I’ve had several strips of these just waiting for the perfect project. Anyone else have any interesting ideas for weekend projects using addressable LEDs?
A Word Clock. Google it. Impractical but pretty.
A giant 360 LED clock
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Re: A giant 360 LED clock
#22I’ve had several strips of these just waiting for the perfect project. Anyone else have any interesting ideas for weekend projects using addressable LEDs?
https://www.anfractuosity.com/projects/painting-a-christmas-... - I created a little system to 'paint' my Christmas tree using these addressable LEDs. The tree could be wrapped with the LED strips then the position of the LEDs was obtained using a camera (as they pulse out an ID). I then created a little Flask app, that ran on the same Raspberry Pi which controlled the LED strips, which let people paint the tree via…
That's cool! And reminds me I'd like to see something like http://wry.me/hacking/moirexmas.html on a real Christmas tree.
Re: A giant 360 LED clock
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
I added that link to my reading list. Very interesting idea. I'll be looking more into MQTT. But I don't see the issue with exposing the HTTP interface to the world? I'm always leaning towards solutions that ship with web interfaces, especially over mobile apps because I can use third party apps to work with them. Especially IP cameras.
>But I don't see the issue with exposing the HTTP interface to the world? It's a quick solution, but it is not user friendly. - What the IP it has is highly dependent on your router config. Even finding the IP requires work from the end user and you, every time. You can tell the router to give the device a static DHCP allocation, sure, but that will break as soon as you switch to a new router. - Browser changes might…
> You can tell the router to give the device a static DHCP allocation, sure, but that will break as soon as you switch to a new router.
All routers have some way of finding out the IP leases.
> Browser changes might break rendering of the config pages.
That's a fault in the browsers.
> The config interface is not standardized: it works for now but it will look outdated a couple of years from now. It can't be improved upon. Understanding and working with it is another annoyance that the user has to learn.
That it stays the same is a benefit, not a bad thing per se, and one could always allow for a simpler set of calls as an API to achieve functionality independent of the design.
The auth problem is definitely an issue, but more so when you expose your stuff to the whole world than to a LAN. It's next to impossible to get this right over the lifespan of a device.
Anyway, I think you really have a valid point but to me it all revolves around the security issues, the remainder depend strongly on your point of view and are not absolutes.
Re: A giant 360 LED clock
#24We did this a while ago: https://github.com/thinking-twins/vjo-dmx/blob/master/README...
Might be a good start for creatives without coding background as it is a Visualjockey Gold plugin.
Re: A giant 360 LED clock
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The drawbacks include the fact that if you want to configure it you always have to be on the same LAN and figure out its IP or port-forward, but if you port-forward, it will be not very secure due to the attack surface of the mini web server. But MQTT suffers from all of these same drawbacks, does it not? (MQTT is a TCP based protocol, and will thus suffer the same issues w/ NAT, and has no security aside from "can…
No. With MQTT, the client device makes a connection to some external MQTT server-- AWS, GCP, and Azure all have IoT bridges that speak MQTT. There's often an equivalent service over HTTP/1.1, where devices occasionally poll a remote endpoint for commands and to update state-- but without the persistent connection, you can't do realtime commands.
> AWS, GCP, and Azure all have IoT bridges that speak MQTT.
Also worth noting for the curious that it's very easy to host your own, e.g. via Mosquitto.
Re: A giant 360 LED clock
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
>But I don't see the issue with exposing the HTTP interface to the world? It's a quick solution, but it is not user friendly. - What the IP it has is highly dependent on your router config. Even finding the IP requires work from the end user and you, every time. You can tell the router to give the device a static DHCP allocation, sure, but that will break as soon as you switch to a new router. - Browser changes might…
> You can tell the router to give the device a static DHCP allocation, sure, but that will break as soon as you switch to a new router. All routers have some way of finding out the IP leases. > Browser changes might break rendering of the config pages. That's a fault in the browsers. > The config interface is not standardized: it works for now but it will look outdated a couple of years from now. It can't be improved…
>All routers have some way of finding out the IP leases.
Sure, with 1001 ways of accessing a router's IP leases table varying depending on the manufaturer, user names and passwords, whether anyone has changed the password, where to click, interfaces, apps, avahi daemon, nmap, ipv6, temperature outside, God's mood, and another 1001 ways of screwing it up even you know how it's supposed to work. Try to explain to a non-tech friend (even a relatively IT savvy one) how to find the IP of the Raspberry Pi on the local network and you'll understand why it is a bad idea. If you have client isolation, which some routers and setups have, you're screwed, too.
It's so bad that Google has to have a dedicated app just to find the IP of the Raspberry Pi on the network - I'm not kidding [1]. And that's supposed for the people who are courageous enough to try programming a Pi.
Yeah technically you can do it, but if it's so stupid and flaky that you can't rely on it, then can't be counted as a method to do something.
1: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and...
Re: A giant 360 LED clock
#27I’ve had several strips of these just waiting for the perfect project. Anyone else have any interesting ideas for weekend projects using addressable LEDs?
I've built a few weekend-level projects with these.
One I've loved the most is ambient lighting. I ringed the ceiling of one of my rooms with these and I can fade them in and out to a warm or cool white. It is great for hanging out with friends since there's this warm glow coming from all directions. Also great for reading. My next step is to create areas that I can light up sections above chairs and sofas.
It's also fun and easy to attach these to bikes. You can then just ziptie your arduino under the seat or somewhere like that and then light up your frame.
If you have a GPS module, you can build a compass or something that always points to the same spot.
You could also give your sofa and chairs underglow.
Re: A giant 360 LED clock
#28This project reminds me of https://www.thelightclock.com/ where the time is displayed by blended colors. Maybe this project could have a similar setting?
Re: A giant 360 LED clock
#29Love your clock! I'm working on a similar project, mine is currently being called a disco donut: https://www.instagram.com/p/BgZeIDQlA9z/
Do you power your LEDs and Raspberry Pi separately, or do you use the same power supply?
Re: A giant 360 LED clock
#30Very cool!
One small quibble: why is the /bright endpoint a GET? GET should never have side effects. :)