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TOPIC: Lightsaber w/ Bluetooth Color-changing
Lightsaber w/ Bluetooth Color-changing 1 year 3 weeks ago #69996
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Taking a breather from standard installs to have some fun experimenting.
Tore open a color changing lightbulb to get at its Bluetooth LED driver. Luckily, it seems to work fine on a 3.7v power source. A spare hilt and an RGBW Cree XML later... |
Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 3 weeks ago #69998
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Very cool, and creative!
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Imagine what you will know tomorrow....
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Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 3 weeks ago #69999
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Kouri wrote:
Tore open a color changing lightbulb to get at its Bluetooth LED driver. Luckily, it seems to work fine on a 3.7v power source. A spare hilt and an RGBW Cree XML later...
 Cool! Here's an idea, maybe it's been thought of before or even done, Induction Hilt for complete wireless charging?  (much like a mobile phone sitting on a docking plate) Plausible? 
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Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 3 weeks ago #70002
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Amazing Bluetooth is the next big step in this hobby , Awesome Kouri. I've seen a few of Dmitry Shtok builds where he also has utilized this tech. What about Audio via blutooth any thoughts on that? Luv to be abler to wear a speaker on a cosplay outfit and reinforce sound thru that.
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Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 3 weeks ago #70013
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That's pretty cool!
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Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 3 weeks ago #70046
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OvrcAHst wrote:
Cool! Here's an idea, maybe it's been thought of before or even done, Induction Hilt for complete wireless charging? (much like a mobile phone sitting on a docking plate) Plausible?
Mmm~ maybe. I already have a 5v Li-Ion charging board that takes care of the voltage difference, so trimming a Qi receiver [example] to fit somewhere on the hilt is an idea... Not sure how well it would fit though.=Ottomatix= wrote:
Amazing Bluetooth is the next big step in this hobby , Awesome Kouri. I've seen a few of Dmitry Shtok builds where he also has utilized this tech. What about Audio via blutooth any thoughts on that? Luv to be abler to wear a speaker on a cosplay outfit and reinforce sound thru that.
Quick search shows me lots of videos with PL boards, so I'm imagining he's taking advantage of the much more robust Wireless RICE. I'm planning on trying that out with a Crystal Shard hilt I'm modifying.As for audio, bluetooth suffers from either high-latency or low-quality, so it's not really something I'd spend a lot of time looking into. That said, for my last trip to MegaCon, I prepared my Kylo hilt with a headphone jack, ran an audio cable up my sleeve, down my side, finally to a portable amp mounted on my belt. Folks heard that saber from across the convention hall. Brax wrote:
Very cool, and creative!
Jas-Ot wrote:
That's pretty cool!
Thanks guys! Minor update, but driver had no reception once the hilt was closed up. Got around that by soldering a piece of wire to the antenna traces and running that wire out through the pommel. Can now tweak colors from 20ft+ (7m+) away. 
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The following user(s) said Thank You: =Ottomatix=
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Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 2 weeks ago #70066
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Kouri wrote:
Mmm~ maybe. I already have a 5v Li-Ion charging board that takes care of the voltage difference, so trimming a Qi receiver [example] to fit somewhere on the hilt is an idea... Not sure how well it would fit though.
 never realised the receiver panel's size with consideration to the ID of a Hilt. Likely will minimally have to be a US mammoth in order to come close to fitting? 
Minor update, but driver had no reception once the hilt was closed up. Got around that by soldering a piece of wire to the antenna traces and running that wire out through the pommel. Can now tweak colors from 20ft+ (7m+) away.
Genius! Will make a cool party trick or literally a colour change on the fly (mid flight) disorienting the target as it appears one colour before projection and into another as it plummets towards them. 
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Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 2 weeks ago #70073
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OvrcAHst wrote:
Genius! Will make a cool party trick or literally a colour change on the fly (mid flight) disorienting the target as it appears one colour before projection and into another as it plummets towards them. I've actually been considering whipping up a couple of TFU2 hilts with these boards, but wired up so the driver is directly powered by the battery, so it's always-on with the kill-key removed. Clear polycarbonate handles with internal LEDs, and the hilt can glow the "crystal" color whether or not the blade is activated, similar to the concept art.
