Friday, December 12, 2014

The Final Countdown

So this post will probably be a lot of words! Mostly to wrap up the blog and put in any information we have missed and are required to put in for the grade. So here we go..

First of all, the Arduino is the brain of the entire project. It processes the signals given by the piezos reading each drum hit, and sends it to the computer as a MIDI signal. This signal is then converted using a MIDI to Serial converter so that the Mac can read it properly and assign the drum sounds of GarageBand to it. We used a second Arduino to control one of the modes of the lights, being Tutorial mode. When we switch the drum set to Tutorial mode, the first Arduino controls the second Arduino, and tells it to start running the program that we had previously gave it, to light the lights in a certain sequence, teaching you how to play.

Our initial assembly worked quite well, but we hit a few bumps and setbacks. it took a long time to get all of the films wrapped around each of the light strips, equating to about 3 hours, and when we got them all wired up, the green light strip decided to no longer work! so we had to redo that strip with the remainder of lights we had. also, only 3/4 of the red pad lit up when given power, as one of the connections got messed up during the contact cementing of the films onto the lights. so Jake did a fix on that where wires went from a good part of the red strip to the other portion, fixing it and allowing the whole red strip to light up once again. there was quite a few other setbacks when it came to soldering, but all seemed to work out in the end.

A quick thing on the fabricated parts. We received our 3D printed drum stick holders and they worked magnificently. we screwed them into the back of the left pvc pipe and there was plenty of space to get the sticks in and out and they were adequately held by the holders. We even gave them a gloss gold coat of paint to tie them into the rest of the paint job of our drum set. Our project did not require the use of any laser cut parts, as we used one of the UMass Lowell machinists to lathe us a perfect 7 inch circle out of the stainless steel sheets we had for the metal pads. in hindsight, we probably shouldve tried to laser cut these instead, but they came out quite well. However, as a last minute addition, we had a nifty project display name card laser cut out of cardboard for the final presentation (shown below in the first picture). PVC was used to connect all of the pieces of the drum set to each other, with PVC fittings to conjoin the pipes. The pads were made from plywood. Anything else that needed to be attached was either done with 1/4-20 holes and screws with lock nuts, or with contact cement we got from Eric's dad and Home Depot.

The success of our project was incredible. All of the lights worked, all of the pads worked and sent the signal correctly, and the lights reacted to the strikes perfectly. We got a ton of support and feedback from friends, family, colleagues, strangers, and faculty about how we did, what a success we had, and what we could do to improve it as well as possibly take our project to the next level. which we are still thinking about (can't give too much away).

Unfortunately, we did not include a stepper motor or a moving part to this design, which seemed to be required. But for what we accomplished within only a month's time, I believe we shouldn't be penalized for it considering that a motor has nothing to do with a drum set!

All in all, this project was a huge success, we all had a lot of fun building it, and we all have gained a tremendous amount of experience. From the mechanical part of the project of assembling it all, to the electrical and coding parts of making the pads and lights work, we all have gained a lot, and cant wait to see what comes next. Thanks to everyone who has helped us along the way, take it easy, and rock on!

-LightBeats (Drum Set Kr3w)

Technical Information

We were unsure of the best way to upload all of the files of the project, so copy and paste the URL below for ALL of the SolidWorks components used

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B1l6KV0rfAJgN0JheFZ3VkROaVU&usp=sharing

And some final wrap up pictures for your viewing pleasure...






Monday, December 8, 2014

Wrapping It Up

So the competition was a good time and we had a lot of interest and buzz about our drum set, but we did not win anything due to the capstone projects that were involved! But we got great feedback and overall we are satisfied with what we accomplished within the allotted time period.

Here is the SolidWorks model of the drum set we used:

and here are some pictures of us working on the final days leading up to the competition:










This wasn't exactly the finished product, and an updated photo will be provided shortly. We will be attending the Design Expo with this as well and hopefully we find a power source to show off what we made!

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Big News!

Look at us! After hours and hours of painful work, its together! Hit lots of bumps and lots of improvising  and quick thinking was done, but it came out almost exactly how we hoped it would.

Pads can be sticky, lights are finicky, can only hit one pad at a time, but most importantly, it works! Here is a video of Brett's first jam in Freestyle Mode! (and it contains some excitement, mostly from Eric's roommate who has had to deal with us working)



Also, a photo of the unforeseen consequence of using a breadboard, 2 arduinos, 2 toggle switches, and very little foresight




The three modes, Freestyle, Glow in the Dark, and Tutorial are all working and available, with videos of those hopefully to come soon!

Here are the codes that are currently "Final." Code 2 is only needed for having lights go to a beat in Tutorial Mode while the drum hits stay independent, Code 1 takes care of everything else. 


