36 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown
36 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown
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---
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date: "2022-09-06T12:11:00-0600"
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title: Truck bling
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url: blog/2022-09-06-truck-bling/
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---
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Yesterday,
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one of $CHILD's friends from dance drove up so I could help her bling out her truck.
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We used WS2811 LED strings with adhesive backing.
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I flashed a Seeeduino Xiao with CircuitPython,
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set up an example program,
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and let the two of them go nuts writing light animations.
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Then we went out and stuck the stuff to the truck,
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reinforcing it with zip ties for when the adhesive inevitably loses its grip.
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The moms braided some wire into 3-connector cables,
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the friend soldered a bunch of stuff together,
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and we plugged it in.
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It friggin' worked!
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{{< video "truck-bling.m4v" "Pickup truck with color-changing ground effects">}}
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The really cool part, at least for me,
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is that now she can hang out with her laptop in the cabin,
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reprogramming her ground effects to do whatever she wants.
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Like, with a Chromebook, even.
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Or a mobile phone.
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CircuitPython is crazy inefficient,
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but it made this stuff so easy.
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Phase 2 is going to be getting a Bluetooth Adafruit chip,
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setting it up to pair to their phones,
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and then letting them control the color and pattern with a cell phone app.
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Then we'll be able to relocate the chip under the hood by the 12V battery,
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and route wires in a better way.
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