Simple emoticon display. LoL shield help.

Eh, Don't worry about jumping in too deep. I started using the Arduino to build a self contained 4 axis camera control rig. I still don't know anywhere near enough to do that but I am learning. If you are not on a major time limit, just go out and pick up an Arduino Uno and a starter kit and just start small, blink led, blink with delay, push on push off led ect... Then slowly start expanding what you can do.

I've been with it for a few weeks and although most of my 'projects' are trivial, I'm learning a lot more about the language, hardware and how to reach my goal.
If budget is an issue there are some great Arduino clones and just order mass part kits from overseas, very cheap.

If time is the issue I'd just pick up an Uno and buy the 14x9 LED shield as suggested above, start watching I2C tutorials and matrix display tutorials, get it to do some basic stuff and come back to this fine community for further assistance.

Be warned though, once you start understanding the Arduino, you'll be hooked, soon everything is an Arduino project. :slight_smile:

I wish you the best of luck, although my knowledge is limited I'd be happy to help any way I can once you are on your way.

PropDad:
I really appreciate all the help and input, I really do, but I am still rather confused. Maybe I am jumping in too deep. My skills are basic soldering and PC assembly. I still feel very lost. :frowning:

As smit6089 stated, it don't get discouraged! :slight_smile:

Since there are a lot of options as far as controlling the display, I think the best next step is to talk with your daughter and decide what would be her preference. Once that is decided, the only other major factor is getting the parts so you can finish the custome before Halloween. Both the actual programming and construction should be relatively quick, but if you don't have most of a day (like on a weekend) plan on spending at an hour or two on this project for a few days before the costume is needed.

smit6089:
Eh, Don't worry about jumping in too deep. I started using the Arduino to build a self contained 4 axis camera control rig. I still don't know anywhere near enough to do that but I am learning. If you are not on a major time limit, just go out and pick up an Arduino Uno and a starter kit and just start small, blink led, blink with delay, push on push off led ect... Then slowly start expanding what you can do.

Is there a particular online site that is best to buy from?

PropDad:
Is there a particular online site that is best to buy from?

I wouldn't say there is only one. However, I've had good experiences with products from both Adafruit and Sparkfun, and they both have starter kits (check the links). There's also the official and still fairly new Arduino Starter Kit, though you'd probably want to buy it from a North American distributor (e.g. Adafruit sells them).

By the way, did you get what you wanted accomplished on the costume in time for Halloween?

Oh, this is not for Halloween, it is for Dragon*Con in August of next year.

PropDad:
Oh, this is not for Halloween, it is for Dragon*Con in August of next year.

Oh good, you still have plenty of time to work on this. It's just that since the original post was in October and the thread mentioned costumes, but didn't mention a different time frame... :slight_smile:

Looks like adafruit has them in stock: http://www.adafruit.com/products/274 $19.95

You'll need an Arduino to drive it. You can mount it directly on an Arduino UNO (or older Duemilanove or Diecimila). If you want to save space in the helmet you can run 12 wires from the shield to a smaller Arduino like the Nano.

Download the LoL Shield library: Google Code Archive - Long-term storage for Google Code Project Hosting.

You can use this spreadsheet to design emoticons:
http://jimmieprodgers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/LOL-Shield-Animation-Template.ods
It's set up for 14 wide and 9 tall so you may need to design your emoticons sideways.

Each frame (emoticon) will take 18 bytes so you have room for hundreds in FLASH.

The shield doesn't use any of the analog input pins and those pins can also be used for digital input or output. That gives you six direct input buttons that you can use in combinations to select from 64 different emoticons.

johnwasser:
Looks like adafruit has them in stock: http://www.adafruit.com/products/274 $19.95

The other information was great johnwasser, but a LoL shield could be a bit bulky for the look this costume is trying to achieve. A smaller and slightly cheaper alternatives would be Adafruit's 8x8 LED matrix, $11.95. It's also Arduino compatible. Here's a link to Adafruit's tutorial for that one.

I will actually create my own matrix but probably based on the LOL, just the LEDs will be mounted in a clear piece of plastic much like what was done here, just a different shape.

