Homemade Moonboard

[Doug_Ayers]

Hi, I'm a climber and a tinkerer. In many climbing gyms these days there is a device called a moonboard which is a standardized wall. In many dozens of gyms there is one of these walls, all with the same angle and layout of holds. This way climbers can invent a sequence of movements, upload it a phone app, and share it with over 10,000 other climbers worldwide. The best moon boards have an RGB led under each hold, as the climber swipes through the climbs on the app, the leds indicate which holds are to be used for that particular climb. The manufacturer of these walls sells the LED kit for $700 US. Id like to build my own using several strings of LED pixels, and arduino as the main control, a bluetooth module to connect to the phone, and whatever other components would be necessary to build this. From what Ive read, this shouldn't be too hard. Im not worried about the code yet, first step is to figure out exactly what hardware I'll need. The are 11 columns of 18 rows, so 198 total LEDs. It seems there are several different ways off addressing that many LEDS. In addressable LED strings there is a small microchip between each LED, and 4 wires. Two for Vcc and End, and two for communication. From what Ive read each chip listens ti the data sent to it, turns its LED to the appropriate state, then passes the data packet to the next chip. The downside is that the LEDs change in series rather than simultaneously. For my project that is not a problem, as each setup is static for quite awhile before changing to the next display. The bigger problem is that the LEDs are far to close together. My setup will require at least 14" of separation. I have found LED pixel strings on the net, some with 50 LEDs each. Usually with a 6" or 8" separation. Im not sure how to address those. Could I use some sort of daisy-chainable chips that let me use I2C to individually talk to 198 LEDs? I think that might be the cheapest method as I could buy bare RGB LEDs, as well as a huge spool of 18/4 wire. A few MCP23008 chips should provide enough outputs if arranged properly. a Bluetooth Module HC 05/06 or similar. I don't know what method to use to power the array. Any advice on a particular method to pursue, or what hardware would be best would be greatly appreciated. Once I figure out what to buy, I'll then tackle the idea of using the moon board company's app to control a homemade system. Since the bluetooth protocol is open source, I figure this has to be possible. Any advice is welcome, thanks!

[MorganS]

You can buy the individual "adressable" RBG LEDs. Wiring them up with 8ft between them should be no problem. The usual problem is power distribution - if you want them all on at once then the power wires are carrying a significant current and the ones at the end of the chain start to dim.

Logically, it's still one long string of LEDs. Wire the data wire as a zig-zag or whatever you want.

The "changing in series" problem is not a problem. They change so fast that the human eye sees it as simultaneous. It only takes a few milliseconds to send the data to the whole string. For the Arduino, a millisecond is a long time. It can do thousands of things in a millisecond.

[wvmarle]

I'm sure your keyboard comes with an ENTER key (sometimes called RETURN). Please use it. Such big blobs of grey are not readable.

[PaulRB]

I think you are making a mistake by not investigating the code side further at this stage. You could spend a lot of time, effort and money building a superb moon wall only for the project to fail because you cannot integrate it with the phone software. Bluetooth being open source is not going to help you at all. You need to make sure you can get the data for the LEDs. The rest is definitely achievable. Spend time now experimenting with ways to get that data.

[TomGeorge]

Hi,

Hi, I'm a climber and a tinkerer.
In many climbing gyms these days there is a device called a moonboard which is a standardized wall.
In many dozens of gyms there is one of these walls, all with the same angle and layout of holds.
This way climbers can invent a sequence of movements, upload it a phone app, and share it with over 10,000 other climbers worldwide.

The best moon boards have an RGB led under each hold, as the climber swipes through the climbs on the app, the leds indicate which holds are to be used for that particular climb.

The manufacturer of these walls sells the LED kit for $700 US.
Id like to build my own using several strings of LED pixels, and arduino as the main control, a bluetooth module to connect to the phone, and whatever other components would be necessary to build this.
From what Ive read, this shouldn't be too hard.
Im not worried about the code yet, first step is to figure out exactly what hardware I'll need.

The are 11 columns of 18 rows, so 198 total LEDs.
It seems there are several different ways off addressing that many LEDS.
In addressable LED strings there is a small microchip between each LED, and 4 wires. Two for Vcc and End, and two for communication.
From what Ive read each chip listens ti the data sent to it, turns its LED to the appropriate state, then passes the data packet to the next chip.
The downside is that the LEDs change in series rather than simultaneously.

For my project that is not a problem, as each setup is static for quite awhile before changing to the next display.

The bigger problem is that the LEDs are far to close together.
My setup will require at least 14" of separation.
I have found LED pixel strings on the net, some with 50 LEDs each.
Usually with a 6" or 8" separation.
Im not sure how to address those.
Could I use some sort of daisy-chainable chips that let me use I2C to individually talk to 198 LEDs?

I think that might be the cheapest method as I could buy bare RGB LEDs, as well as a huge spool of 18/4 wire.

A few MCP23008 chips should provide enough outputs if arranged properly.

a Bluetooth Module HC 05/06 or similar.

I don't know what method to use to power the array.

Any advice on a particular method to pursue, or what hardware would be best would be greatly appreciated.

Once I figure out what to buy, I'll then tackle the idea of using the moon board company's app to control a homemade system.

Since the bluetooth protocol is open source, I figure this has to be possible.

Any advice is welcome, thanks!

Sorry, needed to get it to point form to read it.
Tom.....

[Gordoste]

Do you have access to one of the controllers? As an earlier poster mentioned, the difficulty will be figuring out how the app tells the controller which LEDs to light. It will be pretty much impossible without having one to play with.

[jremington]

Such big blobs of grey are not readable.

Agreed, but let's give the OP some credit for using the period to end sentences.

Many people do not know about using that key, either.