Arduino + light bulb + relay + Max/MSP= need HELP!

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) Hardware Interfacing
1

I am brand new to the Arduino programming world so please pardon my inexperience and naivety. I would appreciate ANY advice, tips, tricks, patches, links, etc. to aid me with my project.

The basic idea of the project is to have 7 LED light bulbs (of varying colors) that will be controlled by the varied frequencies of musical notes being played by two musicians, one keyboardist and one
multi-percussionist. The sound coming from the instruments will be fed into Max/MSP which will then trigger the various light bulbs to turn on and off when a particular note is played. The frequency of sound will be linked to the frequency of color and depending on the frequency of sound being played by the musicians, a particular color light bulb will be lit. I have purchased an Arduino Duemilanove to connect the light bulbs to Max. My plan is to connect each light bulb to a relay (I have purchased a DPDT 12VDC relay) and also connect it to the arduino. I need help figuring out how to connect the relay to the light bulb and then to the arduino. Do I need a breadboard? What kind of relays should I be using? Is there a Max patch out there that would be useful for my project? I have searched the forum and have not been able to find any specific solutions to my problems.

THANK YOU in advance :slight_smile:

2

So basically you're building a light organ?

When you say "LED light bulb", is this a regular 120v light bulb using LEDs, or is it a regular LED component?

You can get little relays that have a 5v coil with 120v contacts, I have one of these on my bedroom lamp, wire the coil in series with GND and a digital pin, and set that pin HIGH any time you want the relay to be engaged. When you buy a relay, make sure the coil uses 5v at a fairly low amperage (relays shouldn't use that much anyway, especially ones with 5v coils). If you can't find a 5v relay with contacts that fit your needs, you could always use the small relay to engage a bigger relay as well.

3

Also, you should see our Maxuino project that will make it super easy to bridge Max to your arduino. Maxuino.org