artlight

This repository supports similar applications that artfully animate light.

Currently, there is a cornhole, wall clock, nixie tube clock and golden clock application supported by this repository.

Golden clock (LED sunflower): https://youtu.be/tHdfZooGRxo

Nixie tube clock: https://youtu.be/5ZdNDDC60QM

Wall clock: https://youtu.be/0ISKXnE9frU

Parts

Golden Clock Parts

• 5V 20W power supply
• TinyPICO ESP32 development board
• SMD 0.1" pin headers for mounting TinyPICO to TinyPICO IO PCB
• 2 position JST PH connection header (bundled in TinyPICO ESP32 development board package) for +5V TinyPICO power
• 3 position JST SH connection header for LED SPI signals
• 4 position JST SH connection header for I2C interface with light sensor
• 1024 SK9822 5050 LEDs
• Barrel connector jack for +5V LED power
• 3 position 0.1" horizontal connection header for LED SPI signals
• TSL2591 light sensor
• Appropriate cables and connectors for wiring harness
• 12" interior picture frame

Nixie Tube Clock Parts

• Bill of Materials, plus...
• AC to 12V DC 1A wall mount power adapter
• 2 Harwin 15 pin 2.54mm pitch for SMT mount of Huzzah32 board
• 44 Harwin H3161-05 sockets for nixie tube pins

Optional off-board ambient light sensor for automatic dimming

• TSL2591 high dynamic range digital light sensor
• SparkFun Qwiic adapter TSL2591 qwiic mount
• 4 Jumper SSH-003T-P0.2-H X2 12" TSL2591 qwiic cable
• 2 Connector housing SH 4pos 1mm white TSL2591 qwiic connectors

Optional on-board motion sensor plugin module for automatic on/off control

• PIR detector I2C module
• Preci-Dip 851-87-006-10-001101 PCB connector PIR I2C mount

Optional base (something is required)

• 1 foot Cast acrylic tubing 2.000" OD x .250" wall thickness, cut into 9/16" slices. Four used as pedestals under PCB's nixie tubes.

Cornhole and Wall Clock Parts

Cornhole and Wall Clock Common Parts

• ESP32 board
• TSL2561 digital luminosity sensor breakout
• DotStar digital LED strips
• 2.1mm DC barrel jack (through hole)
• Wi-Fi range extender (optional)

Wall Clock Specific Parts

Additional parts for the clock application are

• 40 inch metal wall art
• Custom PCB board for microprocessor
• Custom PCB board for 12 o'clock ray
• Custom PCB board for other rays
• Mounting tape
• Power supply
• Power Y splitter
• 2.1mm DC barrel jack (surface mount)

Cornhole Specific Parts

Additional parts for the cornhole application are

• Cornhole board
• Custom PCB board
• Cornhole LED ring
• IR break beam sensor
• Vibration sensor
• On/off RGB switch
• Momentary RGB switch
• NPN bipolar transistors
• Resistors
• Power bank
• Magnetic mount

Construction

The PCB components were soldered on their respective boards. When Huzzah32 is powered by USB cable, the 5V power jumper must first be removed.

Golden Clock Construction

LED PCB design files and TinyPICO IO PCB design files

Solder LEDs and connectors to LED PCB. Solder TinyPICO and connectors to TinyPICO IO PCB. Build wire harness as necessary for mounting.

Nixie Tube Clock Construction

PCB design files

For structural integrity, use a thick (>= 2.0mm) PCB. Order PCB with a solder paste stencil. Use the stencil to distribute solder paste for all components under the nixie tubes and solder them with a hot air gun. Solder all other components individually, as appropriate. Press in pin sockets and solder from the bottom. Mount nixie tubes and place PCB on acrylic pedestals.

WARNING: The nixie tubes run at 170 volts. To reduce exposure, do not plug in until tubes are mounted and PCB is placed on acrylic pedestals.

Wall Clock Construction

PCB design (artlight.*) files with boards for mounting LED strips on rays

The microprocessor board is mounted on the back of the art with its luminosity sensor peeking through a hole drilled in the center. Power is routed and split between the microprocessor and 12 o'clock ray boards. SPI signals used to animate the individually addressable LEDs are cabled from the microprocessor board to the 12 o'clock board.

LED strips are mounted to the back of the wall art. To reduce wiring complexity, the 12 rays are supported by PCBs. 12 o'clock is different so there is a special board for it. Each ray is cut to length, an LED strip is cut to match, mounted with tape and soldered at the ends with LEDs advancing toward the center. The ray boards are then mounted to the back of the art using more of the same tape. Small strips are cut to bridge the arcs between ray bases, taped and soldered in place with LEDs advancing clockwise (from front!). Starting at 12 o'clock, strips are cut and joined together with wire to skirt the perimeter of the art (clockwise, from front). Only clock and data signals need to tunnel under the rays as 5V and GND can be tapped from the LED strip edges of adjacent rays.

Cornhole Construction

PCB design (artlight.cornhole.*) files

The power bank is mounted with strong magnets under the board so that it might easily be unplugged, removed, charged, replaced and plugged back in. Power from it may be switched on and off (with the on/off switch). Switched power is split between the microprocessor board, the ring LED strip and the high side of the RGB LEDs in all the switches.

The R, G and B LEDs in the switches are separtely pulse-width-modulated (PWM) to mix the preferred color of each. PWM switching is controlled indirectly through transistor circuits wired to the low side of the RGB LEDs of each switch. The momentary switch outputs (closed to ground) are wired to the microprocessor board inputs dedicated for them.

Vibration sensors are strategically placed (for best performance) under the board. The vibration sensor part may be changed to affect its sensitivity. Their shared (parallel) output (closed to ground) is wired to the microprocessor board input dedicated for them.

IR break beam sensors are mounted across the cornhole ring for the best coverage (2 orthogonal pairs seems adequate). Their shared (parallel) output (closed to ground) is wired to the microprocessor board input dedicated for them.

The LEDs that come with the cornhole LED ring are replaced with a clockwise (from the top) strip of 80 individually addressable LEDs. Their control lines are wired to the microprocessor board output dedicated for them. The ring is mounted under the board. For best results, the material above the LED ring should be transparent (for example, an acrylic ring) so that the lights under the board can be seen from above.

Use

Applications must be provisioned on a Wi-Fi LAN. Until this is done, they will offer their own Wi-Fi access point where they can be configured securely by a web browser (https://192.168.4.1). The SSID and password for Wi-Fi access must be entered. Optionally, an mDNS hostname may be given.

The reach of your Wi-Fi LAN may need to be increased to reach these devices. This is best done by repositioning the de