Vipercat on 14/9/2009 at 14:31
I have a project to build and not really any idea of who to go to for help
What I want to do is create a board with 90 lights arranged in a 10 x 9 grid that can each be switched on individually using one keypad if possible. I could achieve this by installing 90 switches to turn the lights on and off but that seems a little excessive so i wasthinking that i could probably do it with a pic and multiplexers but i have no idea how to program a pic or make a circuit board to accomodated the multiplexers, can anyone point me in the right direction ?
Al_B on 15/9/2009 at 06:54
A few questions:
* What type of light are you wanting to control? LED or something larger?
* Do you have a keypad already that you want to use?
* Do you have a budget in mind for the project?
What you want is certainly do-able, but without more information it's a little difficult to make recommendations.
Vipercat on 15/9/2009 at 07:26
I will be using LED lights but i do not have any parts as yet, I am just tryingto get an idea of what would be involved and how much it would cost. I could just get a power supply and run lots of wires and lots of switches and resistors to solve the problem but it seeems to me that there should be a more elegant way of doing it
37637598 on 15/9/2009 at 08:58
This keypad, will it have a button for each LED? Or are you planning on typing in a code to address certain LED's? Such as "A 0-9" to "I 0-9"?
x.0.1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9
A.x.x.x.x.x..x.x.x.x.x
B.x.x.x.x.x..x.x.x.x.x
C.x.x.x.x.x..x.x.x.x.x
D.x.x.x.x.x..x.x.x.x.x
E.x.x.x.x.x..x.x.x.x.x
F.x.x.x.x.x..x.x.x.x.x
G.x.x.x.x.x..x.x.x.x.x
H.x.x.x.x.x..x.x.x.x.x
I..x.x.x.x.x.x..x.x.x.x
Is this literally just something so you can turn on and off lights? or will there be any intelligence or sensory functions in the circuit? As for pricing, that depends on if you're planning on ordering from a dealer or a wholesaler.
Vipercat on 15/9/2009 at 14:20
The LEDs are going to each be lighting up a number from 01 - 90 for the purpose of bingo style calling. I was thinking of having a keypad that has numbers 1 - 9 plus * & # that way i could enter a two digit number and press # to turn on that number etc etc if a mistake was made then i could either retype that number to clear it or press * and maybe * & # together to clear the whole board
Muzman on 15/9/2009 at 14:47
Oh, you want this sort of thing:
(
http://evilmadscience.com/tinykitlist/71)
Or something along those lines that those guys make.
It's probably a bit more complicated than necessary, however. I have seen simple display boards around like what you want. I think one of the old Dick Smith project books had a simple LED display in it. It probably wouldn't be too hard to scale up.
Since Dicko's isn't that great for this stuff any more, if you wandered into a Jaycar or similar hobby store I'm sure the nerds there could point you in the right direction.
Al_B on 15/9/2009 at 22:07
I second the "get some local advice" suggestion. Using a PIC to interpret a keypad and scan through a matrix of LED drivers will probably do what you want, but if you're not experienced at PIC programming, circuit design or construction you'll face a very steep learning curve.
The "90 switches and LEDs" is certainly not elegant but would be easier to get working. You'd have to make sure the power supply has enough capacity to continuously drive the LEDs and you'll have less control over how many lights are displayed at once. Any solution is going to require a fair bit of wiring - just for the LEDs if nothing else.
