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MooseMan3000 · 12-11-2005, 05:45 PM

Basically, what I want to do is this: to be able to have 50 or so LEDs light up at different times. They're going to (most likely, but I'm not decided entirely yet) be powered off a single 12 V DC connection, so I'd want to have a set number of them on at a single time (whatever gets me closest to that 12 V)

The only way I can think of to do this at the moment is to wire several circuits in parallel, each with X LEDs (whatever that number above is) in series. On each of those circuits, I would also throw varying capacitors/timers. The capacitors would sort of go off randomly. If I used an IC 555 timer, each set of LEDs would go off at a set interval. Is there something I'm missing, or something I should know?

Also, can someone think of a better way to do it than the method I've described above? (i.e. is there a way to make it totally random without running the risk of overshooting the voltage on a single LED and blowing it? Should I make individual circuits for all 50 with resistors to make up the rest of the voltage?)

Extra credit: Find a way to time it to music, rather than having it simply be random. I have two possibilities for this. One is using a microphone connected to the circuit somehow, most likely in combination with capacitors. The other is to somehow directly connect to my sound source (in this case a sound card), likely at line level, and with any luck, I can connect directly to the sub output. Extra extra credit: Find a way to do this without physically altering the sound card, so that it can be swapped out in the future without soldering/desoldering anything.

I've only just begun thinking of this specific part of the project, and I'm struggling to come up with a decent solution. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

12-11-2005, 05:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
MooseMan3000 wouldn't mind being a ninja. Location: Maine, the Other White State.	Timed LEDs? Basically, what I want to do is this: to be able to have 50 or so LEDs light up at different times. They're going to (most likely, but I'm not decided entirely yet) be powered off a single 12 V DC connection, so I'd want to have a set number of them on at a single time (whatever gets me closest to that 12 V) The only way I can think of to do this at the moment is to wire several circuits in parallel, each with X LEDs (whatever that number above is) in series. On each of those circuits, I would also throw varying capacitors/timers. The capacitors would sort of go off randomly. If I used an IC 555 timer, each set of LEDs would go off at a set interval. Is there something I'm missing, or something I should know? Also, can someone think of a better way to do it than the method I've described above? (i.e. is there a way to make it totally random without running the risk of overshooting the voltage on a single LED and blowing it? Should I make individual circuits for all 50 with resistors to make up the rest of the voltage?) Extra credit: Find a way to time it to music, rather than having it simply be random. I have two possibilities for this. One is using a microphone connected to the circuit somehow, most likely in combination with capacitors. The other is to somehow directly connect to my sound source (in this case a sound card), likely at line level, and with any luck, I can connect directly to the sub output. Extra extra credit: Find a way to do this without physically altering the sound card, so that it can be swapped out in the future without soldering/desoldering anything. I've only just begun thinking of this specific part of the project, and I'm struggling to come up with a decent solution. Any help would be greatly appreciated.