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Programmable LED

Inspired by various LED Throwies, blinking LEDs and similar instructables I wanted to do my version of an LED controlled by a microcontroller.

The idea is to make the LED blinking sequence reprogrammable. This reprogramming can be done with light and shadow, e.g. you could use your flashlight.

How is it done?

It consists of an LDR, an LED and a tiny microcontroller. I used a ATtiny13v which is able to run with 1.8V. That makes it easy to power it with smallest batteries or even fruits.

schematic

Prototyping

All components can be easily used on a breadboard. Be aware, that you will need a separate programmer or an ISP adapter to program it.

The final version

The final version is powered by a CR2032 cell. It should have enough power for at least two weeks, depending on the light sequence it plays.

I have done a step-by-step instructable here.

IMGP1144

Here are some responses to the instructable

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 9th, 2007 at 22:51 and is filed under avr, led, instructable. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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9 Responses to “Programmable LED”

  1. servant74 Says:
    July 18th, 2007 at 13:10

    Interesting .. It would be neat to put a little solar power to it (solarbotics has some neat circuits, to store power when available into capacitors).

  2. Alex Says:
    July 19th, 2007 at 01:00

    I have been already searching for solar panels, but haven’t found the right size. At least not in Germany. And I thought, we were such a “green” country …

  3. Black Says:
    July 22nd, 2007 at 01:37

    Black…

    OMG! I cant beleive it….

  4. Electronics-Lab.com Blog » Blog Archive » Reprogrammable LED Learns and Plays Back Light Sequences Says:
    October 2nd, 2007 at 21:48

    […] Programmable LED - [Link] […]

  5. Bill Strickland Says:
    March 28th, 2008 at 13:10

    I would like to see how flashes propagate and patterns emerge if the rectangular grid is wrapped around a torus. (Need more units, in that case, probably.)

  6. Ken Says:
    May 8th, 2008 at 05:17

    Hey Alex,

    Your project is fascinating. This is my first step away from from Arduino, so I’m learning. I’ve got it breadboarded and your hex file uploaded, but I’m not getting the expected output. When powered up, I get five slow flashes, followed by a burst of quick ones. After 8 - 9 seconds, I get another burst of quick flashes, and that is it. Any ideas where to look? The LDR is 30K dark, 3k roomlight. If I used your hex file, the make file isn’t relevant, right (newbie question)?

  7. Alex Says:
    May 8th, 2008 at 07:50

    Hi Ken,

    that depends on what you expected ;)
    It looks if it is working already. The slow flashes show the power up cycle. The fast flashes signal the start or the end of the recording mode. At start up the controller is in recording mode, so you can try to use a flashlight to program a sequence.
    If it is not responding, try to experiment the THRESHOLD value in the source file.

    And no, the makefile is only relevant if you compile it from source.

    HTH, cheers,
    Alex

  8. DIY Wearable Electronic - Sew on some bling - talk2myShirt Says:
    May 10th, 2008 at 16:30

    […] idea for the mimeolight was inspired by Alex Weber’s Programmable LED Instructables project and by research at the Craft Technology […]

  9. DIY Wearable Electronic - Sew on some bling | Design & Technology Says:
    May 11th, 2008 at 12:46

    […] idea for the mimeolight was inspired by Alex Weber’s Programmable LED Instructables project and by research at the Craft Technology […]

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