 25/03/15 22:29, Tim Stephens wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Almost all of the parts for the LED light painting kits have been delivered (I'm only waiting for 5V regulators to turn up). Jake, Glyn, Jane/Hugh, Lauren, Peter, Phil (or whoever wants to assemble the space's strip): we need to agree on a mutually suitable time to hold the assembly part of this workshop.
>
> In terms of timing, I'd imagine that someone skilled in the art of soldering stuff together could comfortably manage this in a couple of hours by themselves. Since we're going to have some group inertia by virtue of us being a group of 6, I suggest that we allow at least twice that amount of time. We can either hold the assembly part over a couple of evenings (perhaps a pair of Mondays), or maybe as one session on a weekend afternoon. What do you think?

There's never anyone in (well, apart from Yves or Hugh) when I do the
key on a Tuesday...

A non-Thursday weekday evening is probably best, though I can't
currently guarantee any date at all. Currently I'm away for a week until
Fri 3rd (Good Friday), and also booked on the 8th and 9th, but I may
need to zoom off up to Cumbria at short notice.

So y'all organise a time and I'll come along if I'm around.

Peter

[Jane Charlesworth]

I absolutely can't do Tuesdays or Sundays and I'm away from the 1st to the 6th and Saturday the 11th. If that helps.

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[Tim Stephens]

Hi,

I've made a doodle poll of days that suit me, and the link is here:

https://doodle.com/vdfz9bsi6mfbpmn6

Please could you fill in when you can make it (if we end up choosing weekday nights, then we'll need more than one).

Also, since all of the parts are now here, I know what the final costs will be:

If you needed an Arduino (Jane/Hugh, Jake, Hackspace, Peter), then it's £20.03
If you are bringing your own Arduino (Lauren, Glyn) it's £17.14

Cheers,

Tim

> On 27 Mar 2015, at 14:11, Jane Charlesworth <janepip...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>
> I absolutely can't do Tuesdays or Sundays and I'm away from the 1st to the 6th and Saturday the 11th. If that helps.
>
> On 26 March 2015 at 18:58, Peter Lister <pe...@quignogs.org.uk> wrote:
>
> On 25/03/15 22:29, Tim Stephens wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Almost all of the parts for the LED light painting kits have been delivered (I'm only waiting for 5V regulators to turn up). Jake, Glyn, Jane/Hugh, Lauren, Peter, Phil (or whoever wants to assemble the space's strip): we need to agree on a mutually suitable time to hold the assembly part of this workshop.
>
> In terms of timing, I'd imagine that someone skilled in the art of soldering stuff together could comfortably manage this in a couple of hours by themselves. Since we're going to have some group inertia by virtue of us being a group of 6, I suggest that we allow at least twice that amount of time. We can either hold the assembly part over a couple of evenings (perhaps a pair of Mondays), or maybe as one session on a weekend afternoon. What do you think?
> There's never anyone in (well, apart from Yves or Hugh) when I do the key on a Tuesday...
>
> A non-Thursday weekday evening is probably best, though I can't currently guarantee any date at all. Currently I'm away for a week until Fri 3rd (Good Friday), and also booked on the 8th and 9th, but I may need to zoom off up to Cumbria at short notice.
>
> So y'all organise a time and I'll come along if I'm around.
>
> Peter
>
>
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[Peter Lister]

Thanks for getting the order, Tim.

I doodled, but may have to drop out at short notice.

I have a 3m length of PVC section with a nice flat side that would make
a nice light structure.

I'll use one half for my strip.. anyone want the other half?

Peter

[Jake Adams]

I'll take the other half, if you don't mind

Sent using CloudMagic

[iamthespaceinvader .]

If people need mounting material I have plenty of plywood and various sizes of solid wood.

Phil

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[Jake Adams]

Are we meeting tonight?
Jake

[Glyn Kennington]

Jake Adams wrote:
> Are we meeting tonight?

The results from the Doodle poll (so far) suggest not.

Glyn

[Tim Stephens]

Hi Everyone,

The results of the poll are in, and the first time that we can all manage is on Wednesday 15th April at 19:00.

So, we'll begin assembly of your light-painting rigs on that day. My estimate is that there'll probably need to be a couple of evening sessions to get everything finished, but we can schedule the second one(s) once the first is over – I hope that after the first proper session, you'll all know what needs doing and won't need my support to get things finished.

