TEAM PCGMARCH PROGRAM REVIEW

Garrett Gustafson (Spring Team Lead)

Benjamin Co (Fall Team Lead)

Wendelin MuellerJulia Weimar-East

Project LightBoxPrimary Faculty Advisor: Dr. NuxollSecondary Faculty Advisor:Dr. CrenshawIndustry Advisor: Andy McConnellClient: Dr. Kevin Cantrell

Background

• Combines the utility of an x-ray viewing light box with the ability to change colors

• Assists in Dr. Cantrell’s research regarding color balancing

GUI => Microcontroller => LEDs

MethodsProject

Proposal

Functional Specificatio

n

Design Document

Hardware Design

LED Circuitry

Construct Box

Assemble Circuits

Test and Debug

Founder's Day Display

Software Design

Microcontroller

Programming

Windows 7 Program

Methods

Researched optics Color mixing Diffusion

Created small-scale LED grid prototypes Held many light mixing tests

Various LED configurations Multiple colors

Software models hardware Proof of concept programs

Architecture

• 2 main components

GUI LEDsµC

Architecture – Hardware (Circuitry)

Digital System We used an Arduino microcontroller that

we programmed to accept integers from the GUI representing different duty cycles

15 output pins on the Arduino were used to illuminate 5 tri-colored LEDs

Architecture – Hardware (Circuitry) Pin Connections

Architecture – Hardware (Physical)

Physical LightBox Trapezoidal shape - built with angled walls

in order to allow the box to be positioned differently based on how it is being used

Diffuser plate on top to mix the light illuminating from within

Circuitry is installed at the bottom (Arduino at based with the LED grid on top)

Architecture – Hardware (Physical)

Architecture – Software (LightBox GUI)

Programmed in the Python programming language

Allows the user to manipulate the intensity of each of the LEDs within the LightBox

Sends signals in the form of 8 bit integers to the microcontroller

Architecture – Software (LightBox GUI)

Demonstration

Enjoy!

Issues

No major issues A few minor ones…

Time Management Circuit (Sockets) Confusing Arduino documentation

Conclusion

Our development process went smoothly throughout the entire year

Hardware Requirements Complete!

Software Requirements Complete!

GUI => Microcontroller => LEDs The Light Box is able to produce a wide

variety of colors Our client, Dr. Cantrell, is very happy with

the final product

Any Questions?