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Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Final Stretch!

So we all met up yesterday and got cranking on the finishing parts of the drum set. We drilled more holes in the pipes so we could run the wires throughout the piping instead of having them out in the open. we also cut the LED light strips for each pad and the drum pedal, cut the wires we needed to size, and soldered them onto the drum pads and the leads of the light strips. Then we took the lights and cut the colored films into strips and contact cement them on so we have different colored LED light strips.

We will be meeting up again tonight and connecting the light strips to the drum pads and then the drum pads to the PVC structure. then the wires of the pads and the lights will have to be run throughout the piping to the middle where the arduino will be placed. Brett will be creating a quick box for the two 2 arduinos and the breadboard to sit inside without looking too messy. Finish line here we come

Here is a picture of Eric in the Captain Morgan stance while eating pizza. You're welcome. Take it easy!

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Coding Update (Yay!)

Woohoo! Jake has gotten a lot of headaches and should probably take some time to not be looking at a screen or arduino board, but that's part of the game!

With lots of time and effort, 300 lines (which probably could've been shorter using arrays, less comments and what not) of code have been written so far. More testing and tweaking will be done in the next few days to make sure we have a working prototype before we present in a few days!

We are going to have a second board for tutorial mode, which will independently control the lights. This code is not done yet, but should be easy, just some delays, digitalWrites, and a check for the switch states.

Here is the code  that is done so far:

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More updates to come, of course

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Quick Thanksgiving Update

So we handed the pads and rims off to Jake for the Thanksgiving break to hopefully finish up our coding so we can finish assembling everything else when we all come back. We also received our finished 3D printed parts of our drum stick holders! here is a picture of an example of what they will do (hold drum sticks =P). these will be painted and attached after the break once we know where to place them to keep them from interfering with the pads.

That's it for now, so have a great Thanksgiving everyone and take it easy

Monday, November 24, 2014

Fresh Paint Job


Hey everyone! So this weekend Eric and Brett got together again and did some painting! we primed everything (the picture of everything being gray) and then we spray painted almost everything a gloss black. it looks good. and then for a little flavor, the bolts that are showing on top of the drum rims were painted a gloss gold color. we had to spice things up a little bit. we will be getting together again really quick today to grab them (since they had to dry) and contact cement the drum pads into the rims. once that is done, we will be handing them off to Jake to take them home during thanksgiving break and finish the coding needed. we are getting closer to the finish line, and we still have some things to do, so we are pushing hard! more updates to come. Take it easy friends





Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Circles, Holes, and Progress


Hey everybody! On 11/18, Eric and Brett went to talk to one of the machinists at UML to see if it was possible to cut a close-to-perfect 7 inch diameter circle out of the drum pad. We will be meeting with him tomorrow again with the drum pads and rims on hand to see if anything can be done. if not, we will just have to tin-snip them as close as possible to fit them into the drum rims.

Also on the 17th, Vlad and Brett went to Home Depot real quick to grab 3" long 1/4-20 screws and lock nuts, along with more contact cement to connect more of the project.

Brett also took the drum set home, set it up and (with a little help from dad) got all of the holes drilled for the drum pad rims. This included the holes in the rims as well as in the PVC structure to connect them. We also drilled a smaller hole within the middle of each drum rim so the wires of the piezo could exit the rim, enter the PVC piping, and run to the Arduino with minimal wires showing.



I believe that is all for now, more updates to come soon. Take it easy everyone.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Awwwwwww WORK-WORK

Ladies and gentlemen,

The construction has begun! Brett really cranked out the solidworks design of the drum set (with a little calculation help from Eric). Everyday is a continuous texting conversation about the electrical issues involved with the arduino. Jake is really getting headwind on the light portion of our design

Later on Saturday, Eric, Brett, and Jake met at Eric's parents house to begin cutting materials! Below is a variety of pictures of the construction of the drum rims and pipe assembly. It isn't finished yet, but a big chunk of the assembly was done!







Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Update Time!

So we have had a few things happen to progress towards actually making our drum set. Eric and Brett went out to Home Depot and grabbed 40 feet of PVC piping along with most of the PVC fittings we need to make the structure. Here is how we had to transport it!

Unicorn style. Yeah buddy.

Unfortunately, Home Depot did not have all of the fittings we needed, so we had to order them from Amazon.com for about $10. making the total cost of the pvc to be about $49. this now puts us over our $100 budget from the school, so everything past the 100 we will be splitting the cost of between the group members.

Eric has also obtained the sheets of metal circles we needed for the drum pads, so Brett and Vlad will be working on assembling the drum pads this weekend hopefully. at the same time Eric will be working on cutting and connecting the pvc to make our structure. Jake has been working on the coding we will need and will be picking up wire, transistors, and a wall outlet plug to supply our LED strips with 12V power.

