Has anyone built the pack lights using a Basic Stamp Micro-controller? I have acquired one and I am now trying to quickly implement it before Halloween.
Darkstar2k
Here is the program I worked out. Not the cleanest but it did the job.
Main:
LOW 0
PAUSE 100
HIGH 4
PAUSE 100
HIGH 5
PAUSE 100
HIGH 6
PAUSE 100
HIGH 7
HIGH 0
LOW 1
PAUSE 100
HIGH 8
PAUSE 100
HIGH 9
PAUSE 100
HIGH 10
PAUSE 100
HIGH 11
HIGH 1
LOW 2
PAUSE 100
HIGH 12
PAUSE 300
HIGH 2
LOW 3
PAUSE 400
HIGH 3
LOW 12
LOW 11
LOW 10
LOW 9
LOW 8
LOW 7
LOW 6
LOW 5
LOW 4
GOTO Main
END
What are your pins hooked to?
I reallize that that seems to be a simple program but using that many high/low commands kind of bogs down the Stamp and uses tons of memory. I’ve been using the Pics myself and have run into that problem. Another thing you might run into is overloading of the ouputs too much current will fry the chip.
Personally I like to use the Pics /Stamps for circuits that I can’t build or control using conventional electronics. I’m thinking you are using the stamp to control the scrolling light bar which can easily be built without the stamp. Now the gun lightbar can also be built without the stamp using a LM3914 and a triangle wave generator.
The Cyclotron lights are hooked to IO pins 0-3. The bargraph are pins 4-11 and 1 light in the gun is pin 12.
As to the question of overloading. I am using NPN transistors to switch power to the LED’s so the stamp is not directly driving the LED’s.
I realize I could have done it with a simpler circuit but I could not find the chips I needed in the short time I had but I did have the Basic Stamp handy.
It also did work perfectly.
Darkstar2k