Using FreeM with BlinkM MaxM

While FreeM is mostly designed to work with BlinkMs and MinMs, it can be made to work with MaxMs. FreeM cannot supply the power that MaxMs need (250mA and FreeM can only supply up to 100mA), but there are other ways. One way to do it is to power the FreeM from the MaxM's built-in 5V power supply. To do this, get a MaxM, a FreeM, a small scrap of wire, and a 12VDC power supply.

Remove the "pwrsel" jumper and wrap the small piece of wire around all three pins of the "pwrsel" jumper. Then plug the FreeM into the bottom of the MaxM and plug in the 12VDC power supply to the MaxM.

The MaxM will power the FreeM and the FreeM will control the MaxM.

You can also now control other LED clusters like flexible RGB LED tape.

ThingM Project Feature: Spaceship

http://vimeo.com/20807505 BlinkM in Rocket ship Creators: Mike Rivamonte

I was looking for something I could use to illuminate my rocket ships. A friend suggested I use your FreeM's for my project and the reaction from viewers is great. I really liked the idea of controlling the color of the BlinkM with a Sony remote control.

I secured the FreeM inside the rocket ship and created a compartment for the 9volt battery. I added a toggle switch to save battery life when not in use.

Although the FreeMs are programmable my clients enjoy the simple cycle from one color to another. I am now creating more rockets that really take advantage of the FreeM and next will use a MaxM so I can really explore portholes all over the ships!

ProjectBlog_mike rivamonte_RocketShip (Downloadable PDF)

ThingM Project Feature: Miscommunication / Disconnect

http://vimeo.com/16712359 http://vimeo.com/16712763

http://vimeo.com/16711282

BlinkM in Miscommunication/Disconnect Creators: Sarah Needham + Jeremy Eichenbaum

To communicate with lights is one thing, but to develop a myth and fiction behind them is another. When faced with the design problem of communicating through the various pulsing ofLED lights, we decided to fabricate a story that would supplement the Blink-M's programmable functions.

In essence, our project was about forming a fictional present to result in the fictional future of electronics outliving their makers and having to exist in a world without the same care and attention that they are used to receiving. Scientist John Castle realizes this fear [that electronics may need to survive alone] and decides to do something about it. Carefully, while toiling through many years of existence, he crafts a way for the electronics to communicate with the surrounding environment. Believing that they will one day need to survive in nature, he sets up a series of pulses and colors to reflect what he found in the immediate woods surrounding his home. A longer, slower pulse comes through the digital heart of the creature that holds the electronic while a much quicker, more desperate pulse emits from the body–an attempt to reach out to the

surroundings in hopes of creating a symbiotic relationship with the plant material.  Castle's experiments involved a variety of locations for the electronics to eventually call home. Streams, natural caves, and amongst the trees were just a few of his ideas. He also carefully studied and dissected the relationship of the creatures when they were in the proximity of one another. Sadly, and much to his misfortune, Castle was never able to fully realize that as the creatures were left to their own devices [having lost their "electronic gardener"], their pulses died out; prevented from communicating in an adequate fashion, the creatures repulsed nature and one another.

Ultimately, they died alone.

ProjectBlog_MiscommunicationDisconnect (Downloadable PDF)

ThingM Project Feature: Energy Mementos

BlinkM in Energy Mementos By: James Pierce

Energy Mementos are small objects for collecting (generating) small amounts of electrical energy, keeping (storing) the energy, and recording and storing energy metadata related to the various qualities of its production such as direction, magnitude, age and time of energy generation; the energy metadata is used in various ways to share (distribute) and activate (use) the energy to which it refers.

For this project I built two functional Energy Mementos prototypes: The Shake-light bottle and the Turn-light Box. The basic idea is to generate small amounts of energy (by shaking a magnet in a coil winding, or turning a small DC motor), store the energy, store energy metadata about the magnitude of the energy generated, and then later “play back” the energy in interesting ways using the energy metadata.

One of many possible envisioned scenarios is to give the Turn-light Box to a loved one as an expression of the giver’s personal energy. The recipient could then keep the box in a special place, such as a shelf or drawer in the home. The recipient could, perhaps in a moment of longing for the giver, activate the giver’s energy using the box. The energy is activated as a unique pattern of light colors and intensities corresponding to the amplitude and direction of the electrical current generated and stored within the box.

