Thread: Fire Flies

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Originally Posted by sumrtym

Real fireflies light for a second or two and fade out, a very bright yellow. I can't imagine living somewhere without fireflies.

Speaking of which, years ago, I actually saw glow worms while fishing out at a small lake at night. Little worms glowing bright yellow like fireflies, that was a new one on me.

I wonder how long that dude fished with glow worms before he caught something. lol

The grain of wheat bulbs will probably work but I find them to be too big, try the grain of rice or the 1.2mm bulb.

You got me cracked up when I imagined standing under a tree looking at the flies caught in the branches and saying to myself "well, how the hell did they get up there?"

Having the light directional is desireable if you don't have a controller turning the bulb on and off. With the card on the bulb the card cuts off the light to the viewer and the bulb appears to wink. I would think a highly directional LED would be similar.

I grew up in L.A. I remember seeing fire flies on rare occasions as a kid. (I've also seen rain in L.A.) I haven't seen them here in over 30 years. I have seen them in other states too. I recall the light as being a pale yellow-green, but pale. My girlfriend, who comes from PA, says the green is nothing like a real fire fly. I didn't intend it to be. I chose green because it is the color I had laying around and I thought, hey, they are in a haunt, they may as well be toxic fire flies. The I played with the idea of making them blue or red too but in the end chose green. The important part was making the light bright enough to see easily, pin point and not so large or bright as to iluminate the card or wire they hang from.

Thanks for the compliment IndianaHolms

Google firefly magic or go to FIREFLY LIGHTS by FIREFLY MAGIC ® FIREFLIES LIGHTING

Hey Gravedigger. Yeah, I saw those lights before and have wanted them. I've wanted them in a bad way. I'm guessing the color is really close but I have little knowledge of the real deal. There were two reasons I haven't bought those lights. First, they are static. Second, they cost too much for me. But, they sure would be cool to have out in your yard all year.

I would agree with the price... I assume static means you wouldnt put a fan on them like you do now? What I liked was the controler that adjusted/blinked the light. cant contol brightness, but going back to what someone else said... prop1

It has been a long time since I looked at those lights in detail. I recall they were just heavier than what I need and wired together like christmas lights. I just figure they are too heavy to float easily in a draft of air. They look fantastic, but would probably do better in shrubs, like the advertisement. Some year, I'll get into the prop1.

indianaholmes,
Any chance of getting the code? I have a prop1 but never used it, and thought that maybe this would be a good place to start if I didnt need to figure out how to code.

thanks
-gg-

Originally Posted by indianaholmes

Yes, it is a prop1 microcontroller. The cost on these is around $40, with the start up accessories a little more. They run randomly with the actual lighting anywher from 250 milliseconds to 1 second and the off times are random as well. There are eight outputs on the controller, but I only had 5 bulbs. As for your cards, I would think that if you made them smaller and painted them black, they would become practically invisable. I may have to give your tutorial a try. Don't think it will be this year though. Too much going on right now. But thanks for posting this. I will be bookmarking it for later.

I have three versions.I will post them in three different replies; I did not write thes programs, I only tweeked them. This first was written by Jon at EFXTEK.COM He is the ultimate Guru of coding a basic stamp.



' ================================================== =======================
'
' File...... Fireflies.BS1
' Purpose...
' Author.... Jon Williams
' E-mail.... jwilliams@efx-tek.com
' Started...
' Updated...
'
' {$STAMP BS1}
' {$PBASIC 1.0}
'
' ================================================== =======================


' -----[ Program Description ]---------------------------------------------


' -----[ Revision History ]------------------------------------------------


' -----[ I/O Definitions ]-------------------------------------------------


' -----[ Constants ]-------------------------------------------------------


' -----[ Variables ]-------------------------------------------------------

SYMBOL theBug = B2 ' selected output
SYMBOL level = B3 ' brightness level
SYMBOL mask = B4 ' position mask
SYMBOL lit = B5 ' lit this cycle
SYMBOL check = B6 ' test result
SYMBOL delay = W4 ' timing delay
SYMBOL lottery = W5 ' random value


' -----[ Initialization ]--------------------------------------------------

Reset:
lit = %00000000 ' reset all flies


' -----[ Program Code ]----------------------------------------------------

Main:
RANDOM lottery ' stir random value
theBug = lottery // 8 ' select pin 0..7
READ theBug, mask ' get position mask
check = mask & lit ' test this position
IF check > 0 THEN Main ' if not zero, try again
lit = lit | mask ' mark this position

Bug_On:
FOR level = 0 TO 255 STEP 5 ' ramp on
PWM theBug, level, 1
NEXT
HIGH theBug

Bug_Hold:
RANDOM lottery
delay = lottery // 750 + 250
PAUSE delay ' wait 0.25 to 1 secs

