focalist:
I'd suggest you may want to think about either LM2679 (which is a 5 amp version of the regulator) or splitting the sourcing between two regulators. Up under a staircase, out of sight, I'd just prefer to think there's not going to be anything that will get hotter than say, 150F. If you aren't seeing it regularly, don't rely on a fan. Spread that heat out, and running that close to maximum rating on any component isn't going to be a good thing.I'd think about adding an lcd and a couple of switches in the closet, maybe one of liudr's keypad shields, whatever-- just a simple menu setup. From there you could even build out code to be able to build sequences within the interface.. but I'm thinking you would more likely just need a scroll-and-select from a list of pre-built sequences, like you have done.
Excellent suggestions. Thanks. I am also a bit concerned about using the regulator long term. At this point with the animations I have, the current may reach 1.3A for a few seconds and that is it. The regulator barely gets warm with the animations I have set up. But I have ordered some LM1084IT-5.0 from China. These will allow me to get more headroom and do an easy replacement of the one I have now without a redesign of the PCB i have on there now. I am going to also look at getting at least one LM2679, LM2676 or LM2670 to play with. These are more complicated to set up but appear to generate very little heat.
Currently, I'm working on using a pressure pad tapping routine to select different modes. It is very simple and elegant.
- Ambient light level has to be high to enable the tap counting (at night, turning on the stair light is adequate)
- When pressure pad is activated, count subsequent taps for 2 seconds
- If there are at least 3 taps, flash the lights on the stairs indicating the selection mode has been selected
- Start cycling through brief visual representations of each animation (about 2 seconds each)
- After each animation, pause 1 second and check to see if the pressure pad is still pressed. If it is, go to the next animation. If it is not, select this animation as the one to use.
I have it all programmed out and it functionally looks great, but it is currently unstable going into and out of the tapping routines multiple times and becomes completely unresponsive. Trying to figure that out. If I can't, I'll have to come up with something else.