The following circuit uses a voltage divider and zener diode to measure voltage and direction of power generated by turning a small DC motor by hand (100:1 gear ratio). An Arduino mini is also used. The Arduino is programmed to wake when voltage is detected on the SPEED pin and begin sampling voltage and direction. The measured energy metadata is stored in the onboard 512 bytes of EEPROM. A small switch is used to “play back” recorded energy an BlinkM RGB LED.

ProjectBlog_Energy Mementos (Downloadable PDF)

ThingM Project Feature: Books with Personality

http://vimeo.com/16588925 BlinkM in Books with Personality

Creators:  Jisu Choi + Matt Kizu from Art Center

The intent of this project was to create animism in an object, with the use of programmable BlinkM® LEDs. We were interested in books because, as a set of objects, they still had a degree of individuality which we wanted to bring forward. By accentuating the character that the titles already exuded, we were able to develop each personality in unique ways, furthering the books from their common mass–produced ancestry. This experiment came close to becoming a psychoanalysis of an object–exploring themes of ego, vulnerability, intellect, and self-awareness.

The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived – Forever a star in his own world, is now defiantly resisting any attempt at engaging an audience that doesn't understand his art. He is, in fact, on another level–too good for the common man to engage, and so will not allow anyone to even pick him up.

The Dictionary of the Future – Is perhaps the most sought after authority of a future that has yet to arrive. Convinced that sound-based language will not survive beyond earth, he has devised his own intergalactic visual language in an attempt to communicate with other like-minded species.  The Meaning and Measurement of Neuroticism and Anxiety – The basketcase genius will hold you captive for hours on end, obsessively discussing psychophysiological interactions, during which signs of his own neuroticism become apparent.

ProjectBlog_BookPersoanlity (Downloadable PDF)

ThingM Project Feature: BlinkM in the Lantern

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUD66P4KeDc&feature=player_embedded BlinkM in the Lantern                                                Creator: David Enoch

David has been making handmade lanterns for years.  The halogen and xenon bulbs he used  produced nice light and shadows, but were costly and fragile, and can’t be easily powered by batteries.  Wanting to find  an LED solution for years, David was unable to find any that produced the same quality or warmth he liked - that is until he discovered BlinkM's, which he used to replace  the halogen bulbs.  He was thrilled to discover that they added a whole new character to the lanterns,  as well as the space where they were hung.  BlinkM’s helped to create interesting and unique light patterns on the walls and produced light that was both bright and warm.  He could also easily wire a 2AA battery pack to them which enabled him to free them from the wall.  In short, he won’t be going back to halogen lights, and looks forward to incorporating BlinkM's in future projects.

ProjectBlog_DavidEnoch_Lantern (Downloadable PDF)

ThingM Project Feature: BlinkM in DrumKit

DrumKit was the result of a semester of design and prototyping as part of a product design course at Rensselaer.  DrumKit is meant to encourage the user to explore music, math, programming, electronics, and acoustics.

* The kit can be programmed to build rhythms. Through iteration and other mathematical patterns, one can explore rhythms and meters of increasing complexity. * The Arduino-based system can be integrated with other electronics to construct new instruments or inventions. * The mallets can be used with drums or other objects in order to combine interesting sounds.

The system works with any Arduino-compatible software. The mallets themselves are mobile, connected with standard network cables to a hub, which is linked to the Arduino controller as well as a central power source. Creators:

Anasha Cummings Joe DiLuzio Dan Zollman How DrumKit Works:

In the prototype, each mallet is a simple lever driven by a solenoid. The Arduino sends a 5-volt pulse for each stroke of the mallet, triggering a relay which turns on the solenoid at 24 volts. The Arduino signal also turns on a BlinkM for the duration of the stroke (see below). The length of the pulse can be varied in order to change the way the mallet strikes the drum surface; a quick pulse results in a fast recoil and a quick staccato, while a longer pulse holds the mallet against the drum and changes its sound.