Bug_Off:
FOR level = 255 TO 0 STEP -5 ' ramp down
PWM theBug, level, 2 ' a little slowly
NEXT

Inter_Bug_Delay:
RANDOM lottery
delay = lottery // 250 + 250
PAUSE delay ' wait 0.25 to 0.5 secs

IF lit = %11111111 THEN Reset ' all bugs lit this cycle?
GOTO Main ' no, keep going


' -----[ Subroutines ]-----------------------------------------------------


' -------------------------------------------------------------------------


' -----[ EEPROM Data ]-----------------------------------------------------

Bit_Masks:
EEPROM (%00000001, %00000010, %00000100, %00001000)
EEPROM (%00010000, %00100000, %01000000, %10000000)

Same program but tweeked;

' ================================================== =======================
'
' File...... Firefly2.BS1
' Purpose...
' Author.... Jon Williams, EFX-TEK
' E-mail.... jwilliams@efx-tek.com
' Started...
' Updated...
'
' {$STAMP BS1}
' {$PBASIC 1.0}
'
' ================================================== =======================


' -----[ Program Description ]---------------------------------------------


' -----[ Revision History ]------------------------------------------------


' -----[ Variables ]-------------------------------------------------------

SYMBOL idx = B2 ' loop controller
SYMBOL theBug = B3 ' pin to light
SYMBOL last = B4 ' last pin lit
SYMBOL stpSize = B5 ' to control PWM speed
SYMBOL level = B6 ' brightness level
SYMBOL delay = W4
SYMBOL lottery = W5 ' random value


' -----[ Program Code ]----------------------------------------------------

Main:
FOR idx = 1 TO 3
RANDOM lottery ' stir random number
NEXT

theBug = lottery // 6 ' select pin, 0 to 5
IF theBug = last THEN Main ' don't repeat
last = theBug ' save for next cycle

Bug_On:
RANDOM lottery
stpSize = lottery // 8 + 1 ' randomize loop speed
FOR level = 0 TO 255 STEP stpSize ' brighten
PWM theBug, level, 1
NEXT
HIGH theBug

On_Time:
RANDOM lottery
delay = lottery // 151 + 50 ' 150 to 300 ms
PAUSE delay

Bug_Off:
RANDOM lottery
stpSize = lottery // stpSize + 1 ' off no slower than on
FOR level = 255 TO 0 STEP -stpSize
PWM theBug, level, 1
NEXT
LOW theBug

Off_Time:
RANDOM lottery
delay = lottery // 250 + 500
PAUSE delay
GOTO Main

' -------------------------------------------------------------------------

This version was written by Steve O'Conner from Garage of Evil. I like this one too.

'================================================= ========================
'
' File: fire_flies2
' Purpose: A different take on the "fire flies" LED program
' Author: Steve O'Connor
' E-mail: steveo@garageofevil.com
' Started: August 27, 2007
' Updated: N/A
'
' {$STAMP BS1}
' {$PBASIC 1.0}
' {$PORT COM1}
'
' ================================================== =======================


' -----[ Program Description ]---------------------------------------------
' My version of JonnyMac's very cool fireflies program. The intent of this
' version was to randomize the PWM ramp-up and down times to make the fireflies
' more natural. The "playlist" was also removed.

' -----[ Revision History ]------------------------------------------------
' N/A
' -----[ Variables ]-------------------------------------------------------

SYMBOL Bug = B2
SYMBOL Lottery = W5
SYMBOL Brightness = B4
SYMBOL PINCheck = B3
SYMBOL WaitTime = W6
SYMBOL Duration = B1
SYMBOL Duration_Stir = B8
SYMBOL Startdur = B7



' -----[ Program Code ]----------------------------------------------------

Main:

FOR Duration_Stir = 1 TO 10 'Stir the variables up

RANDOM Duration
RANDOM startdur
RANDOM Lottery
NEXT

Bug = Lottery // 6
Startdur = Startdur // 255
Duration = Duration // 256 + 150

IF PINCheck = Bug THEN Main 'Don't light the same Bug
'twice in a row

FOR Brightness = Startdur TO Duration STEP 1 'Light the Bug
PWM Bug, Brightness, 1
NEXT

HIGH Bug
PAUSE 300

FOR Brightness = Duration TO Startdur STEP -1 'Fade the Bug
PWM Bug, Brightness, 1
NEXT

RANDOM Lottery 'Stir Lottery again
WaitTime = Lottery // 250 + 500 'Use Lottery value for the
PAUSE WaitTime 'time between Bugs being lit

PINCheck = Bug 'Remember which Bug lit last

GOTO Main



' -------------------------------------------------------------------------