Hi Micheaaaal....

Dominic McGough · Aug 13, 2003

Hello everyone- I want to make a strip of red lights to fit to the front of
my car (just like Kit from Knightrider). Can anyone tell me exactly how this
can be done?

Dominic McGough · Aug 14, 2003

Sir Charles W. Shults III said:

Most schemes use either a shift register or a decoded up/down counter. The
best solution these days is a PIC chip because you can use just a couple of
chips and make multiple patterns- the "ping pong" sweep, the slow "from either
end to the middle" idle mode, etc.
Another simple solution uses a bar graph chip in dot mode and a triangle
wave generator- one LM3914 and a dual op amp for that solution.
A four bit binary counter and a decoder can also do it- the CD4028 chip is
made for this task. Use a CD4029 counter, CD4028 decoder, a CMOS 555 as the
clock source, and a CD4013 flip flop to keep track of the up/down status. You
will drive the lamps from the 0 through 7 outputs of the 4028 and you will
toggle the flip flop from the 0 and 7 outputs- this makes the counter reverse
direction when it reaches the limit.
Now, are you using incandescent or LED lamps? If you use incandescent
lamps, you can use just about any power transistor to drive them. 2N3055s or
TIP127s are fine, and in fact you can experiment with whatever you have in the
junk drawer.
But, if you use LEDs, you will want to make a "fader" circuit to make the
LEDs lose intensity over time. You can drive them with a FET and have a
capacitor/resistor on the gate lead to do this, for a simple solution. But
there are many, many ways to build this circuit.
If you opt for the PIC chip, you get the advantages of only one chip to do
it, plus your drivers. And you get multiple pattern options and the ability to
fade LEDs with PWM...

Cheers!

Chip Shults
My robotics, space and CGI web page - http://home.cfl.rr.com/aichip
Click to expand...

Thanks man- I'll let you know how I get on. ---------------~{X}~--

Dan Fraser · Sep 13, 2003

In the 70s I met the guy who did the effect for the Cylon helmets in
Battlestar Galactica. He later did the Knight Rider car. They had to use
quite bright incandescent lamps because LEDS were invisible under bright
studio lamps and in bright sunlight. Because of this, the lifetime of
the effect without maintenance was short.

Today we have superbright LEDS. Make sure you get some of those. They
used mechanical switches to scan the lights.

--
Dan Fraser

From Costa Mesa in sunny California
949-631-7535 Cell 714-420-7535

Check out my electronic schematics site at: http://www.schematicsforfree.com
If you are into cars check out www.roadsters.com

Hi Micheaaaal....

Dominic McGough Guest

Dominic McGough Guest

Dan Fraser Guest

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