BlinkMs as Feedback Mechanisms:

Each mallet uses a BlinkMs as a feedback mechanism. A BlinkM is an LED that can be programmed to play back a sequences of color when it receives power. On a mallet, the BlinkM's color reflects the motion of the mallet. The light also makes it possible to see the signal received by a mallet even if the solenoid's power source is disconnected.

When a mallet is triggered, the BlinkM first turns red and then fades, or “cools down”, to blue, representing the decay of the drum hit. For short mallet strokes, the light simply flashes in red before turning off. The longer the mallet is held down, however, the closer to blue the color gets. Eventually, the color stops changing because an excessively long stroke no longer affects the sound of the drum.

Video:

http://www.vimeo.com/18034261

http://www.vimeo.com/18034547

http://www.vimeo.com/18034961

ProjectBlog_Renssleaer_DrumKit (Downloadable PDF)

http://www.insteadofthebox.com/drumkit/index.php   (link to more information)

ThingM Project Feature: BlinkM in Firefly Cloud

University of Michigan - Fall 2010 - SmartSurfaces offered a collaborative, project-based learning experience in which undergraduate artists, designers, architects and engineers came together to build structural surfaces that have the capability to adapt to information and environmental conditions.

Each team was required to design, build, program and test a ‘Biomimetic SmartSurface’. They had to consider and negotiate what makes a surface smart, and why we would be interested in copying nature to try to solve human problems.

Creators:

Steven Madsen, Material Science and Engineering Kevin Yien, Material Science and Engineering Chris Niswander, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning Jordan Stoewsand-Kryscio, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning Mallory Baran, School of Art and Design Michael Theodore, School of Art and Design

Various types of LEDs diffusely illuminate a wall comprised of straws. Mimicking a swarm of fireflies, the lights flee and evade according to motion detection. The soft texture generated by the straws, in concert with ‘moving’ LEDs, offers a unique visual experience and gives users the childhood feeling of playing with fireflies.

Video:

http://vimeo.com/17617397

http://vimeo.com/17459405

http://vimeo.com/17909924

ProjectBlog_Michigan_Firefly (Downloadable PDF)

http://www.smartsurfaces.net/fall2010_task4  (link to more information)

ThingM Project Feature: BlinkM in The MEAL Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPV_o-cwoik BlinkM in The MEAL Project                           Creator: Corinna Sherman

For the distracted diner who wants a subtle reminder to assess how full he or she is while eating, the MEAL dish is a weight-sensing dish that illuminates with colored light to give the user a sense of how much food has been eaten since the meal began. Normal dishware provides no feedback, placing the burden of self-monitoring entirely on the individual. Mealtime distractions pose less of an issue, however, when responsive MEAL dishes help people mind their own sense of satiety with subtle, pleasant cues via ambient light.

How It Works:

1. Plug the Arduino into wall outlet and press the power button on the base unit to register the minimum weight of the empty dish. 2. Fill the dish with food. 3 RGB LEDs that are located inside the base unit will pulse red when the minimum amount of weight has been added to enable subsequent monitoring. 3. Press the calibration button on the base unit to register the maximum weight. 4. Each of the dish’s three legs sits upon a load sensor. The sensors connect to the Arduino, which monitors the total weight sensed over time. As food is eaten from the dish, the Arduino translates the sensed weight change into a hue shift in the LEDs from red (a color shown to stimulate appetite) to blue (a color shown to promote relaxation).

Downloadable PDF:

ProjectBlog_CMU_Corinna

link to more information:

http://www.corinnasherman.com/blog/uncategorized/the-meal-project-mindful-eating-via-ambient-light

ThingM Project Feature: Explosives Detonator Prop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75JIm4QFix4 Explosives Detonator Prop                           Created By: Chris Ellerby

Recently we had the job of creating a explosives detonator prop, and once again, I just had to put a BlinkM in the project!    When the device is "armed" the screen displays a flashing  message and a 30 second looping countdown begins.  This triggers the BlinkM to start flashing in a Red - Red - Green pattern.   The center dash lights were mounted in a light diffusing case, and looked amazing on set.

Materials Needed:

- One standard plastic hobby box with a power toggle switch

- Key entry pad

- LCD display

- wireless antenna

- Last but not least a BlinkM smart LED!

BlinkMProjectFeature-ExplosivesDetonatorProp (Downloadable PDF)