Progress Presentation
Damien Higgins

Topics of discussion
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Introduction
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Project Abstract
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Project Stages
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Progress to date
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Project Plan
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Conclusion

Introduction
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Light chaser circuits can be used to create lighting animation sequences and have been used in the past to attract attention for advertising, promotion and in mobile discos.
Light chaser circuits have been around for about
100 years. By the 1970s, integrated circuits and transistors made light chaser circuits widely available.
Wide variety of applications today.

Project Abstract
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The goal of my project is to build a set of analog processing modules to capture an audio signal and by analyzing this signal to drive a series of multi-colored, high power LED lights.
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The design will be used as a portable light chaser and could be productized as a peripheral for a portable music player.

Stages of Project
This project can be broke down into different
Stages;
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Sensor stage
Audio input amplifier stage
Processing the signal stage
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LED driver stage
Power subsystem stage
Final stage

Sensor Stage
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Firstly some audio will need to be detected to have something to work with
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This could be done with some sort of sensor like a microphone for example.
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Extensive tests will have to be carried out to determine which sensor will be the most valuable for the purpose that we intend to use it for.

Audio Input Amplifier Stage
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The signal got from the sensor will then needed to be amplified somehow
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To achieve this, extensive research and tests should be carried out to determine what sort of amplifier will be used.

Processing the signal stage
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The signal obtained from audio input and sensor stage will then need to be processed by a set of filters
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This is done to provide some sort of information about the signal or the frequency spectrum coming into the system

LED Driver Stage
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The unit should drive multiple banks of LEDs
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It is desirable to use the information from the signal processing circuitry to modify the output pattern of the LEDs to flash to different frequencies at different times

Power Subsystem Stage
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After all the stages are completed, the system needs to have an efficient power supply using battery power.

Final Stage
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At this stage all the modules should be brought together into a single integrated design
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It should also be at this stage that any modifications take place

Progress to Date
Research
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Light Chaser Circuits
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Projects using LED’s

Sensor Stage
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Extensive researched on a number of audio sensors
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5 different electret microphones to test
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Constructed circuits to power and test each microphone individually

Audio Input Amplifier Stage
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Reviewed a number of different amplifiers
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Constructed a number of these amplifiers
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After testing and evaluating each amplifier and observing the results with the oscilloscope, an amplifier design was chosen

Processing the signal stage
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Looked into processing the signal using a set of analog filters
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Tested a number of different filters
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Frequencies we want are between 20 and 20,000 hertz (typical for modern music)

Project Plan
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By the end of January I hope to have completed most of the LED driver stage and have some sort of working module completed.
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For the month of February I plan to work on the
Power subsystem stage.
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In March I plan to tie up all loose ends with the project and complete the Final stage.

Conclusion
Questions?
Thank you for your attention!