What you'll need to bring:

1) Cash to pay for your kit - either £17.14, or £20.03 depending on whether you're going to need an Arduino or not
2) Laptop to program the Arduino -- ideally with the Arduino tool installed.
3) SD card to put images onto. It is possible to load them into the Arduino, but this is inconvenient.
4) 6xAA batteries
5) An idea for how you'll mount the strip onto something long and straight – I used zip-ties, but the back of this LED strip has some self-adhesive tape that might work.
6) Lots of cool ideas for photos that we can take (for which you'll need a camera capable of long exposures – up to 10s ought to do it).


What we'll cover:

1) How to lay out the circuit on the prototyping board
2) Soldering skills (If you've soldered before, I'll skip this)
3) Assembly
4) How the algorithm works, and what the code is doing
5) Where to get the code from, and how to install it
6) Pictures!!!


Cheers,

Tim

[Peter Lister]

On 29/03/15 09:17, Jake Adams wrote:
>
> I'll take the other half, if you don't mind
>

It's yours. I'll cut the length into 2x 1.5m sections for ease of carrying.

Peter

[Jane Charlesworth]

Hi Phil, 

I think we'll need mounting material (we = Hugh and me). I've just finished a 5-day boat trip, so am not fully back with things yet, though - will need to re-read Tim's emails, I think!

cheers

Jane

[iamthespaceinvader .]

I can provide, given a little notice to go out into the shed and find it!

Phil

[Jake Adams]

Thank you
Jake

[Tim Stephens]

On Wed, Apr 01, 2015 at 09:44:19PM +0100, Tim Stephens wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
>
> The results of the poll are in, and the first time that we can all manage is on Wednesday 15th April at 19:00.

Hope to see you all tonight.

Tim

[iamthespaceinvader .]

Yep, see you tonight.

I'll bring verious possible bits of mounting material as well as a saw to cut it to size and a workbench to set up outside if need be.

Phil

Tim

[Lauren Hutchinson]

Thanks Phil, I may take you up on that :)

L

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[iamthespaceinvader .]

The main thing I think I'm missing is a box to put it all in, but I'll look at the spec and see what I have.

Phil

[Peter Lister]

Oh sod it.

I didn't update the Doodle. I'm still up in Cumbria, so I won't be around this evening.

Apologies to all. In particular sorry Jake, but the PVC section is still sitting in the garage. Can you lay your hands one something to tie the LED strip? You're welcome to the PVC when I'm back.

Have fun.

I'm due back Thursday.

Peter the Forgetful

[iamthespaceinvader .]

I'll bring some spare bits.

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[Jake Adams]

Don't worry Peter, I can wait
Thank you anyways
Jake

[iamthespaceinvader .]

Hi Tim

Can you post the github links from your presentation yesterday please?

I didn't think to note them down and in the unlikely event I do manage to get things finished this afternoon it would be good to try things out!

Phil

[Jane Charlesworth]

Tim, I think you snuck off before I could say thanks, but thanks for such a fun and challenging workshop! Hopefully Hugh and I will finish ours soon.

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[Tim Stephens]

Hi Everyone,

I hope that you enjoyed the workshop last night.

On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 09:31:33AM +0100, iamthespaceinvader . wrote:
> Hi Tim
>
> Can you post the github links from your presentation yesterday please?

Heh. I just started my mail program to post a link to the slides that I used ;-)

https://www.icloud.com/keynote/AwBUCAESEPHUY6EGhn5NxT7LydeDeUYaKWFAp2SmSF3ytoFuJiPRyOaH3fcjuK4ifmYkQWCIUtG5_x1kkXrX71C3MCUCAQEEIKmqenqguOK8PhKAfBawa40QJEgih_0KYMtIyBvV2WTM#LightPainting_Workshop_(part_2)

To shortcut:


The Adafruit library to drive the LED strip is here -- you'll need to install this first and then restart your Arduino environment:

https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_NeoPixel

and my code is here:

https://github.com/timstephens/LightPainter-Arduino


You all seemed to be getting on well with your projects, so would you prefer to spend a bit of time working on them by yourself, or would another formal session be better? (Peter, I realise that you missed last night -- what works for you?)

Cheers,
Tim

[iamthespaceinvader .]

