Random LED's

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Deleted member 12930

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Alright, for an upcoming mod I have planned I need to have a TON of LED's randomly be turning on and off. Of course, this "randomness" doesn't have to be random at all. If it's just a series the LED's go through that's fine by me.

So, i'm wondering if there are any LED devices that involve a series of LEDs all lined up. I'll just move the LED's all over the place and out of order. That way it would go through the little series and not look so... synch'd together. (ie: i've seen some power LED's that are a series of about 10 that strobes from left to right).

Also, since the LED's would be on for as long as my computer is on. I'd want a way to instantly turn all the LEDs off except for say one or two (power and HDD access LEDs).

Hopefully you guys understand what I'm trying to get at. I kept this post vague because I don't want to give away the details about my new mod :) I've never seen it done before! :D if it comes down to it though, i'll post more details.
 
How big do you want the rows of LEDs?

As for randomness, you could use a few oscillators, to generate pulses at different frequencies.
 
Originally posted by NickTheNut
...i've seen some power LED's that are a series of about 10 that strobes from left to right)
And you can link several of the control chips together to make the series as long as you like. Details of an expandable 16-stage here that will run on 5v, or IIRC the CMOS4017B datasheet shows how to link several chips together to give a longer string.
 
Easy but more money: Led's with the internal flashing circuit built in. Runs off straight 5V (no resistor or other parts required), I think they flash around 3hz or so, but as each has it's own circuit it should be quite random (might start off nearly in synch, but should quickly get random because the timers are hardly precision). If you buy a good quantity you would probably get a price break.

Harder but cheaper: Some type of multi-channel flip-flop circuit driven by a 555 timer. The more flip flops, the more channels. Each channel could drive several conventional led's. Might need a transistor to switch the channel power depending on how many led's are on each leg. Would use conventional led's that can be had for cheap by the hundreds.

Even harder: Similar to above, but the led's are wired as a matrix (but placed where you want). Would probably require some transistors to switch the rows/columns.

I'll see if I can locate some example schematics tomorrow.

[edit] I think the phattest setup would be a micro-controller with a mix of random and pre-programmed patterns. Not that hard if you've got uc experience, but would be a little much otherwise. Just thought I'd toss that in. Look into the AVR uc if you're interested, there's a couple of threads further down discussing them.


[edit] Found this cool 3 color blinking led over at Electronix Express, just a quick Google, might be able to find for less. The simple on/off ones are much cheaper.

[edit again] Have a look at some of the light kits over at EExpress, might be what you need or a good base for a mod. Handy that the circuit is already designed and comes with parts and pcb.
 
Ghetto method: Get a leftover dirt cheap Xmas light set with chaser control or similar, use as is or mod for led use.

Hmmm... your pc could look like one of those sci-fi mainframes from the 50's or 60's...
 
agent420: thanks for all the information. You've pointed me in just the direction I was looking for.

your ghetto method is very probable as well, considering xmas lights are probably on dirt cheap clearance now, if they are still for sale.

also, your very close to my idea :) I might as well say it, sense i don't really mind if someone tries either. I'm not one for secrets either. hah.

I'm hoping to make a case inspired by the WOPR in the movie Wargames. It'll be as close to it as I can get, and still have it a functioning computer case. Considering the WOPR was pretty massive.
 
Do you want to play a game? :D


Hope I didn't spoil anything, I was just thinking out loud. It's a pretty cool idea though.

For that many lights the xmas light set might be the cheapest easiest way to go if you think it would work for you, especially if you don't have a lot of electronics experience. I haven't seem them in my area (course I live in the sticks), but look around or Google for some led xmas light sets, might be just the thing.
 
you didn't spoil anything at all :) only a few people browse this forum, so i won't have people hoping to see progress all the time :) I can't start the case until at least another month or maybe even two. Once I get a job. heh.

and those LED christmas lights are perfect! If not for all the wiring, but just the LED's themselves. they're massive.

I'd say i'm an intermediate electronics user. I have trouble reading schematics, but it can be done. heh. So i think I could pull off something more advanced.

Thanks for the help again.

oh, it won't be a full blown WOPR or anything. I'm not going to be using near as many LED's as it has. Maybe i'll post the sketches I did yesterday in class.
 
hehe, i'm not going to use any where near the amount in the real thing. I still need to make it a functional computer case. So i'm doing away with certain things.

But like I said, it'll be a long time before I can get started on it.
 
BTW - If you haven't checked out the LED Museum site further than the Xmas light link, it's worth the trip. Cool history of led technology and lots of reviews of almost every product that uses leds.
 
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