Need to clear out a few other builds before starting up on this idea, but it just seemed like a good fit since you can pause the game and swap blade colors at any time. |
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The following user(s) said Thank You: OvrcAHst
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Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 2 weeks ago #70082
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Kouri wrote:
OvrcAHst wrote:
Cool! Here's an idea, maybe it's been thought of before or even done, Induction Hilt for complete wireless charging? (much like a mobile phone sitting on a docking plate) Plausible?
Mmm~ maybe. I already have a 5v Li-Ion charging board that takes care of the voltage difference, so trimming a Qi receiver [example] to fit somewhere on the hilt is an idea... Not sure how well it would fit though.
Some light bending shouldn't be too much of an issue for the charger antenna's properties, but you might run into the same issue you had with the Bluetooth with the Qi receiver. The aluminum hilt of the saber would likely act as a sort of Faraday cage that might block most of the electric signal from getting through. |
Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 2 weeks ago #70086
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Inductive charging has two problems. The obvious one is that the coils would have to be mounted outside the main body, as the metal would interfere with the field, as others have mentioned.
The second is that the basic Qi standard is designed for charging mobile phones as per USB standards: 1A @ 5V. With only 5W, maximum, you'd barely have power for a low-light blade - certainly not the 12W beasts used by SF. There are higher-power versions of the spec - 25W has been discussed, to put it in line with USB 3/C's capabilities, but I don't know if there's modules for that, yet. |
Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 2 weeks ago #70087
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Really wouldn't worry about current; I don't think anyone's expecting to run the saber off a wireless connection. 1A Charging is more than enough - heck, all my current wall plugs are only 500mA.
As for mounting outside, yeah, I'd think pommel-mount with sound vents elsewhere on the hilt, or sandwhiched between the hilt and a leather wrap, if the curve didn't pose a problem. |
Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 2 weeks ago #70089
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Well, here's a list of some off-the-shelf coils used for charging:
http://www.digikey.ca/products/en/inductors-coils-chokes/wireless-charging-coils/75 Note that the coils have to lie flat, since they more-or-less have to rest against each other. |
Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 2 weeks ago #70093
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Kouri wrote:
I've actually been considering whipping up a couple of TFU2 hilts with these boards, but wired up so the driver is directly powered by the battery, so it's always-on with the kill-key removed. Clear polycarbonate handles with internal LEDs, and the hilt can glow the "crystal" color whether or not the blade is activated, similar to the concept art.
Need to clear out a few other builds before starting up on this idea, but it just seemed like a good fit since you can pause the game and swap blade colors at any time. Following! If there's a preliminary run to embark when this comes to life, I'm on board. 
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Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 2 weeks ago #70150
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Noted on the interest, heh.
As for this bluetooth controller, I've just about done what I can without the default app. If I had more time in the day and money in the bank, I'd probably invest in a bluetooth sniffer, crack the communication between the board and default app, and write up another app with better color control (think RGB main blade w/ white FOC on a Nano Biscotte or Obsidian V2+), but for now, I'm settling for knowing which buttons not to press to minimize glitches in the setup. Plan is to swap out the Obsidian v1 for a Blade Builder board and get creative with the wiring for at least a flicker on impact. Board will be wired to receive power directly from the battery, so the flash won't interrupt connectivity with the app. Swapping the replaceable battery with a wired battery and recharge port so (1) the hilt won't have to be opened again and (2) the kill key can prevent the bluetooth board from draining battery. I'm thinking a few pommel-mounted LEDs will act as a faux-crystal and help the end-user know when bluetooth is on and drawing power. |
Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 1 week ago #70280
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Electronics are done, just need to tackle a few aesthetic details.
Using a BladeBuilder board with 8ohm 1W speaker - much louder than the Obsidian v1 on a single cell, and now I've got a flicker on impact. Also prototyping that glowing hilt idea with a color-matching crystal pommel. Lights up when the kill key is pulled. Antenna wires running along some of the hilt grooves. 
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Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 1 week ago #70282
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Nice!
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Imagine what you will know tomorrow....
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Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 1 year 1 week ago #70284
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Bad assery level 100
Seriously, love the "kit bashing" approach to some of your builds. Really innovative and tons of creativity. Well done sir. |
Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 11 months 3 weeks ago #70849
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Updated video:
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The following user(s) said Thank You: OvrcAHst, Jas-Ot
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Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 11 months 3 weeks ago #70862
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Your video is down. Or at least isn't loading.
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Bluetooth Lightsaber Controls 11 months 3 weeks ago #70866
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Jas-Ot wrote:
Your video is down. Or at least isn't loading.
All clear on this end. |
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