This is my first time asking a question on this forum.
I am an engineering student and am currently taking intro circuits class and have some basic knowledge of circuits but no experience to Arduino. I know they will be a lot of variables in the project that I am needing to do but I am just looking for some general advice about difficulty and if it is even possible.
My project is providing lighting effect for a stage prop. The prop is a 4'x8' plywood board with the symbol of attached picture. the symbol is just a heartbeat line symbol.
They want the led strip to light up like a heartbeat monitor does.
I was thinking of using a arduino board to create a trail effect of the led strip to resemble the moving light on a heartbeat monitor screen. if a code can not be written I was thinking I could use the sound to create the trail effect. I am open to any suggestions
My question is: Is this possible or am I way in over my head? I can figure out all the same details, code, parts, power, colors, led strip size, etc.
My question is: Is this possible or am I way in over my head?
Yes and yes.
But you don't need to be. What you need is a time just playing about with the Arduino LEDs and programming. Forget your actual project for a time and get into learning a bit of code. Look at the examples in the IDE,try them, see if you can change them and predict what changes in code will have with your system. Soon you will not be in it over your head.
I thought that sort of effect was usually achieved by moving a strip of card behind the image with a vertical slot in the card that allows a red lamp to show through.
@Grumpy_Mike's advice is good. If you take small steps you will get there without too much difficulty. It occurs to me that in the final system you will need to light the LEDs so that the pulse appears to move across the screen horizontally at a constant speed. This means that during the "pulse" part of the symbol you will need to light LEDs faster to maintain the appearance of a constant horizontal velocity.
This great information. Thank y'all for giving this advice. Hopefully I'll get the board in soon so I can get started. I'll keep this post updated with progress thanks to everyone who posted
