Arduino Sled build thread...

Dr. Quigley · Nov 17, 2011

So, for the CMASS night launch, I'm adding a PL bay to my Initiator w/ some clear tubing and some lights, powered by none other than the Arduino! For those of you who don't know, it's a little robot thing that you can program using a subset of C/C++, or just straight up C/C++. It's website is here.

A comparison of the Arduino to a quarter:

Back of the board:

Let's begin! First, I need to make some rings. I made two, but only photographed one. Don't know why. I made them by bending it into a circle-like shape, sizing it in the tube, then wrapping the loose ends over the coil to secure it.

Then, I made some wires to go through drill holes on the board and secured them to the rings:

Finally, I added some wire struts to the two rings to make them stable.

That's it for today. Tomorrow, I'll add some LEDs and electrical tape for insulation, then program it. The PL will be constructed, and then it'll be ready for this weekend!

Dr. Quigley · Nov 18, 2011

Time to finish!
Here is a photo of the sled, some tape, my wire, and some LEDs I have lying around.

I'm admittedly not sure which ones of these are red, so I had to test some to get 5 red LEDs. But I got some.

Let's begin again! I added some electrical tape to the rings to both insulate them from the Arduino and to keep them from scratching my tube. Also, I test-fitted the battery pack, but I wasn't able to fit it AND the breadboard(not pictured). Oh well.

It's ALIVE!!!!

Then, I did some tests to see if the LEDs would work in parallel, which I wasn't sure would work, as I was using PWM to fade them. But it did! Note in the photo I only wired up the first two.

When this succeeded, I wired up the other three, so I'd have two pairs that fade on and then shut off and one that flashes 3 times. Done!

The code, in C++, for those of you interested:

Code:

/* ArduLightSled
    Code for a light sled used in the PL bay of my Initiator. Controls LEDs on pins 9 and 10, each pin w/ 2 LEDs wired in parallel, and 11, a single LED.
*/

void setup()  {
  //  We need to do this for all pins that we use digitalWrite() on.
  pinMode(11, OUTPUT);
}

void loop()  {
  //  An example of using a function in the Arduino. It is below.
  //  Fades the bottom two LEDs
  fade(9);
  //  Fades the upper two LEDs
  fade(10);
  
  //  Flashes the last LED for extra flair.
  for(int i = 0; i <= 3; i++)  {
    digitalWrite(11, HIGH);
    delay(100);
    digitalWrite(11, LOW);
    delay(100);
  }
}
  
//  A function. I wrote this because I was too lazy to write multiple FOR loops.
void fade(int pin)  {
  for(int i = 0; i <= 225; i++)  {
    analogWrite(pin, i);
    delay(2);
  }
  analogWrite(pin, 0);
}

eggplant · Nov 18, 2011

Video please! In the rocket!

jms · Nov 18, 2011

Awesome! A fellow Arduino-er! Subscribed

jms · Nov 18, 2011

Are you going to power this with a 9V? Liquidware has nice lithium backpacks for the Arduino that don't weigh a ton and are rechargeable.

eggplant · Nov 18, 2011

Dr. Quigley and I are working on modding a nosecone to have an Arduino inside that blinks LEDs that will be more permanent. We are also looking into making a deployment timer that can be used as a backup just in case the engine fails to deploy.

jms · Nov 18, 2011

Cool. Are you using an Uno or a Pro or something smaller?

eggplant · Nov 19, 2011

We both have Uno's. Considering the rocket is 4" diameter, it shouldn't be a problem.

Dr. Quigley · Nov 22, 2011

eggplant said:
Video please! In the rocket!

Eventually, it'll fly... things at CMASS did not go as...planned...for my Initiator. (Stupid G64! At least I got it back!)

jms said:
Are you going to power this with a 9V? Liquidware has nice lithium backpacks for the Arduino that don't weigh a ton and are rechargeable.

I was planning on shoving a 9v battery in there for now, but now that I have some time to get some stuff, I'll probably get a lithium pack. Thanks for the suggestion!

Dr. Quigley · Nov 22, 2011

eggplant said:
Dr. Quigley and I are working on modding a nosecone to have an Arduino inside that blinks LEDs that will be more permanent. We are also looking into making a deployment timer that can be used as a backup just in case the engine fails to deploy.

Not an Arduino, an ATTiny, remember?
I've got the PCB ALMOST done, KiCAD refuses to let me place custom air wires to connect to a button cell holder. Does anyone know, by the way, how to do that?

Arduino Sled build thread...

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Dr. Quigley

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