Still wondering though is it going to be possible to switch from one emoticon to another without using multiple buttons? Just press something and cycle to the next.

For one button, count the button presses, then use switch case (or if then) to select each function.

PropDad:
Still wondering though is it going to be possible to switch from one emoticon to another without using multiple buttons? Just press something and cycle to the next.

Yes, you can do that.

You could also have a knob you turn to select the image.

Well, got an LOLShield put together and working. Now I just have to figure out how to create my own emoticons an make it to where a switch changes them :~

Video

Cool project!

maybe you could mount them into something like this?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bolle-SUPREME-Spare-Face-Shield-Visor-/251122459304?pt=UK_BOI_ProtectiveGear_RL&hash=item3a7810a2a8

Lakes:
maybe you could mount them into something like this?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bolle-SUPREME-Spare-Face-Shield-Visor-/251122459304?pt=UK_BOI_ProtectiveGear_RL&hash=item3a7810a2a8

Thanks for the tip. Mounting is not an issue yet. Learning how to program this darned thing is making my brain hurt. According to Jimmie P Rodgers website, all you have to do is download and install the library, which as you have seen by my video clip I have done and got it to light up USING THE INCLUDED EXAMPLES. No where can I find how to vreate my own files. There is a template OSD file but the ones in the libraries are PDE files?!? Sorry if I sound frustrated (I'm tired at this point and need sleep) but I cannot find anything online about how to do what it is I am wanting to do. Sure, I can edit the template file, I understand 1s and 0s but what do I do with the file after I modify it?

The display is 14x9 pixels and each image is stored as 9 integers where the low 14 bits of each integer are used.

uint16_t BitMap[9] PROGMEM = 
{ // All off
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000
};

You can have an array of bitmaps and reference them by index:

uint16_t BitMaps[][9] PROGMEM = 
{ // Index 0: All off
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000,
0b00000000000000
};
{ // Index 1: Checkerboard
0b11001100110011,
0b11001100110011,
0b00110011001100,
0b00110011001100,
0b11001100110011,
0b11001100110011,
0b00110011001100,
0b00110011001100,
0b11001100110011
},
{ // Index 2: All on
0b11111111111111,
0b11111111111111,
0b11111111111111,
0b11111111111111,
0b11111111111111,
0b11111111111111,
0b11111111111111,
0b11111111111111,
0b11111111111111
}
};

LoLShield_BasicTest.pde has the code for copying a bitmap to the display.

I know you are trying to help but that just made me feel more dumb. What am I supposed to do with the LOL-Shield-Animation-Template.osd file that will allow me to make my own .pde file?

I can't find an OSD file anywhere in the library sources. I'm guessing it's supposed to be ODS: Open Document Spreadsheet. You should be able to open it with Open Office or import it into Google Documents. I expect it allows you to mark the cells you want lit and then converts the image into a list of 9 integers you can copy and paste into your sketch.

I am sorry, it is ODS. Here is an example of what I am finding online...

Once you have the Arduino, it’s as simple as downloading the LoL Shield Library and programming something fun. The library takes care of the complicated mess of driving a charliplexed display, so you just need to set x and y coordinates to on or off. If you would like to set animations manually you can download the ODS file here.

Okay, so I open the spreadsheet and the layout makes sense to me. 1 for on and 0 for off so I can handle creating the image/emoticon. How then do I use this spreadsheet that I have modified to show up on my LoL shield? For someone who has never done this before but knows how to search the internet pretty well, I am finding know tutorials on how to do this. :~

All the spreadsheet does is convert binary to decimal. If you put in the checkerboard pattern from my example you can then copy an paste the integer values:

{	13107	,
	13107	,
	3276	,
	3276	,
	13107	,
	13107	,
	3276	,
	3276	,
	13107	},

I chose, in the examples I posted, to enter the data directly as binary constants (0bxxxxxxx). This saves the step of using the spreadsheet to convert from binary to decimal constants. Also makes the sketch more readable since you can almost see the image in the sources.