Displaying messages with only 7 (or 4) LEDs on a stick...

[skimask]

Yup ErnieM,
I was thinking about this "when to start to wave" problem.
This is also why I would have appreciated to get some code examples...
In all website (many thanks to MisterE 'cause I didn't know how to call this type of gadget before his post) where I could find information, there is no mention about a mouvement sensor in the case of handheld models.
My assumption was to repeat the message sequence endlessly and you modulate the wave speed to make it readable.
Or is it not that way it works?
So, if anybody else knows...

I suppose it can go both ways...either you trigger it (mercury switch, IR LED, acclerometer, heck, maybe even a neuro-muscular-interface wired into your wrist), or your hand rocks in sync with the program, maybe dial it up or down with a pot or something.

[Pic_User]

I always wanted to make a strip of LEDs that was on a truck body or mounted on an upright pole on a motor vehicle. This single strip of LEDs would be synchronized to the speed of the vehicle. People standing on the side of the road would see the full color “banner” poster, as it swooshed past them!
Or
Maybe, a single pole beside the highway. A single strip of LEDs that could be synchronized to the speed (read by RADAR) of the vehicle. The people moving by would see a full-length bill board, but the “sign” would be a single piece of conduit. No wind loading no blocking the scenery.

Probably not enough speed for the illusion, but a fun “what-if” experiment.....
-Adam-

[skimask]

I always wanted to make a strip of LEDs that was on a truck body or mounted on an upright pole on a motor vehicle. This single strip of LEDs would be synchronized to the speed of the vehicle. People standing on the side of the road would see the full color “banner” poster, as it swooshed past them! Or Maybe, a single pole beside the highway. A single strip of LEDs that could be synchronized to the speed (read by RADAR) of the vehicle. The people moving by would see a full-length bill board, but the “sign” would be a single piece of conduit. No wind loading no blocking the scenery. Probably not enough speed for the illusion, but a fun “what-if” experiment.....
-Adam-

You'd have to focus out in the distance to keep your eyes from tracking the object up close.
Neat idea, and has obvious advantages...but I don't think the average human being operating the average human eye would actually 'LET' it work...unless of course they'd been drinking

[Pic_User]

You'd have to focus out in the distance to keep your eyes from tracking the object up close.
Neat idea, and has obvious advantages...but I don't think the average human being operating the average human eye would actually 'LET' it work...unless of course they'd been drinking

So we sell beer on the ads!

[paul borgmeier]

I always wanted to make a strip of LEDs that was on a truck body or mounted on an upright pole on a motor vehicle. This single strip of LEDs would be synchronized to the speed of the vehicle. People standing on the side of the road would see the full color “banner” poster, as it swooshed past them!
Or
Maybe, a single pole beside the highway. A single strip of LEDs that could be synchronized to the speed (read by RADAR) of the vehicle. The people moving by would see a full-length bill board, but the “sign” would be a single piece of conduit. No wind loading no blocking the scenery.

Probably not enough speed for the illusion, but a fun “what-if” experiment.....
-Adam-

Not to participate (to much) in the hijacking of Flotu's thread, but here is the closest thing I have seen to what Adam describes (I believe someone else pointed this product out a year or ago here on this very forum - I cannot find the reference so here it is again)

[mister_e]

OMG... 'kitsch' but interesting at same time.

[Toley00]

Hello Flotulopex,
I did something like that for students school project. I did it very simple with a posicle stick and a little block of wood. I use 7 leds, a PIC16F627A and a CR2032 battery. The trick is to generate an interrupt at the beginning of the movement, for doing it I simply use a bolt soldered on a steel wire. The longuest part is to write character table. I have tu use PORTA cause I needed PORTB for the interrupt pin RB0 and the programming pins also. The bad thing is that RA5 can't be use as an output so I needed to use 5x7 matrix on PORTA without RA5. I splitted each character in 5 parts (lower case, higher case, numbers and french caracters also) and I did a routine that send them as needed. I'm not home at the moment and I don't have any schematic picture or code but I can post some parts of the code if you want.

[flotulopex]

Thanks for all your infos.

I get a better view of what I'll have to do now.

Toley00, thank you for your offer about your code but... for now, I would like to make my own one (I don't like to spoil my fun) If I'm stuck, I'll ask you again.

I was just really missing this info about finding the correct "display start point" for the beginning of the movement...

[Ioannis]

If you don't want to make your own sensor, you might use one of the vibration sensor used in the alarm systems to sense glass breakage. They are adjustable so you can set the sensitivity.

Ioannis

[Kamikaze47]

The trick is to generate an interrupt at the beginning of the movement, for doing it I simply use a bolt soldered on a steel wire.

Toley00: Could you explain how you did this? I'm having trouble visualizing how a bolt soldered on a wire helps. Cheers.