Interface Creation Documentation…
For various reasons I am creating this post to assemble some documentation of the interface I am now designing and creating. There will be a lot of stuff here, going in chronological order, with the oldest materials at the top and more recent materials as you scroll down.
I am not even posting everything, because it’s too much stuff. But there is enough here to get a general idea of the progression.
The oldest materials are from January 2020, and they don’t represent the very beginning of the process, but that is where I will start for this post. The very beginning of this starts with my first instruments. Much of the code, in Max, Pure Data, or Arduino, Bash and Raspberry Pi, has been being developed over a number of years.
Above image is from January 18, 2020
I am testing sending various colors to different LEDs via SPI
Testing Coordination Between Sound and Color of LEDs
More Testing with LEDs. Getting the timing of the LEDs was one of the hardest things to figure out. This video is from Feb 15, 2020
I am starting to incorporate the RGB LED buttons and the LED displays I will be using. I am testing the timing of the messages.
I made a trouble shooting video for the Teensy Forum. I was having major timing issues that took weeks to solve
February 23. Still having timing issues and testing
March 16. Still trouble shooting working with RGB LEDs. I’m trying to get the right colors and brightness. This was a lot of work.
Still testing timing issues
I started figuring out how to mix colors and get access to the full RGB spectrum
Working out the layout of the Interface. March 25, 2020
The circuit as it existed in breadboard form
Translating my layout to a 2d drawing
Early 3d rendering of the interface
Two Raspberry Pi prototype housing boxes. From April 24, 2020
I created a button matrix to figure out how these buttons would be wired, and what the code would be to read them.
Button matrix in an x/y grid of rows and columns. 16 buttons. April 25, 2020
The breadboard version of the circuit on May 28, 2020. I have analog sensors, digital sensors in the buttons, the LED displays and the RGB LEDs.
Designing a 3D model of the interface housing
Figuring out the spacing for these analog sensors. June 1 2020.
Deciding on what the layout will be. The quarters are going to be replaced by rotary potentiometers
Layout is replicated in 3D modeling software
Layout is printed out on paper so I can get a real-world look at what I am modeling in 3d software
More development on the 3D model. June 2, 2020
I like to make a physical 3d mockup so I can get an idea of the interface size and layout before I make any final decisions.
The Mock up is translated into a 3d model. June 3, 2020
June 8. The beginning of designing PCBs for this interface
Incorporating the LED displays into the 3D model. June 13, 2020
In this video, even though I am using another interface to create the sound, I am working on the “brain” of the instrument I am developing. I am trying to decide on the various things that will work with a Raspberry PI, including soundcard, software, etc. I am also coming up with software in Pure Data that will work with the “brain” that I can later use. The sound i am using for the melody can easily be mapped to the interface I am creating.
PCB designs