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FrozenGate by Avery

Arduino Starting






Oh sorry, I was away from the boards for a while and I just found this thread and how Laserbee was banned. He shouldn't have kept running his mouth, anyways I don't wanna clog up this thread with that.

I too have been considering getting an Arduino. They seem really cool. I'd like to make a 4x4x4 LED cube but I don't know if there are enough ins and outs. I bet it can be done with some clever programming and multiplexing, but I know nothing about the programming code. The only programming I've ever done is on the TI-84 Graphing Calculator, which I'm actually pretty good at. I loved writing programs to do formulas for me quickly. It helped me immensely on tests. So I think I have the mind for prgrammin. :yh: I love logic puzzles. After seeing this thread I think I'm just gonna go ahead and buy one, even though I don't know much about em. I figure if I have one that'll motivate me to learn the basics quickly, haha!

-Tony
 
@ kyoukan: Probably "wowed" about starting with a 64x128 graph LCD ..... you know, peoples that start to work with microchips and PICs, usually started making a led flashing on and off ..... ;)

j/k :p :D

Agree, anyway, that the actually available microcontrollers have a lot of potentiality and are becoming always more easy to program and use ..... when i started to play this game, the more powerful PIC available was 16F84 ..... ok, ok, i'm too old, i know :p :D



EDIT: @Xplorer: "but I don't know if there are enough ins and outs" ..... the "mega" version have 53 IO (including 4 HW UARTs, 14 PWMs, I2C bus) and 16 Analog Input pins ..... ;)
 
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For LED cubes, you use multiplexing drivers. They typically run off the 5 wire serial protocol. I've been thinking about making a 6x6x6 or 8x8x8 cube, but it's a very time consuming process!
 
Hey kiyoukan, the programming for the actual Arduino board is in a form of C, but after that you can use VB or whatever (ex: this) you want to communicate with it over the serial connection. There are even Flash libraries for connecting and displaying data via serial communications.

For your standalone Arduino chips, make sure you have the correct power for regulating the power input to the chip and the crystals. Perhaps buy one or more of Sparkfun's breadboard power supplies (and the accompanying wall warts).
 
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I have a bread board from radio shack the electronics learning lab, got it off ebay for 20$, the best buy i have ever found.
It has built in power rails the best thing ever.
DEL2.JPG

I even came with tons of ic's, components, and books on how to build stuff.
 
This wont replace the Arduino in terms of ease of use but..
I like the parallax SX28AC chips. Its 75Mhz - 75 Mips.
Deterministic IRQ & instructions, so you can to tight timing, ect.
Does require a programming dongle though. 28 & 48pin versions, DIP and surface mount.
SX28AC/DP-G (Lead-Free)
 
My character LCD has onboard drivers, so I can do the job with 4 data pins, and some other optional ones that are not fully required for it.

I prefer to do C coding directly to the chips, I dont use the Arduino kit and its 'special' language, I find C easier and more range when you start getting into the very complex stuff. I manage to get my programmer on sale for $5, USB programming that connects directly to the ATMEGA32, had fun making a lot of things :) First project was a simple Yahtzee game for a character LCD using custom characters (dice faces)

As for Xplorer877 LED cube, you could use charliplexing.
http://www.instructables.com/id/3D-LED-Charlieplex-Cube-from-Chrismas-Tree-Lights/

Thats how I use to run 10 8-segments off only 8 pins :)
 
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