I intend to head down to the space this afternoon after work and see how much more progress I can make before the masses descend.  If I can finish so much the better, but I doubt that's likely.

Whether or not I do, I thnk another formal session would be useful in order to do some testing and programming with someone who knows the system around.

Phil

Cheers,
Tim

[Jake Adams]

Well, I've almost finished mine, but I would think that another session would be good for testing/taking photos using them.

Thank you for the great workshop,

Jake

[Jake Adams]

I just tried to compile/upload the code to the arduino (i do have the adafruit neopixel library installed) and got this error: 

SDReadLightPaint.ino:3:20: fatal error: Serial.h: No such file or directory
Thank you again,

Jake
On Thursday, 16 April 2015 09:54:51 UTC+1, TimS wrote:

[Peter Lister]

> You all seemed to be getting on well with your projects, so would you prefer to spend a bit of time working on them by yourself, or would another formal session be better? (Peter, I realise that you missed last night -- what works for you?)

Looking like Mum's return home delay until later next week. I'm back when I'm back, so everyone else should just do your own thing. I'm OK to build myself and do the programming.

How long before half a dozen of you can simultaneously do your light paintings on a single exposure?

Peter

[iamthespaceinvader .]

I finished soldering the board today (i think) with the exception of the battery and connecting the led strip itself. So hopefully the hackspace light wand should be ready following the next workshop.

phil

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[Tim Stephens]

> On 16 Apr 2015, at 16:20, Jake Adams <jacoba...@ymail.com> wrote:
>
> I just tried to compile/upload the code to the arduino (i do have the adafruit neopixel library installed) and got this error:
> SDReadLightPaint.ino:3:20: fatal error: Serial.h: No such file or directory

Hmmm. This is odd.

The error is telling you that the header file for Serial communication couldn't be found. It compiles on my laptop with the exact same code as you got from Github without any errors.

...

I've just turned on verbose output during compilation and I get a warning about the missing header file. Maybe the settings about what is called a warning and what is an error have changed (my Arduino tool isn't the most recent release), or maybe there's a difference between different OS platforms (assuming you're not using a Mac -- I am).

I've deleted the line from the code, and pushed it to github, so you should get yourself a new copy (by downloading again, or syncing your repo), or just delete the line in the editor.

Cheers,
Tim

> Thank you again,
> Jake
> On Thursday, 16 April 2015 09:54:51 UTC+1, TimS wrote:
>
> Hi Everyone,
>
> I hope that you enjoyed the workshop last night.
>
> On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 09:31:33AM +0100, iamthespaceinvader . wrote:
> > Hi Tim
> >
> > Can you post the github links from your presentation yesterday please?
>
>
> Heh. I just started my mail program to post a link to the slides that I used ;-)
>
> https://www.icloud.com/keynote/AwBUCAESEPHUY6EGhn5NxT7LydeDeUYaKWFAp2SmSF3ytoFuJiPRyOaH3fcjuK4ifmYkQWCIUtG5_x1kkXrX71C3MCUCAQEEIKmqenqguOK8PhKAfBawa40QJEgih_0KYMtIyBvV2WTM#LightPainting_Workshop_(part_2)
>
> To shortcut:
>
>
> The Adafruit library to drive the LED strip is here -- you'll need to install this first and then restart your Arduino environment:
>
> https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_NeoPixel
>
> and my code is here:
>
> https://github.com/timstephens/LightPainter-Arduino
>
>
> You all seemed to be getting on well with your projects, so would you prefer to spend a bit of time working on them by yourself, or would another formal session be better? (Peter, I realise that you missed last night -- what works for you?)
>
> Cheers,
> Tim
>

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[Jake Adams]

I will give it a try, thanks

[Jake Adams]

Hi, just tried the new code (on my windows machine) and got this error: Arduino: 1.6.3 (Windows 8.1), Board: "Arduino Uno"

C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\libraries\SD\src\utility\Sd2Card.cpp:26:17: fatal error: SPI.h: No such file or directory

 #include <SPI.h>

                 ^

compilation terminated.

Error compiling.

  This report would have more information with

  "Show verbose output during compilation"

  enabled in File > Preferences.

Thank you for helping, Jake

[Tim Stephens]

On Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 07:46:40AM -0700, Jake Adams wrote:
> Hi, just tried the new code (on my windows machine) and got this error:
> Arduino: 1.6.3 (Windows 8.1), Board: "Arduino Uno"

You have an Arduino nano.

