fireworks and the stamp
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Greetings! This is my first time posting to this group. I'm a
licenced pyrotech in west Texas shooting indoor and outdoor fireworks
displays using hand fired and electrical (switches and a battery)
firing methods. I use a 12V automotive battery when I shoot
electrically. I would like to try to utilize the Parallax
microcontroller to shoot shows electronically. Typical shows have
anywhere from 10 to 150 "cues" (number of shells). Any ideas on how
I can use the Stamp would be welcome.....thanks....Andy
licenced pyrotech in west Texas shooting indoor and outdoor fireworks
displays using hand fired and electrical (switches and a battery)
firing methods. I use a 12V automotive battery when I shoot
electrically. I would like to try to utilize the Parallax
microcontroller to shoot shows electronically. Typical shows have
anywhere from 10 to 150 "cues" (number of shells). Any ideas on how
I can use the Stamp would be welcome.....thanks....Andy
Comments
http://www.allegromicro.com/sf/5833/index.htm
Basically, for some safety capability, I'd probably do something like
this for one Cue or shell...
Basic Stamp --> 5833 node output --> optional Led indicator (nice for
testing/debugging) -->
--> non-inverting tristate driver -->
(output disabled until your ready to fire)
--> MOSFET Motor Driver Transistors in place of a mechanical relay --> to
wire to fire the shell.
(MOSFETS like the IRF 540N would probably work OK, a reed relay driving a
larger relay
would work, but the relays have moving parts that might stick or fail).
then after loading the information ( a LED on represents a shell to be
fired, a LED off no shell to fire), the Stamp activates the non-inverting
buffer chip outputs to fire the shells; this line would
have to go through a manual switch that you control, in order to help avoid
accidents as well.
You could use the BS2SX with it's 8 - 2k segments to keep 8 or so separate
patterns(displays), and have some buttons or switches to toggle or push to
changeover from one to another. If it gets cpmplicated you could use more
than one BS2SX as well.
Then you could have a big panel with the LED's displayed on it, you could
run a program and see which LED's light up, representing a display to be
shown, check timing delays and such, et cetera. Then after your satisfied,
you would wire up the tubes and shells to the screw post terminals. When the
show is ready, you would "arm" the big switch, and start the program.
I would also throw in a RUN/STOP push button, so I could tell the computer
when to start a sequence, and to tell it to STOP too. I would have the stamp
check this run/stop switch a lot during the program run time.
Regards,
Earl
Original Message
From: pyroace [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=pcWc8bWk37qB8mGdffS_oSBsR6rb65FmCpQrJkHCn-POAavWo_XdgZExlm5cm3Ea1_W5ETA5YA]pyroace@y...[/url
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2002 12:12 AM
To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] fireworks and the stamp
Greetings! This is my first time posting to this group. I'm a
licenced pyrotech in west Texas shooting indoor and outdoor fireworks
displays using hand fired and electrical (switches and a battery)
firing methods. I use a 12V automotive battery when I shoot
electrically. I would like to try to utilize the Parallax
microcontroller to shoot shows electronically. Typical shows have
anywhere from 10 to 150 "cues" (number of shells). Any ideas on how
I can use the Stamp would be welcome.....thanks....Andy
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There are two basdic ways to approach your idea.
One, a completely automated system that will fire each shell - or fireworks -
within a pre=determined time frame. One disadvantage to this is that if
something goes wrong during the show the system would have to be shut down
completely, then restarted and the program resumed. Since these things can
not be predicted, a certain amount of programming knowledge would be required
to direct the program to a specific restarting point.
The second approach would be to control the show manually from a computer
keyboard. This would give you more control over each event and would allow
you to "skip" certain firings or even to go back and refire them in case they
failed the first time.
Firings would have to be controlled by relays since the Stamp cannot handle
the amount of power required. I have a circuit board with 14 relays, all
controlled by Stamp which would handle 14 "events". It appears you might
need 10 to 11 of these boards. Programming would be pretty complex but I
think it could be worked out. Be forewarned, something like this could be
pretty expensive. If you are interested in pursuing it please contact me
off-line.
Sid Weaver - W4EKQ
used to fire squibs attached to actors (for films and TV). The big
difference was that his device only required 16 outputs.
You could create a sequencer with the Stamp by using banks for shift
registers (74x595). Twenty 75x595s would give you 160 outputs. I would
daisy chain five shift registers on a single data pin (four banks of five
devices) and have one clock pin and one latch pin go to all devices. The
output from each shift register would go through a high current driver
(ULN2803).
The squib controller had two modes: manual and semi-automatic. In manual
mode, a button press would fire the next squib. In semi-auto, when the
button was held, squibs would fire sequentially at a rate set with a
potentiometer. In your case, I suspect you desire multiple simultaneous
outputs, so what you'll need to do is create a firing table with DATA
statements.
In short, your project is certainly possible with the Stamp but will require
and little planning.
-- Jon Williams
-- Applications Engineer, Parallax
In a message dated 1/6/02 12:13:09 AM Central Standard Time,
pyroace@y... writes:
> Greetings! This is my first time posting to this group. I'm a
> licenced pyrotech in west Texas shooting indoor and outdoor fireworks
> displays using hand fired and electrical (switches and a battery)
> firing methods. I use a 12V automotive battery when I shoot
> electrically. I would like to try to utilize the Parallax
> microcontroller to shoot shows electronically. Typical shows have
> anywhere from 10 to 150 "cues" (number of shells). Any ideas on how
> I can use the Stamp would be welcome.....thanks....Andy
[noparse][[/noparse]Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
still have 2 pins left over. I think this would work because everything is
sequential. You would need to use a method for handling the current
requirements at the end but this should provide the fan out.
