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4-channel Bi-directional Logic Level Converter(for optional RF).4-pin JST SM Plug Set(to connect/disconnect from the LED strand and in our case to fasten a couple extra LEDs to the end of the chain).2 Strands of 25 12mm Diffused Flat Digital RGB LED Pixels(and 2 LEDs clipped from another WS2801-based 20 RGB LED Chain from Sparkfunas I needed 52 total).

#Ncplot full#

Adafruit Full Sized Perma-Proto Raspberry Pi Breadboard PCB.

So all together the hardware needed consisted of: So the amplifier would have to have its own power which could be connected when the main power came up. As the Pi audio is not always smooth and has occasional clicks and pops (even with some filtering) - this can cause problems if the amplifier is driven from the same supply as the Pi as it can draw enough current to crash the Pi. We also needed to amplify audio from the Pi to drive a small set of speakers. We then needed a switch module which could trigger a full power up from the press of a momentary switch while using very little current to monitor the switch. Since the remote receiver operated at 5 volts, we needed to introduce a level-converter for use with the 3.3 volt Raspberry Pi. As it turned out, we should have adjusted the holes somewhat but we did pretty well wasting only 2 on the strand which didn't reach a hole and having to add 2 more to compensate which were plugged into the end of the strand (we wanted to keep the two 25 LED strands we used intact).Other parts of our plan included use of a wireless remote in addition to the 8 buttons we planned on using on the board. We planned to use 50 LEDs in total, 15 on the legend and 35 on the map. The hope was that a single strand of RGB LEDs could be routed around the back side of the state and legend boards and hit all the holes. The legend would also be wood and would have holes for LEDs and buttons. We would also plan the precise location of the LEDs and drill holes at those locations on the wood. The plan was to use actual state boundary data to generate g-code for our CNC. We could have used foam board but I thought quarter inch plywood would hold up better and allow for more precise cuts. That also satisfied creating a 3D look for the state. To accomplish that, the state boundary outline would have to be a separate piece. One of the goals was to avoid having a lot of wires and connections on the back of the tri-fold. First, we would need to have the outline of the state. The WebIDE helped convince me it would be easier for our daughter to work with (and she'd just started working through Python for Kids).We started with a rough idea of how we thought things would come together. I'd done many past projects with the Arduino/ Wave Shield combination so I really wanted to see how well it could be done with the Raspberry Pi. As the project would be in place at the school for the rest of the year, power management was important also - so a graceful auto-shutdown would be essential. The Pi could multi-task which would make some things easier but would make smooth sound playback more challenging. A Raspberry Pi would potentially be less expensive as it could play the audio off its own filesystem, has networking built in (Model B), and can use Adafruit's WebIDE which would simplify our daughter's Python-based programming tasks (the Arduino wouldn't have been Python). It would have the advantage of faststart upand shutdown and would have clear uninterrupted audio. An Arduino approach might use an Arduino and Wave Shield combination. I debated whether it would be best to recommend an Arduino-based design or to use a Raspberry Pi. In order to have the desired sound and light elements we needed to choose an appropriate controller. The video below shows our daughter working on the Perma-Proto and button boards. There was a fair amount of soldering required on the Perma-Proto. In terms of electronics, our daughter jumped in fairly quickly having learned to solder at the recent Makerfaire in New York. I wanted to make sure that if we chose a more elaborate design that our daughter would actually carry out most of the work and that we document that - so I used a flip video recorder to film most of the process.

We brainstormed possible elements we might include on the board and thought about sound, light, and even considered EL-wire animated rivers. From what I've heard, the projects often have 3D aspects like animals and products attached and several over the years have had buttons to play things like the state song.

They are randomly assigned a state (in our daughter's case, Vermont) and the students work to put together a poster on a tri-fold piece of cardboard. At our daughter's school, all the 2nd graders put together a 'state board' project.