Author Archives: Glen

PIC18 Four-Channel DMX Relay Controller

Posted on October 3, 2017 by Glen

Halloween was right around the corner and I needed a timer with a bunch of relays to trigger some store-bought props and a fog machine periodically. (Mental note: read fog machine specs carefully—not all come with timer remotes.) My first … Continue reading →

Posted in CNC Milling, DMX / Art-Net, Fusion 360, Lighting, Microchip, PIC18 | Comments Off on PIC18 Four-Channel DMX Relay Controller

Driving a 48-Segment RGB LED Bar Graph with a Teensy 3.2

Posted on July 23, 2017 by Glen

In my post Driving a SparkFun 48-Segment RGB LED Bar Graph, I stated that the hardware built there could be used to drive the LED bar graph with any combination of hardware and software that could drive one of the … Continue reading →

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My Net Neutrality Comments for Proceeding 17-108

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Glen

I finished writing my comments to the FCC on net neutrality and Title II classification. In summary, I fully support maintaining the existing Title II classification and using that classification to enforce the existing net neutrality rules. Click through to … Continue reading →

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Creating Custom 3D Printed LED Bar Graphs

Posted on April 29, 2017 by Glen

While building my zombie containment unit, I decided I wanted some LED displays or bar graphs to complement the containment status video running on the smaller secondary video monitor. Some other containment units used LED air pressure gauges from eBay. … Continue reading →

Posted in 3D Printing, Fusion 360, Matlab | Comments Off on Creating Custom 3D Printed LED Bar Graphs

Hacking Allen Bradley Cluster Pilot Lights

Posted on April 2, 2017 by Glen

I was recently working on a project and wanted to incorporate one of Allen Bradley’s four-position, four-color cluster pilot lights into the project. A quick search of eBay found several lights with the lens colors I wanted but not at … Continue reading →

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Driving a SparkFun 48-Segment RGB LED Bar Graph

Posted on April 1, 2017 by Glen

I recently picked up a 48-segment RGB LED bar graph from SparkFun. The bar graph’s 144 LEDs are arranged in a common-anode matrix of 16 x 9 LEDs. I was hoping to drive the display with something like a Maxim … Continue reading →

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Tracking People with the Googly Eyes and OpenCV

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Glen

In part 1 of this series of posts, we built a giant set of robotic googly eyes. In part 2, we brought the googly eyes to life using an Arduino. In this post, we’ll use OpenCV to make the googly … Continue reading →

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Bringing the Robotic Googly Eyes to Life

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Glen

In part 1 of this series of posts, we built a giant set of robotic googly eyes. Now it’s time to animate them! To keep the project simple, we’ll use an Arduino Uno and a pair of Big Easy Driver … Continue reading →

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Build a Pair of Robotic Googly Eyes

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Glen

Build your very own pair of giant robot googly eyes! These eyes are built from laser cut acrylic panels and motorized using a pair of NEMA-14 stepper motors. This post is the first in a series of three posts. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Fusion 360, Robotics | Comments Off on Build a Pair of Robotic Googly Eyes

Color Kinetics ColorBurst 6 Teardown

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Glen

I’ve had three Color Kinetics ColorBurst 6 RGB LED fixtures in my front yard for about ten years now. They’ve survived numerous winter snowstorms and spring monsoons. Recently one of the three fixtures started taking on water and the blue … Continue reading →

Posted in Lighting, RGB LED, Teardowns | Comments Off on Color Kinetics ColorBurst 6 Teardown