>
> C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\libraries\SD\src\utility\Sd2Card.cpp:26:17:
> fatal error: SPI.h: No such file or directory
>
> #include <SPI.h>

Try adding #include <SPI.h> to the top of the Arduino code.

Tim
`

>
> ^
>
> compilation terminated.
>
> Error compiling.
>
> This report would have more information with
> "Show verbose output during compilation"
> enabled in File > Preferences.
>
>
> Thank you for helping, Jake
>
> On Thursday, 16 April 2015 22:56:36 UTC+1, TimS wrote:
> >
> >

> > > On 16 Apr 2015, at 16:20, Jake Adams <jacoba...@ymail.com <javascript:>>

> > an email to oxford-hackspa...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>.

> > > To post to this group, send email to oxford-h...@googlegroups.com

> > <javascript:>.

> > > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/oxford-hackspace.
> > > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
> >
> >
>

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[Peter Lister]

> You have an Arduino nano.

While this needs to be correct, it should only affect code generation, not compiling.

> > C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\libraries\SD\src\utility\Sd2Card.cpp:26:17:
> > fatal error: SPI.h: No such file or directory
> >
> >  #include <SPI.h>

Dumb question,  but I'll ask anyway... do the supplied basic examples, e.g. Blink compile and load OK?

Peter

[Tim Stephens]

> On 17 Apr 2015, at 16:50, Tim Stephens <t...@tjstephens.com> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, Apr 17, 2015 at 07:46:40AM -0700, Jake Adams wrote:
>> Hi, just tried the new code (on my windows machine) and got this error:
>> Arduino: 1.6.3 (Windows 8.1), Board: "Arduino Uno"
>
> You have an Arduino nano.
>
>
>>
>> C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\libraries\SD\src\utility\Sd2Card.cpp:26:17:
>> fatal error: SPI.h: No such file or directory
>>
>> #include <SPI.h>
>
> Try adding #include <SPI.h> to the top of the Arduino code.

Fwiw, I installed the Arduino tool on my pc at work, and it compiled once I added this line.

Tim

[Jake Adams]

It Worked!!

Thank You,

 Jake

[iamthespaceinvader .]

Is there a plan for another workshop evening on this?

If not I'll aim to come down Thursday evening and get it finished, hopefully.

Phil

[Tim Stephens]

On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 09:32:13AM +0100, iamthespaceinvader . wrote:
> Is there a plan for another workshop evening on this?
>
> If not I'll aim to come down Thursday evening and get it finished,
> hopefully.

No plan as yet. I'm not available this week or next week, or the week after, but could _perhaps_ squeeze in something on a Saturday afternoon. Otherwise, it'll be some time during w/c 11th May.

Anyone else have any view?

Tim

[iamthespaceinvader .]

I should be able to do a Saturday if that is preferable, but I'm not in a huge rush and I'm reasonably happy to see whether I can get it working on my own.  I'll confirm further after Thursday evening on that score!

Phil

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[Lauren Hutchinson]

As for me I'm slowly working on it on my own and can't promise to be as fast as others because of other space priorities over the next 2-3 weeks. I would be happy to take it slow if that's easier, or if people want to meet again soon I might end up finishing mine later outside the class and asking some questions. As you like, Tim. 

I've really enjoyed the hands-on nature of this as well, thank you again for running it. 

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[iamthespaceinvader .]

So, I've got it all wired up and the code successfully compiled and uploaded and no magic blue smoke came out but all it does is run red lights in sequence up the first ten or so LEDs - is it possible to diagnose the problem?  We've got a blank SD card with just one GIF image loaded in it (I've also tried with BMP with no luck) and pressing the buttons doesn't do anything.

Is it possible that I've wired the buttons so that they are at 90 degrees from how they should be?  If so, how would I tell?

Phil

[Tim Stephens]

On 23 Apr 2015, at 20:03, iamthespaceinvader . <iamthespa...@gmail.com> wrote:

So, I've got it all wired up and the code successfully compiled and uploaded and no magic blue smoke came out but all it does is run red lights in sequence up the first ten or so LEDs - is it possible to diagnose the problem?  We've got a blank SD card with just one GIF image loaded in it (I've also tried with BMP with no luck) and pressing the buttons doesn't do anything.

