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I also spent some time writing a first pass on the control software for the LEDs. I discovered that the slide potentiometer I bought is actually logarithmic, despite that not being mentioned anywhere on the datasheet. I assume that nearly all linear pots are logarithmic, to be used as faders for audio applications. However, for my application I needed to convert it to linear. Unfortunately, I discovered that the way they make large logarithmic pots is by combining a bunch of small ones, so the formula to convert to linear isn’t perfect. Additionally, the potentiometer reads are somewhat noisy. I will account for this by doing multiple reads and averaging them, and I may build a lookup table to give me evenly spaced intervals on the potentiometer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently I have it set up such that when you move the potentiometer, it highlights one layer, and when it doesn’t move for a few seconds, it returns to lighting all layers. I think I will replace this functionality with a system where you can “park” the potentiometer at the very front, and it will light all layers, any other position highlights either one or two layers. I want to make it so you can scroll through the layers smoothly by fading between them, instead of just snapping between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall my worries about not finishing this project on time are now put to rest, and I am excited to present it and see everyone else’s works!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My actual progress toward “polish and present” came a couple days after this post was due, but I’ll save that part for next week. Laser cutting in Washburn went far better than I expected. Over the weekend, I spent a substantial amount of time splicing together the rest of my LEDs, making a solderable breadboard… <\/p>\n