I am looking to build a climbing wall that lights up the holds used for each given route.
The plan so far is to use WS2811 addressable LEDs, drill out the centre of climbing holds to fit said LEDs inside, and assort them in a grid or zig zagging matrix, using an Arduino to control them.
I plan to use a switch mode power supply for the LEDs and can inject voltage at intervals to prevent large voltage drops across the chain.
I want to be able to select climbing routes using a basic app and illuminate the holds on the climbing wall wirelessly.
Could anyone offer some advice on the hardware that would be required to allow for such communication to take place? As well as perhaps the format in which routes would need to be converted to in order for the hardware to illuminate said holds (e.g possibility of using a csv file to describe LED position and colour)?
What range of wireless (how many feet/meters)? Radio or IR communication? What will be the sender (remote, phone, tablet, PC, Apple, Android)?
The easiest is just one string and each hold (LED) is identified by its position in an array of LEDs. Use other arrays to set the members of the main array that will be lit and their color for each route.
I recently did a project using WS2812 LED strips using Bluetooth to set certain parameters of the strip(s). It is pretty easy to use Bluetooth with an Android device. I used an HC05 Bluetooth module on the Arduino and the serial Bluetooth terminal app on a Android tablet. The Bluetooth module connect to the Arduino with a serial port (hard or software serial).
This is not a beginner project. Because of the way that the library (FastLED) to control the strips works, serial communication (or any communication really) is a bit tricky.
You might also try an OTG cable. That provides a wired connection between the phone & Arduino. The phone could sit in a cradle attached to the wall. That might be convenient.
I think a Nano mounted on a screw terminal breakout board is a great development setup.
Thanks @HillmanImp , I think using a wired connection for a prototype would be the best approach.
Would this be a direct connection to the nano board? Or would it require a separate module to interface with a cable?
Also an otg cable I take it would just be a usb type b to usb type c etc? One connection for phone and one for the Arduino?
@Paul_B , there would be no real animation involved for this project I take it? The only functionality essentially is for the LEDs corresponding to a specific climbing route to be addressed and held on, in a colour that relates to their use (i.e green for start hold, red for finish, blue in-between).
Yes, it is a direct connection from the phone/tablet to the Nano. My OTG cable has a micro USB (male) end for the phone and a USB type A (female) at the other end. So to connect to the Nano I have to add a type A (male) to mini (male) cable.
The Nano has to be powered from some source via its 5v & GND pins. I don't think it can get power from the phone/tablet.
The phone can then communicate with the Nano via the Nano's hardware serial port. Your app can send commands to the Nano and the Nano can send data to the app.
This is a working and running project, we have 20 identical climbing walls and more than 100 users so far. The source of the LED system is available for download, as well as the construction plans of the hardware.
If you build this wall on your own, you will get it with less than 500€. With holds, mounting, LED system - just everything needed.
Right now, there are 750 climbing routes, and they are getting more and more.
Thank you for the link @constantininthemountains , open-source software to tweak would be extremely helpful for this project, I much appreciate it!
Also thanks for the info @HillmanImp , as mentioned previously I have a switch mode power supply with 5v and 12v outputs so I can power the arduino and LED's easily through that.
I have ordered an LED chain and some other components to get a test rig working, thank you everyone for the guidance
@Paul_B There are 12V WS2811 LED's I am considering using (for the mean time I have bought 5V ones to test). If voltage drop is a problem over the length of wire that will be used, 4m from top to bottom of the board, so 8m between each voltage input, then having a 12V LED would help mitigate that, as far as I am aware. I also happen to have a switch mode lying around that I have no other purpose for ;p
Whether voltage drop is a problem depends of course, on how many LEDs you wish to illuminate simultaneously (and with what colour). At 55 mA each for full white, ten illuminated would be 550 mA and voltage drop would be unlikely to be a problem. 100 illuminated at once, that most likely would be a problem if you use only the wiring in the pre-made LED chains.
