Rablcube

Wow, end of week 6 already! I really need to update more often, so much to say. We are nearing the middle of the semester and no matter how much I do, I still feel I am behind on something. I have been and am still pretty swamped with all the work I have from everything University related this year. So much to do, so little time.

I am progressing well on the design but I need to really press on and get it finalised so I can start the build and coding.  Only recently have I got internet at my flat and this has really set me back over the past few weeks. I am currently focusing on my other modules to catch up as I have important tasks in them soon. I recently had to give a 5 minute presentation on my project then answer questions and that seemed to go well so I think I know what I am talking about so far. We still have the hardware side and the software side to this project and both are presenting me with some pretty unique tasks and problems.

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16 LED Cube

The project has officially begun. I am currently in the research and development stages of my volumetric display.

The list of hardware I will use has been narrowed down to 2/3 choices for each major component. One of the main aims in Embedded systems design is to use the cheapest and lowest spec components you can. This saves money, time in development and space. I am sure you will all have noticed your mobile phones are fairly small and cheap?

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Current progress with my designs is slow but I expected as much as I am working often so that I can afford to go back to University. I have managed the time to work out the basics and the requirements so far.

Hardware/Circuit Design: The brainstorming session produced many designs that were drawn out and planned only to find they wouldn’t work or were rather over complicated. This lasted many days. After some research, a hardware component was discovered that would make things easier, the dedicated LED controller for LED displays. With this imported in to the design, a reasonable first draft (Beta v0.1) took shape over the next 2 weeks.

This design consists of the cathodes (-) of each column of LEDs being connected and controlled by LED controllers and the anodes (+) of each separate layer connected and controlled by the main micro-controller. Beta v0.1 is the first version where all the LEDs can be controlled separately without any ghosting or cloning. (i.e. Multiple LEDs lighting up with just one signal due to sharing wires.) This design uses multiplexing of the controller in that each of the 4 layers are “flashed” in succession at a high speed so that it appears to the human eye as if they were all on at once.

Beta v0.2 will be a completely different design as I am still exploring the pros and cons of different wiring structures.

Programming: Languages: Currently the C programming language looks like the major candidate for the firmware and the software.

Other: Storage of 3D Models, Real Time USB Control, Techniques, Background – No Progress.

TO DO: There will be some pictures posted to the project photo album of circuit designs, notes and diagrams.

I wrote about this a while back over on my personal blog, I am just copying over what I wrote so I do not lose it. This is not very formal writing.

20th May 09: “Good news everyone.” It is as I said above which means I got a great project. My supervisor, a one James T Herd, is an awesome lecturer and great guy. He seems really enthusiastic about the project as I am. He has gotten me thinking along the lines of new ways to implement this design and better ways than those I can find on the internet. With the resources of a University he has shown I can get dedicated LED driver (controller) chips and implement any design structure or wiring I prefer. As with most final year projects it is the student who has free reign (almost) over how it is executed and does all the work. So now I am looking forward to a summer of researching electronics (geeky eh?), LEDs and controllers (chips). I even get to look in to new ways to store 3D information and then an in depth look at the psychology of this type of display along with how the brain and eyes react to it. If this isn’t exactly what I am interested in then nothing is. Can you tell I like this yet? If that wasn’t good to start then this is, he suggested before I could that we should make it expandable and if possible look in to creating a 16*16*16 controller. (Not necessarily build it yet, time permitting.) That is much bigger than I had hoped for. 4096 LEDs each with 3 LEDs inside resulting in 12,228 LEDs all capable of somewhere between 128 and 4096+ colours. I might build this even if I don’t have time in Uni.

Time to go plan out a simple version, 3*3*3 possibly.

18th May 09: “One last thing to do before I don’t have to go back in to Uni and that is my 4th year project introduction. I got given my first choice project which is pretty cool, I think most people (but not all) did. My project (if I pass 3rd year) will be a full colour (R.G.B.) 3D LED display similar to this, I think. I’ll find out soon enough, but it sounds really interesting anyway no matter what it is there will be some really hard and fun challenges not shown in that example like fully using a high speed USB connection to the computer and programming a PIC micro controller to display at least 4096+ colours if not many more. So it should be even better than that example. This type of display is called a volumetric display as you can display 3D objects on it, this is a pretty low resolution of course but its better for showing shapes than a flat screen. I will attempt to program it with various shapes, letters and random light effects if I get the time and then upload the videos. I also hope to propose an expansion to it, possibly from 4×4x4 up to 5×5x5 or even 8×8x8 depending on PIC or processor restrictions. Although lets not get ahead of ourselves here, this is about a year away yet. Looking forward to it.”

Welcome to the blog for my 4th year University project. The Rablcube, as it is currently named, will be a 3D volumetric display made up from RGB (Red, Green, Blue) LEDs. The first version will be a 4*4*4 net then there may be some work on larger versions such as an 8*8*8 if I have time. It will be controlled by a micro-controller and also have a USB link to a computer. More info later.

Rablcube ~ (rah-bull-cube)