Iron Curtain2

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This is the second version of the Iron Curtain, an LED array used in 4e.

Objectives

Software

  1. Reacts to music / beats
  2. Display arbitrary content (video from youtube, screen grab from a computer)
  3. Capable of creating new functions by combining previous ones (Functional programming style).
  4. Few dependencies / dependencies that are easy to install
  5. Modular (can change the protocol to control other types of LED screens, LED strips, increase the number of strips being controlled, add plugins, etc)
  6. Mostly in a single language
  7. Provides an API to change parts of the program to run in different languages if useful.
  8. Ideally, communication through UDP / WebRTC; if TCP is fast enough, then, simply use TCP if it is easier.
  9. Possible Bemix integration

Hardware

  1. Very light (<40 pounds)
  2. Small number of components;
  3. The more expensive hardware has to be easily replaceable
  4. Can be used without internet connection, by connecting the device directly to a computer
  5. Can be used through WiFi.

Other work

The 1e disco floor has a software that reacts to music and new functions can be created in a functional way https://github.com/FirstEast/1e-Disco. I (Ivan) haven't managed to run it to test. It depends on a some python network libraries that failed to work on my computer. It has the problem that it depends on a server to run at the moment.

The 3e lights control https://github.com/ervanalb/beat-off. It is a really neat and modular control for LEDs. The tricky part is that it can only output the control to the LEDs using the LUX protocol https://github.com/ervanalb/lux, which is a protocol for power and data. It has the advantage of allowing controlling the LEDs in a very cheap way, but it seems harder to implement. The communication uses TCP instead of UDP, which might cause problems when controlling over wifi.

Overview

Hardware

  1. 30 x 2m WS2812B strips
  2. Raspberry pi Model 1
  3. Discarded Computer power supplies

Twin wall plastic http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-48-in-x-96-in-x-0-157-in-White-Twin-Wall-Plastic-Sheet-1TW4896C/205828967 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-Underlayment-Common-7-32-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-Actual-0-196-in-x-48-in-x-96-in-431178/203183010