You need an uncompressed 24bit bitmap image, not a gif. The files should be named 0.bmp, 1.bmp, etc.

If you get dancing red lights (one after another) up the chain, then that might mean that the "advance" button is being pressed. You can save up to (I think) 16 images, and the light tells you which one will play when you press the "start" button.

Is it possible that I've wired the buttons so that they are at 90 degrees from how they should be?  If so, how would I tell?

Probe the voltage on the relevant pin on the arduino. Should read 5v when the button is released, and 0v when it's pressed. 

Tim

[iamthespaceinvader .]

I've fixed that, now and the select button works (i.e. it advances the red LED) but with the correct image type correctly names, it won't do anything.  Putting the arduino IDE on with serial monitoring returns either Waitng> Nothing read > Done in sequence, or SD card not read' - I think I can't make it read the SD card.Glyn is having the same issue...

Can you suggest anything.

Phil

[Glyn Kennington]

iamthespaceinvader . wrote:
> I've fixed that, now and the select button works (i.e. it advances the red
> LED) but with the correct image type correctly names, it won't do
> anything. Putting the arduino IDE on with serial monitoring returns either
> Waitng> Nothing read > Done in sequence, or SD card not read' - I think I
> can't make it read the SD card.Glyn is having the same issue...
>
> Can you suggest anything.

I am suspicious of this bit:

pinMode(10, OUTPUT);
if(!SD.begin(12)) {

As the docs[1] say I should be using the Chip Select pin for begin()
there (which we have wired up to D10, according to the diagram).

However, changing it to call begin(10) doesn't make any difference.

Glyn

[1] http://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/SDbegin

[Tim Stephens]

t...@tjstephens.com

> On 23 Apr 2015, at 20:55, Glyn Kennington <glyn@.co.uk> wrote:
>
> iamthespaceinvader . wrote:
>> I've fixed that, now and the select button works (i.e. it advances the red
>> LED) but with the correct image type correctly names, it won't do
>> anything. Putting the arduino IDE on with serial monitoring returns either
>> Waitng> Nothing read > Done in sequence, or SD card not read' - I think I
>> can't make it read the SD card.Glyn is having the same issue...
>>
>> Can you suggest anything.
>
> I am suspicious of this bit:
>
> pinMode(10, OUTPUT);
> if(!SD.begin(12)) {
>

You're right to be suspicious - that looks like a mistake on my part. In my defence, my light strip is built with a Leonardo that spi on the programming header only, so I mixed around the connections when I was drawing the schematic for your nanos.

> As the docs[1] say I should be using the Chip Select pin for begin()
> there (which we have wired up to D10, according to the diagram).
>
> However, changing it to call begin(10) doesn't make any difference.
>

Try some of the examples from the sd card library (which should be available with your arduino tool) to see if they will read from the card. Also, what if you remove the call to pinMode(), which might be upsetting the config of the ss pin.

Tim

[iamthespaceinvader .]

Well... I was hoping to get this working today, but when I arrived it seemed to have stopped being able to connect to the USB...  Not sure quite how to proceed from here - it's not even drawing power, though I'm certain that the USB port is supplying it.  And accordingly, I can't really proceed with trying to fix/debug the code (if I even knew how) as I can't reprogram the arduino.

Halp!

Phil

[Tim Stephens]

If you're running Windows, and you plugged the Arduino into a different USB port than you used last time, it may have enumerated as a different com port in Windows, which will mean that your arduino environment can't see it. To fix this, you need to make sure that the correct port is selected in the Tools->Port menu.

Tim

--

[iamthespaceinvader .]

Nope, ubuntu.

I tried my own arduino and various other USB devices which all worked, whilst the nano won't even draw power from the computer, even completely disconnected from the light stick board. I'm hypothesising that something is (physcially or programmatically) screwy with its USB port.

It works from the batteries and the code on it is still operating as it was on thursday, so I'm not quite sure what's up.

I'm heading home now, anyway, if some enterprising soul wants to fix the thing on behalf of oxhackers everywhere and gets there before I do, I'd be glad for you to do so!  It's in the corner camouflaged in the pile of bits of wood.

Phil

[Jamie Lokier]

iamthespaceinvader . wrote:
> Nope, ubuntu.
> I tried my own arduino and various other USB devices which all worked,
> whilst the nano won't even draw power from the computer, even
> completely disconnected from the light stick board. I'm hypothesising
> that something is (physcially or programmatically) screwy with its USB
> port.

