Yep, we said it. This Halloween decoration goes way overboard… and we love it! Not only does [Shelby Merrick] put on an incredible sound and light show for the neighborhood, but he keeps us happy by posting all the details for the lighting controller he designed. He calls the creation FloodBrain as it’s switching a set of flood lights to achieve the effects seen above. But for the full experience you’ll want to watch the demo videos below as well.
He needed a way to switch twelve RGB flood lights which pull 10 Watts. His controller was designed to communicate with them via RS485, with an AVR Xmega8E5 controlling the system. We like it that he included some images of the manufacturing process, using a stencil for solder paste before placing components for reflow.
The floodlights themselves are also an interesting hack. To get what he wanted at the best price he picked up 10W white LED flood lights for about eight bucks a piece, then swapped out the LED itself for an RGB version (same wattage) using the same heat sink and case.
More often that not we see this type of system controlling Christmas lights. [Shelby] mentions that he did get help from Christmas light controller forum We also think he should have no problem repurposing the controller for that type of application.
amazing, great job.
Really cool. Nice work, kudos!
The music kills the mood. Isn’t it supposed to be scary and not cheesy?
I hardly think deadmau5 is cheesy, I thought was a good song to use and the lights looked really good.
I think the controller is technically impressive, but I tend to agree with you. Halloween is supposed to be scary. You can get away with uplifting techno music for Christmas, but if anything a Halloween show should have mood music at best.
I started off sequencing ambient / effects stuff but the kids really like the music so I stuck mostly with that. I started the project back in September so didn’t have much time to sequence. The following are the first two sequences I did and are more “Halloweeny”, if you will..
A Clockwork Orange – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXBpVvk3cVE (my first sequence)
Funeral March – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMh2V0ZXqKQ
Playlist with most of our show is here – http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY6l3Fd1SM8sTEvf6hIhPJX9rWgfbSmRX
However, if you really want to kill the mood, there’s always Nyan Cat :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt2_uHP4_cE — we didn’t run this one for fear of getting egged..
The point I was trying to make is the ambient sounds like someone chocking on blood or a creaking door as a room lights up or motion detection when the kids enter the porch or something would make this freakishly scary. The music makes it seem like I’m watching the thriller video.
This is so nice! Keep up the good work!
Really nicely made controller. I like the buck converters in the lid with detachable wiring.
Thanks! I ended up going with the eBay 2596 based modules instead of making my own just because it was cheaper. Think I paid $1.20 per module. The connectors are the 2.54mm pitch wafers from Tayda here – http://www.taydaelectronics.com/connectors-sockets/wafer-housing-crimp-terminal/serie-2500-2-54mm.html. These crimpers worked nicely with them – http://amzn.to/16SnrMM
Very nicely done.
I like the sequencing too, and I’m picky about that.
http://diychristmas.org/vb1/showthread.php?1049-Halloween-Ghosts-N-Stuff
Forum Thread
The diychristmas community has a great a bunch of guys in it and were really helpful with input while I designing everything. The build thread where I was considering different avenues on the design is here – http://diychristmas.org/vb1/showthread.php?829-18-Channel-10W-Flood-System
Absolutely awesome! Great work on the hardware and sequencing!
Thanks everyone, and HaD for featuring this!