Paris Street Furniture Walk, Don't Walk Sign. Oh and so New to Arduino I only heard about it recently

Projects General Guidance
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I didn't know where to post this and this channel seemed to be the closest. I have absolutely no knowledge about Arduino, but I am interested to learn more.

So, I have refurbed a Walk, Don't Walk sign from Paris. At this stage, it switches on and off with both the Red and the Green men lighting up together. At the moment it is running off domestic supply on a 13amp 3 pin plug (UK) plug with a normal lamp switch, I thought it best to keep it simple.

It has LED's which are already fitted, they look fairly large so I would imagine that they are industrial grade ones. Also whilst testing it in the early stages I had it plugged in through an outdoor RCD as I didn't want to blow the house up. I am pleased to report the house and the street is still in one piece.

What I would like to do is fit a module/ unit/whatever that will enable it to cycle between the Red and Green Men to light up individually for random periods as if it was fitted to the street furniture originally.

I will try to post photos to show the sign and its interior and the current wiring set-up.

image
image760×1351 95.1 KB

I went onto the (Electricians Forum) and the members there that I corresponded with were very helpful in suggesting the Arduino. So here I am, asking questions, keen to learn new things. I am generally not afraid to get down and dirty.

All replies are welcome.

5

Close up photo of the inside label would help, but blowing up one of your photos it appears that each LED sign is 230V 50Hz 40mA. Easy to control with a solid-state relay.

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Lights Off
Lights Off1920×3413 459 KB

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Interior 1
Interior 11920×3413 571 KB

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Interior 2
Interior 21920×3413 581 KB

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Interior 3
Interior 31920×3413 804 KB

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Labels 1
Labels 11537×476 157 KB

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That's funny - the Paris "don't walk" sign I remember was a figure standing impatiently with hands on hips, and the "walk" sign was someone who looked like they were sprinting out of starting blocks.
Parisian drivers don't take prisoners.

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Are these any good?

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Hi @david_2018. It would be nice to get them to randomly cycle through the two phases.

Ultimately an idea thrown across my bow was to have it show Red Man when I get someone who we don't want to see at our front door, but initially, random cycling would be nice and I have been watching video's saying that anything is possible. So here's hoping.

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Okay I have done a bit more research after the forum bot wouldn't allow me to post further queries and found this which sounds about what I am initially hoping for.

Now I apologise to @anon73444976 but again the restrictions by the forum bot won't allow me to post a PDF of the Project. It is from the Instructables website. Instructables Arduino Traffic Light Controller

The thing is that the post appears to be fairly old and the links to the parts list are 404.

I have researched the list as best I can, but not being of the experience nor intelligence to know what the parts are I have stumbled at this juncture.

You see as I believe previously mentioned the Walk Don't Walk is currently powered by a UK domestic lamp lead and works perfectly when plugged into a wall socket.

Now the mention of a 9 volt means that there in my head 231 more volts than the Arduino appears to be able to handle and the 9-volt power adapter requires/comes with its own plug. So does this mean that the project will need two power supplies?

Also, the Instructables project post appears to be fairly old, five (5) Years I think and the links to the parts list are 404.

The parts are
1. Inland Arduino UNO R3

2. Sainsmart 4 Channel Relay

3. 9V Arduino Powersupply

I have found on Amazon these which I believe may be from the photos on the Plans

1. ELEGOO UNO R3 Project Super Starter Kit Compatible with Arduino IDE with Tutorial, 5V Relay, UNO R3 Board, Power Supply Module, Servo Motor, Prototype Expansion Bo
2. (Because it comes with some other interesting parts for other projects for a beginner)

3. Yizhet 5V 4 Channel-Relay DC 5V 230V Relay Shield Module Control Board with Optocoupler for Raspberry Pi Arduino PIC AVR MCU DSP ARM TTL Logic (4 Channel)

4. MEROM 9V 2A Power Adapter Supply with 8 Tips and Polarity Reversal Cable Compatible with Arduino Uno REV 3

As I have previously stated any help would be really helpful.

Trickyhicky

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Read the topic telling how to get the best out of this forum. Link: How to get the best out of this forum - Using Arduino / Project Guidance - Arduino Forum

Provide engineering facts like code and schematics. Lots of words often ends up like that. Provide links to none common devices.

17

Hi there,
I am looking for help as a newbie to the Arduino and I started a thread on the Arduino forum but have not had any further comments, so I have come here to ask if anyone can help me please.

This is the link to the original thread Paris Street Walk Don't Walk which I think lost its momentum due to newbie restrictions by the DevBot on my entries so those original helpers stopped following the thread.

Any help would be gratefully recieved.

Trickyhicky UK

19

Cross-posts merged. @trickyhicky we only allow one forum topic per user per distinct subject matter. Making a duplicate topic is not an acceptable technique for getting help.

This is basic forum etiquette, as explained in the "How to get the best out of this forum" guide you will find at the top of every forum category. It contains a lot of other useful information. Please read it.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

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@Paul_B, Being a newbie it will only allow me to post a specific number of posts per session. I believe that it is to stop Spam from being posted.

My thread is not Spam but I'm beginning to get a little disheartened with this forum as all I seem to get is told off or ignored for asking for advice, getting very little feedback apart from the first day's posts. I may just give up and leave believing that people here aren't interested in helping new interested parties to advance when their interest is peaked by something new they wish to learn.

22

Explain, clearly and concisely what your problem is.

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I did three days ago I thought and not wishing to be told off again for re-posting my question is

I would like to have just one power supply to the unit and for both the sign to light and the power for the Arduino. The will work currently from a domestic (UK) supply and I understand the Arduino only requires 9v. How and with what do I need to reduce on the supply for the Arduino?

Q2/ Are these the same?

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Dead right! :+1:

Sorry, but like some others here I just don't have the time just now to dig down in all the details of your particular project. I tend to "cherry pick" the easiest ones as I see them. Your posts were merged, possibly because I reported them as "cross posting" because the simple fact is that if you do not get enthusiastic replies on the first try, posting another just like the first is hardly likely to do better.

What may bring more results is always to provide much more detail as was hinted in #4, #5, #16 and you seem to be doing now. :pleading_face:

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Question 1
Item 3 reduces 240v mains, which would melt your Arduino to to a smelly bold, to an almost UNO friendly 9V. The UNO only wants 5v @ 1 amp, someone more electronics savvy would be able to describe it more accuritely. I'm only an old mechanic.

Question 2

  1. Inland Arduino UNO R3 should be interchangeable with the ELEGOO UNO R3, if not the Inland is lying about what it is. I doubt that they would be functionally different.
  2. The Starter Kit is usually good value. Gives you parts to play with number of learner projects.
  3. The Yizhet description sound like its a bit more fancier than your average multi relay board.
  4. The Merom sounds compatible but for myself Polarity Reversal Cable could lead to a lose of magic smoke if you are not careful - voice of experience.

I hope this is of some use.

mick in glen innes

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Many thanks, @mickhowe.

I have asked my grandson (10yrs) if Santa was to get his grandad one of the Starter kits is he cool enough to join me in learning our way through this. He appeared quite jazzed up by the prospect.

The link to the "Instructables" I mentioned earlier in my thread is the closest I have found to fit my particular project in several months of research.

I may well come back and ask for further advice later on.

Once Again thank you very much for your assistance.