I cant think of anything else to say, so thats all for the updates, and take it easy.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Hit a bump, but got it!

After a few hours of googling and experimentation, it works! the current code is dirty, so is the wiring, and timing, and set up, and most of it, but thats the wonder of prototyping! The fact is, I can hit a pad and it will light up an LED and play a note!



Knock Sensor

Proof of concept complete! Jake has gotten a piezo to turn on an LED with the A0 pin. Learning to solder and read schematics is fun!

Next stop, figuring out how to turn the digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); into a snare drum! Then into transistors for the 12V LED chains. Progress!

Thank you to:

http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/Piezo-knock-sensor-circuit.php

for the help

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Getting adjusted in GarageBand

Jake may have gotten a little distracted when he started working in garageband. Soon it will be played on a kit instead of a keyboard!


Midi Controlling


With a little research, it seems that it is definitely possible! This video just shows an example of controlling GarageBand with outputs from Arduino using other Hairless midi converting software. Replacing the loop with inputs from the pads should let us get exactly what we want.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Send-and-Receive-MIDI-with-Arduino/step5/Software-Solution-Serial-to-MIDI-Application/

This Instructables page goes through in some more detail


Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Learning How Not To Do Things

During Design lab...lab today group members Brett Harding and Eric Beauregard learned a little about blogging 101. Upon inspecting group "Soaring Sweets"'s blog, we realized that some groups simply just make boring blogs. We need to use their mistake as a lesson to continue to make our blog extra cool!


Here's Stewie Griffin playing some drums for your entertainment/motivation to see the release of light beats!


Potential date of picking up more materials to build the stand is this coming Saturday, and we have received the drum pedal and mouse pads in the mail! The drum pads will begin to be made shortly, but until then......take it easy.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

shipping update

We have received our LED strip and the plastic colored films in the mail! still waiting on the drum kit-kit, the 10 mouse pads, and the kick pedal. once these are received, we should have all necessary materials to begin assembling the drum pads and connecting them to the arduino and MIDI shield. More information will be provided when it is available. Take it easy.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Learning stuff and producing ideas

Today we talked to our project advisor and learned some information that we will need in order to power our LEDs in the proper way, while still allowing the Arduino board to control them. Now we have to get transistors!

We were referred to adafruit.com, as they have many products that might come in handy and loads of information on how to do things, more specifically, how to wire LEDs to an arduino!

A potential idea for incorporating 3D printable parts into the project is making 2 L-brackets that would be given the role of drumstick holder.

For the laser-cutter, we will most likely use it to cut the 7 inch diameter metal circles out of our sheetmetal we will need for our drum pads

Finally, we have received the shipment confirmation of the Drum Kit - Kit that we need to read the MIDI signals! (shown below)
Drum Kit - Kit Arduino Shield
more information coming soon. stay tuned my friends. Take it easy.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Begun ordering necessary materials

We have begun ordering the materials we are going to need for this project:

$25.95 - drum kit-kit (reads MIDI signals) and 2 more piezos
$18.31 - drum pedal
$35.93 - 10 mouse pads, 16.4ft strip of white LEDs, color tinted plastic sheets

all we need is the material to build the stand to hold everything up and together! this may include a few 3D printed parts

we also created a GroupMe so that we may all chat together since some group members cannot group chat without it

Lets Get it Started in Heah

Today is the first day in an epic journey...we have created the blog post... even though we have already started our project. So, we will post some things about what we have researched/found so far soon! Stay tuned Light Beat fans!

Project Name: Light Beats

Project Members:  Vlad Dinov Eric Beauregard, Brett Harding, Jake Fein



Quick project synopsis: We are creating an electric tutorial drum set using the Arduino board! It is an drum set that is playable with the aid of a computer running a musical application that will be able to teach you to learn drum beats using LEDs that will be associated with each drum pad and the drum pedal. it will also have a Glow-in-the-Dark mode where the LEDs will stay on continuously, making the drum set playable in the pitch dark! perfect for concerts and cool effects!!

**These developments happened before we created the blog. other parts of the timeline not listed include: finding team members, creating a GroupMe chat group for communication, brainstorming ideas via late night ooVoo calls.

Even though we have already started our project, here is some videos about what our project will contain:
This first video shows a quick demonstration of someone hitting the drum pads and the arduino sending the sounds to some output for sound.

This second video shows how we can edit some of our code so that we can tune each of the drum pads correctly. This will come in handy once we reach that point of making sure the drums are sending their signal correctly when hit.
We will have more for you when the time comes, but for now, take it easy.