Could that be due to the solder bridge that is required on our Nano
clones to make them reliable?

-- Jamie

[iamthespaceinvader .]

Possibly; I'm not sure how I'd check.  Nothing obviously looks broken, but I wouldn't really know what to look for.

Phil

[Glyn Kennington]

Tim Stephens wrote:
> t...@tjstephens.com
>
> > On 23 Apr 2015, at 20:55, Glyn Kennington <glyn@.co.uk> wrote:

[...]

> > I am suspicious of this bit:
> >
> > pinMode(10, OUTPUT);
> > if(!SD.begin(12)) {
> >
>
> You're right to be suspicious - that looks like a mistake on my part. In my defence, my light strip is built with a Leonardo that spi on the programming header only, so I mixed around the connections when I was drawing the schematic for your nanos.
>
> > As the docs[1] say I should be using the Chip Select pin for begin()
> > there (which we have wired up to D10, according to the diagram).
> >
> > However, changing it to call begin(10) doesn't make any difference.
> >
>
> Try some of the examples from the sd card library (which should be available with your arduino tool) to see if they will read from the card. Also, what if you remove the call to pinMode(), which might be upsetting the config of the ss pin.

I got no luck with the CardInfo example either, so I tried connecting
the Arduino and the card reader directly, without the rest of the
circuit, and all was well. It turned out I had shorted two terminals
while connecting the header for the SD module.

After fixing that, and changing the "SD.begin()" to use 10, it works.

Glyn

[Tim Stephens]

> On 29 Apr 2015, at 19:56, Glyn Kennington <@.co.uk> wrote:
>
> After fixing that, and changing the "SD.begin()" to use 10, it works.

Wicked. :-)

I'll push an update to the code on GitHub (unless you'd like to send a pull request).


Tim

[Glyn Kennington]

Probably best to do your own - I've already forked and started making
more intrusive changes.

Glyn

[iamthespaceinvader .]

Were there any further ideas on what might be up with the one at the space?

Phil

[Glyn Kennington]

iamthespaceinvader . wrote:
> Were there any further ideas on what might be up with the one at the space?

The Arduino in it seems dead. Not visible via USB, no power LED when I
connect either the battery or the USB cable.

This could mean that there's already a bad connection that shorted
something out, so I'm unwilling to plug in another Arduino to test it
immediately.

Glyn

[iamthespaceinvader .]

Hmm...

It was working when I connected the batteries last time I looked (i.e. the power lights came on, and pressing the select button advanced the red LEDs up the strip), just not the USB.  I guess something is indeed shorted somewhere.

I'll see if I can find the time to come down and check all the connections shortly, maube this weekend sometime.

Phil

Glyn

[Glyn Kennington]

iamthespaceinvader . wrote:
> It was working when I connected the batteries last time I looked (i.e. the
> power lights came on, and pressing the select button advanced the red LEDs
> up the strip), just not the USB. I guess something is indeed shorted
> somewhere.
>
> I'll see if I can find the time to come down and check all the connections
> shortly, maube this weekend sometime.

I checked, and found two places where the exposed wires had been
scrunched down over each other's joints, permitting intermittent
connections: D12-ground, and D11-D12, which are items #1 and #2 on "10
Ways To Destroy An Arduino"[1].

After trimming them all a bit (and resoldering one after I yanked it out
- doing it with pliers is unreliable), I got it to a state that I didn't
mind plugging my own Arduino in. It now works. Anyone wishing to play
with it still needs to provide...

an Arduino Nano or clone
an SD card with the correctly-formatted BMPs on it
a camera (or possibly webcam+software?) that can do long exposures

When we next have some wire clippers, I recommend trimming those exposed
strands down further.

Glyn

[1] http://www.ruggedcircuits.com/10-ways-to-destroy-an-arduino/

[iamthespaceinvader .]

Ah, I did wonder if it might be something like that D:

I was going to bring my side cutters down next time I was coming and trim them!

I'll buy a new nano for the space to go in it, given that it was my error and all.

Phil

[iamthespaceinvader .]

Replacement arduino arrived!  I shall bring it down sometime, possibly tonight, and try again!

Phil

[Phil Barber]

It liiiiiives!

phil