MIDI Controller Build

Like most folks that do this ( I would imagine) I have a few concurrent things going on. This one has been running for awhile ( primarily due to laziness.) What I have for you today is a Line6 Longboard, that I am gutting out and putting my own gear into.

20 buttons,24 LED's, 2 pots, LCD...ahh...control goodness. Anyhoo...The first thing I did was try to get the foot controllers working. My intention was to use the existing optical sensors to read the pedal positions. Heh...epic fail. So I used a couple of recycled XBOX joysticks and some cable tacks.

Judicious use of screws and perfboard ties it all together. I wrote some test code for my Arduino to test it and it works great. I am only using one pot from each stick. I removed the spring that is in the bottom of each stick so that it moves freely. Here is the schematic that I used to connect the pots to the Arduino (image from http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/AnalogInput )

I am using  a mega and a centipede shield to make all of my connections (again laziness on my part.) That is all for the most part now. Stay tuned...

Robot Overlord...

What site would be complete without a robot build. This is the start of what I think is a fairly ambitious project. I plan to convert an electric wheel chair into an autonomous machine. Usually I would start a project of this magnitude with a lot of research, note taking, and the like. And with all of the notebooks and binders that I have amassed with project outlines,specifications, and schematics, comes the wild tangent (usually in the very beginning of the project.) Those tangents, unfortunately, result in the project not turning out anything like it was supposed to. Anyway...here is the chair stripped down.

This is a Hoveround MVP4 (or 5, really cannot remember.) Scored it for $13.00 at a thrift store. Came complete, though not functioning. Basically  wiring and brake issues. Those two little levers that you can see on the ends of the motors are breaks that are read by the VSI controller, one was stuck in the brake position, causing the controller to shut the chair down. It has a VSI controller, which I understand some folks have already figured out how to interface, with varying results. My intent is to get it running from an Arduino, using a command protocol similar to what a Roomba uses. Then...well....we will see...

Repurposing A PSP and some junk....

So, I wanted something to play music on in the shop. I have a computer down there, but more often than not, it is busy doing other things (controlling something, reading something,or just plain not working.) So, with some rummaging around and few hours, I came up with this.

And another view...

Basically, it is a PSP, an old set of computer speakers ( they were stripped before I decided to do this blog), and the enclosure from a WD MyBook Essential ( which sucked from day one.) I took the PCB from the computer speakers and broke out the appropriate connections (the speaker outputs, inputs, LED, and power.) Then I wired the wire from a cheap set of headphones to the input of the amp PCB. In retrospect, probably should have kept the original wiring, but I am oft guilty of cutting before thinking. After that was done, I built a busted-A** terminal block for the speaker connections. The terminal block is basically a bit of  plastic that I screwed screws and washers into. I used crimp terminals the make the connections to both of the speaker outputs ( which the screws and washers are screwed through in to the plastic.)

                                         (Close up of the back. The cat5 coming out of it
                                           connects the the speakers)

You can also see in the pic the power jack and the toggle switch which are wired to the board inside.

I connected the PSP to the HDD enclosure using a right angle framing bracket thing I got from Home Depot. They use them (as far as I can tell) for making decks and stuff. I placed the bracket into a vise and hammered it so that it held the PSP at what I felt was a good viewing angle and painted it flat black. I then drilled two holes in the back of the PSP ( through the door that you would normally open to insert a disk) and screwed it onto the bracket using self tapping screws. pretty simple stuff. All that was left to do was line the bracket up on the enclosure, mark and drill the holes, attach, and stuff in the electronics.

                                           (Messy wiring is my specialty.)



Here is a view of the electronics. Given the construction of the HDD enclosure, I had to make a bottom plate to mount the board to. That doodad in the lower right corner is an existing light pipe that I used to indicate that the amp was running. I connected the LED from the amp to the lightpipe with heat-shrink tubing. Kinda off centered the LED, as the LED is bright as hell and I wanted to tone it down a bit.

And there it is. I am currently just using the default PSP media player, which I am going to attempt to change at some point, but for now it works for what I need it for. On to more projects...

A Basement.....

It's a basement. That's where the name comes from. My shop is in the basement.