Sound triggered LED project

[Gryd3]

OK if we can do like what you described...then we dont have to follow the kipkay circuit. The GIF is my ultimate goal. But its not like leds are on 1 side...they will cover the whole surface of the sculpture
What I have here is a rough structure of the build...it looks kinda like human sperm cell right now without the dendrites and synapses

What Im thinking is we can chain the leds in strings, each string go from 1 dendrite to 1 synapse (indicated by different color) we will have from 5 to 8 strings like that to go around the sculpture. Or if you have any better idea that allows lower number of leds but still bright enough we will do it! trying to save some money on leds...oh each string i think will have from 50 to 60 leds What do you think? what important is all the dendrites have to light up at the same time and when light reaches synapses, the synapses light up at the same time also.

Not a problem lighting groups at a time.
Do you have access to components, or will you need to order them?
50-60 LEDs per 'string' will easily turn into 200+ LEDs. I don't personally see a need for any more than 3 or 4 strings. (Should allow one or two strings to be visible at a time.

 

[softtissue]

yes...then the dendrites belong to 1 group and the synapses belong to another group?...that will make it less complicated since the number of dendrites and synapses are different. All dendrites light up first--> light travels along the body---> all synapses light up. Do i get it right? the light travels along the whole body doesn't matter how high or low the volume is? only thing that is affected is the speed?
ok we will do 4 strings, i just need to make the sculpture slimmer but still the same required length (>36 inches)

 

[softtissue]

I am in US and theres a radioshack store nearby, itll be easy to get stuff. And ebay takes 4-5 days to delivery. Oct 1 is the due day of the project I hope we have enough time

 

[softtissue]

oh and one more thing...we can not put the leds on any board because that makes it impossible to put on the sculpture, we can only use wire to connect them. And the main board that contain chips and stuff will be put on the head where the nucleus is. Once again thank you for your patience Gryd3

 

[Gryd3]

oh and one more thing...we can not put the leds on any board because that makes it impossible to put on the sculpture, we can only use wire to connect them. And the main board that contain chips and stuff will be put on the head where the nucleus is. Once again thank you for your patience Gryd3

Understood.
Wiring of the LED's may be a little bit of a challenge for you.
I'll explain now so you can think about it.
I'm building the circuit now in LTSpice. I'm new to the program and am running into a couple problems though. I'll try to get them sorted out.
Once it operates as desired I'll get it posted for you.


Anyway... back to the LEDs.
There are multiple ways of doing this, but this should be the easiest to wire and will require less resistors.

See the picture... Each segment on your neuron will have a 'string' of LEDs around it. Each string has it's own signal wire to turn on. Each string can have up to 8 LEDs depending on color may be less.
Note the colors. The colored wire is the 'enable' wire to turn it on. The Black wire is common to ALL strings of lights.
So... If you want 18 seperate groups of LEDs to flash down the line, you will need 18 'enable' wires, and 1 wire to provide power.

 

[softtissue]

yeah it makes sense thanks to the image. So instead of strings going along the length of the sculpture we'll wrap them a round it. That will look nice and clean on the mid part of the sculpture for sure but how about the dendrites and synapses? they are like tree branches and we need 1 led on each of their tips. Would that make the dendrites and synapses 2 different sets of leds?

 

[Gryd3]

yeah it makes sense thanks to the image. So instead of strings going along the length of the sculpture we'll wrap them a round it. That will look nice and clean on the mid part of the sculpture for sure but how about the dendrites and synapses? they are like tree branches and we need 1 led on each of their tips. Would that make the dendrites and synapses 2 different sets of leds?

well, if you make the wires a little longer, you can put the LEDs anywhere you want, just so long as the wires are still connected the same way.
You know how christmas lights are wired right? One light burns out and part of the string stops? We will be wiring your LEDs the same way.
Take a look at this:
http://paomura.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/picture-1.png?w=545
'Electrically' we are connecting ours the same way as the "Series" part of that picture on the bottom. We are being a little creative to cut down on some of our wire.
Each 'segment'.. ie every 'set' of lights that is supposed to turn on/off at the same time will be wired like this. The wires will run to the circuit board which will control them.

 

[softtissue]

ohhh ok got it!
I also have this speaker from an old electric organ

will we be able to wire it to the circuit?...just want to make sure before i remove it
What do i need to prepare, previous post you told me to get op amp, transister...can you be more specific so i won't get the wrong item, and quantity too.

 

[Gryd3]

I can give you a mental list... but I don't have specific values just yet for some of the parts.
1x LM324 Quad Op Amp
?x SN74HC164 8-Bit shift Register. (This can control up to 8 groups of LED. Do the math to find out how many groups you want)
?x 2N3904 NPN-type transistors. (You will need one for each group you want to control. If your group has any more than 6 or 7 LEDs, add an extra)
Collection of various resistors.
Collection of various small value capacitors.
LEDs!!

Will these be ordered online, or do you have a local source? Do you have a multi-meter and breadboard to build and test your circuit on before you solder it all together?

 

[softtissue]

I will have to order some of the stuff online ...LEDs in store are way more expensive if I buy in large quantity. if I place an order in the next 24 hours I'll get them between Tuesday and Friday next week. There's also a store nearby.
I have a multi meter, soldering iron, bread board I'll buy.

 

[Gryd3]

Oh.. and the speaker you want to use...
Unless you want to build or buy an audio amp to drive the speaker, It may be easier for you to use a 3.5mm Y-adaptor and use a pair of powered computer speakers.

 

[softtissue]

I thought we just need to wire it and it will spit out the sound it turns out more complicated than that. The speaker there is to let people see that the LEDs really react to music, I have to have it. The whole sculpture will look awkward if connected to the computer speakers since the requirement states that every component added to the sculpture must be visually and conceptually integrated into the final idea. If we can stick it on the sculpture it'll look more like something organic being taken over by machine which is the idea I have in mind. I'm being picky and annoying I know But since we are both interested in creative kinda works, I think you'll understand. Electronics is art!

 

[Gryd3]

Well, Basic audio amps can be made, or you can buy something like this: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11044
It's your call.
You need to plug semething into sculpture to play the music (like a cell phone or MP3 player) I figured you could get away with a small set of speakers beside, or under your sculpture.
I'm going to try to finish up the circuit today and I'll post the component requirements,

 

[softtissue]

i found this speaker http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5mm-Mini-...t=US_Audio_Docks_Speakers&hash=item51c383bfcc small enough to hide and with a 3mm 1 male 2 females adapter to connect to the mp3/phone...yeah?
So if i understand it correctly, things will turn out like this (not 100% accurately illustrated but...)

yeah??

 

[Gryd3]

haha, yeah,
Exactly like the picture.
Will it need to be battery powered?

 

[softtissue]

I want to plug it to the wall
I'm feeling so excited

 

[Gryd3]

I want to plug it to the wall
I'm feeling so excited

You will need an AC to DC adaptor. I will not be designing one. It's safer and easier this way.
Do you have any spare kicking around?

 

[softtissue]

yeah i do...12V is enough? I can always buy if we need something stronger.

 

[Gryd3]

yeah i do...12V is enough? I can always buy if we need something stronger.

There are two numbers we need on there.
12V , and how many A, or mA ?
The first will dictate parts for the design, the second will be a limit on how many LEDs can be used in total.

 

[softtissue]

input 100V-240V
output 12V DC 2000mA
If the circuit requires more than that I'll find something else, everything sort of spins around the design of the circuit so I'll try to get whatever needed to support it. Just do the circuit as you want.