Doug
At 06:12 AM 1/6/02 +0000, you wrote:
>Greetings! This is my first time posting to this group. I'm a
>licenced pyrotech in west Texas shooting indoor and outdoor fireworks
>displays using hand fired and electrical (switches and a battery)
>firing methods. I use a 12V automotive battery when I shoot
>electrically. I would like to try to utilize the Parallax
>microcontroller to shoot shows electronically. Typical shows have
>anywhere from 10 to 150 "cues" (number of shells). Any ideas on how
>I can use the Stamp would be welcome.....thanks....Andy
>
>
>To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
>Body of the message will be ignored.
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[noparse][[/noparse]Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
You only need two of these chips to do the same thing.
32 lines to a chip.
Original Message
From: Doug Rich [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=KGNrZVh4ZNW1zrJCrqoB1n_h0zKnmvqeK3rZKXlzzmzfz0VADnwD_BaFo072zuu204vI0xW4-bU]doug@t...[/url
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2002 9:40 AM
To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] fireworks and the stamp
I think you could use 10 74HC154 (4-to-16 Line Decoder/Demultiplexer) and
still have 2 pins left over. I think this would work because everything is
sequential. You would need to use a method for handling the current
requirements at the end but this should provide the fan out.
Doug
At 06:12 AM 1/6/02 +0000, you wrote:
>Greetings! This is my first time posting to this group. I'm a
>licenced pyrotech in west Texas shooting indoor and outdoor fireworks
>displays using hand fired and electrical (switches and a battery)
>firing methods. I use a 12V automotive battery when I shoot
>electrically. I would like to try to utilize the Parallax
>microcontroller to shoot shows electronically. Typical shows have
>anywhere from 10 to 150 "cues" (number of shells). Any ideas on how
>I can use the Stamp would be welcome.....thanks....Andy
>
>
>To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
>Body of the message will be ignored.
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[noparse][[/noparse]Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
Body of the message will be ignored.
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> Greetings! This is my first time posting to this group. I'm a
> licenced pyrotech in west Texas shooting indoor and outdoor fireworks
> displays using hand fired and electrical (switches and a battery)
> firing methods. I use a 12V automotive battery when I shoot
> electrically. I would like to try to utilize the Parallax
> microcontroller to shoot shows electronically. Typical shows have
> anywhere from 10 to 150 "cues" (number of shells). Any ideas on how
> I can use the Stamp would be welcome.....thanks....Andy
How much current does it take to fire a shell?
Personally I'd be inclined to use a non-stamp solution. What you're
doing is similar to "show control" (try a search on that term). You
might find that software designed for music sequencing would be useful.
You get a graphical time-line where you can easily add and edit
events/cues set to go at specific times on a time-line. Much easier than
trying to work out timing in a Basic program. You can also create
different tracks and sub-sequences that you can trigger from the
keyboard as desired. Of course this means you'd have to bring a computer
along with you.
There are lots of sequencer applications out there - Cakewalk, Cubase,
Logic, etc. I use a programming environment called "Max" (on the
Macintosh) or "Pd" (on Windows/Linux) which lets you program your own
algorithms (eg. random patterns, etc.) in addition to sequencing. They
all output MIDI events through an inexpensive MIDI interface. One
advantage of MIDI is that it's opto-isolated so you can't damage your
computer if something shorts out.
For the driver interface, I use a pic-based board from
http://www.j-omega.co.uk/ ($142 including shipping) which takes MIDI
data in, and has 64 driver outputs (using eight ULN2803's). You can
daisy-chain two or more boards for more outputs. Each output is good for
up to 500mA, up to 35V, although you shouldn't put more than 1-2 amps
through any given driver chip at the same time.
Even if you decide to use the Stamp instead of a PC, the MIDI board is
still a good idea. It's easy to make the Stamp II send MIDI data with
the serout command. I've done several projects with the Stamp
controlling machines via the MIDI board. For such a low price, I've
found that it just isn't worth my time to build a circuit board with all
the output driver chips on it. And again, your Stamp is protected by the
opto-isolation of MIDI.
cu later <Jeff
--
---- o.o___.
Doug
At 02:08 PM 1/6/02 -0600, you wrote:
> http://www.allegromicro.com/sf/5833/index.htm
>You only need two of these chips to do the same thing.
>32 lines to a chip.
>
>
Original Message
>From: Doug Rich [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=ajz35J3fEKBJVOBvX6Aa5hhrNwWhnxP-YOEwIMTM-mZNdJiGBCs3NF1kyNxSyf_qANwooc44]doug@t...[/url
>Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2002 9:40 AM
>To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: Re: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] fireworks and the stamp
>
>
>I think you could use 10 74HC154 (4-to-16 Line Decoder/Demultiplexer) and
>still have 2 pins left over. I think this would work because everything is
>sequential. You would need to use a method for handling the current
>requirements at the end but this should provide the fan out.
>
>Doug
[noparse][[/noparse]Non-text portions of this message have been removed]