TNasty
Active Member
Now here's a cool project. I'm currently toying around with the idea of designing and building a custom lighting fixture (or at least some random electronic parts that I'll be able to control via DMX). My current plan is to use an Arduino, as I've got a good bit of prior experience working with them, and I've seen one or two helpful articles on using DMX with an Arduino (also because I'm pretty sure that since DMX is heavily dependent on timing, so I need something that'll run code in real time, just like the Arduino).
I'm really not that far along with this project, as I'll probably be working on it once the semester ends. Just been playing with the idea in my head, no specifics yet. Aside from the Arduino, the only specifics I have in mind is using the DMX slave shield I've got, using a couple stepper motors (and learning to use absolute positioning with them), maybe some LED's to figure out the dimming electrics, and then controlling it with one of the USB --> DMX dongles I made.
This evening I sat down with my pen and paper and drafted my idea of the fixture homing code. As I noted at the top, it's pretty much a sample of what it might look like for a basic mover or something, but could really be built upon or trimmed as needed for a given design.
The idea here is that the program HOMEFIX will run when the control channel value is read and is between a range of values, and the device will stop listening to DMX until homing is complete (when HOME==1).
If there's any critique on the code, I'd love to hear it; there's probably a more concise way of doing the same thing. I'm currently taking my required Python Comp Sci course, so I'll certainly need to switch back into the C mindset instead of Python. At least I'm learning a little bit more in the class, most of it is just a little more complex than those surface level programs they use to introduce you to code.
Also, if anybody has any suggestions or knows of potentially helpful resources, go ahead and post them... Help is more than welcome.
I'm really not that far along with this project, as I'll probably be working on it once the semester ends. Just been playing with the idea in my head, no specifics yet. Aside from the Arduino, the only specifics I have in mind is using the DMX slave shield I've got, using a couple stepper motors (and learning to use absolute positioning with them), maybe some LED's to figure out the dimming electrics, and then controlling it with one of the USB --> DMX dongles I made.
This evening I sat down with my pen and paper and drafted my idea of the fixture homing code. As I noted at the top, it's pretty much a sample of what it might look like for a basic mover or something, but could really be built upon or trimmed as needed for a given design.
The idea here is that the program HOMEFIX will run when the control channel value is read and is between a range of values, and the device will stop listening to DMX until homing is complete (when HOME==1).
If there's any critique on the code, I'd love to hear it; there's probably a more concise way of doing the same thing. I'm currently taking my required Python Comp Sci course, so I'll certainly need to switch back into the C mindset instead of Python. At least I'm learning a little bit more in the class, most of it is just a little more complex than those surface level programs they use to introduce you to code.
Also, if anybody has any suggestions or knows of potentially helpful resources, go ahead and post them... Help is more than welcome.
