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I'm starting this thread to allow Mr. Grimsley's "Dead Ringer" thread to get back on track. His idea for a ringing coffin bell evolved into a brainstorming session on how to create glowing and fading "footsteps" walking around a graveyard. I like Grimsley's concept and it needs to keep going in it's original location. So, with that said -
Long story short, I came up with a LED chasing/fading circuit based on a cheap board that's available at All Electronics. After working with it for a while, it was obvious that many new parts and some hacking would be needed to get this effect to work reliably. By the time you got done, the cost would be around $25 - $30, not including the LEDs, the wires, and a control system (555 timer circuit or similar) to turn the thing on and off.
I had been in touch with Jeff at Simple Circuit Boards to get some advice on an auto-shutdown method I was working up, and he mentioned that he could do this effect using a PIC-based circuit. He sent me a layout of the prototype and I think it looks very good. Easy to trigger, shuts off automatically after lighting and fading LEDs 1 through 10, and no assembly required except for the LED wires. The user would supply the current-limiting resistors (value dependent on the chosen LED), the LEDs and the wires. And, of course, the feet. He and I are tossing some details back and forth at this point, but he should have pricing info available very soon. Jeff could also supply the LEDs and wires for an additional price.
More to come...
Long story short, I came up with a LED chasing/fading circuit based on a cheap board that's available at All Electronics. After working with it for a while, it was obvious that many new parts and some hacking would be needed to get this effect to work reliably. By the time you got done, the cost would be around $25 - $30, not including the LEDs, the wires, and a control system (555 timer circuit or similar) to turn the thing on and off.
I had been in touch with Jeff at Simple Circuit Boards to get some advice on an auto-shutdown method I was working up, and he mentioned that he could do this effect using a PIC-based circuit. He sent me a layout of the prototype and I think it looks very good. Easy to trigger, shuts off automatically after lighting and fading LEDs 1 through 10, and no assembly required except for the LED wires. The user would supply the current-limiting resistors (value dependent on the chosen LED), the LEDs and the wires. And, of course, the feet. He and I are tossing some details back and forth at this point, but he should have pricing info available very soon. Jeff could also supply the LEDs and wires for an additional price.
More to come...