Color Changing Digital PC Fan Controller
share what you make > LittleBits Projects Summer #mikehacks RadioShack Fashion
3
Step 8: Start inserting components.
We've all seen LED fans that you can put in your computer to make it look cool. They usually come in blue, sometimes red or green and consist of a basic PC fan with 4 bright LED's mounted in the 4 corners. They source their voltage from the fan's power input, structural packaging so if you're using a fan controller (either the one built into your motherboard or otherwise) to slow the fan, the LED's get dim. Well, I got a new case for my server and it took 120mm fans, so I had to buy new fans for it. I got a nice blue LED fan for the front but one of the LED's was burned out and it didn't look good, plus the fan was loud and I was out of controllable channels on my motherboard. I got a free replacement for the bad LED, but I already had my mind set on converting the fan with the bad LED into something much better using what I'd learned about microcontrollers last Fall. The plan? A self-contained, digital, full control fan controller based around an AVR microcontroller that could have fine control over the fan's speed, read back the RPM, and control not just the brightness of the LEDs but also the color. Having seen a lot of cool projects using RGB (red-green-blue) LED's online, I figured it would be a good project.
Good project, I opted for an easier option. I got two colour changing solar lamps (for the garden), dismantled them, took out the board with colour leds. Now because each was 1.5 volts I connected them in series and put the positive on the orange wire on the 24 pin motherboard connector structural packaging and the negative to any 3 of the black wires. The I just mounted then into the fan and I all works perfect. P.S: I did this on the heat sink fan on my open server. Photos below vvvvvvvv http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FNZ/L202/HH2W0O0R/FNZL202HH2W0O0R.THUMB.jpg http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FX1/FSHK/HH2W0O0N/FX1FSHKHH2W0O0N.THUMB.jpg http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FIZ/Y68L/HH2W0O0L/FIZY68LHH2W0O0L.THUMB.jpg
I'm working on a new protocol for the "FanBus" RGB Fan Controller system. structural packaging The "FanBus" design (see my more recent Instructable) is designed to have more than one fan on a serial port, but otherwise is identical hardware. I'm using the original design built here as a test bed for new software, this time running the serial line at 38400 baud (up from 19200) and implementing a new register-based protocol structural packaging that should make communications more reliable (designed so that collisions should be impossible). The new framing is: 0x00 0xFF This is a write operation, for a read, a value of 0x01 is used instead for the start byte. To prevent collisions or framing errors, the value may NOT be 0x00, 0x01, or 0xFF (as if these were allowed, structural packaging a misaligned frame could be read incorrectly structural packaging as valid). As for the internal register address, the new scheme sets up a virtual register bank which consists of pointers to code variables, structural packaging allowing quicker, simpler reads and writes of values without a long chain of if/else or switch/case statements. In tests it is performing structural packaging well, and I got my Processing audio script up and running with it which looks epic. I need to clean up the code and revise structural packaging the initialization sequence to get the save-to-EEPROM and fade-in operations fixed, then push the code to my 3 FanBus controllers in my desktop to do a multi-unit test. Just goes to show that hardware isn't the only thing, a nice software/firmware update can make a HUGE difference!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQJaOcYtfAg For some reason the embedding didn't work, but here's a video of my new RGB fan system in my new computer. The Processing script processes the audio output and uses the fan LED's for audio visualization.
AWESOME! if i had the parts i would do this. it looks totally awesome. i wish my case fan had leds, too bad its flat black. but thats where chrome spray paint comes in! (then i'll add my own, no matter what anyone says) and dont feel bad about your case, look at mine: -Intel celeron 400mhz processor -256mb SDRAM, hoping to bump up to 512 -2 10GB hard drives (IDE) -350W power supply -64MB PCI graphics card Its a shame, i know :(
Lol, wow! I'm going to build a new gaming desktop in the next few weeks, looks like I'll have to build another one of these. I'm going to use an Antec 900 case which has two front fans, each with 3 LED's instead of 4, so I may modify the design for 6 LED's. structural packaging What's the circuit board hanging out the side of your PC for?
I'm using an Antec 902 Case (Essentially the same but for a few minor details), and I have to say, it's great. Are you going to light up the "Big-Boy" fan on the top, because I personally think that would be awesom
share what you make > LittleBits Projects Summer #mikehacks RadioShack Fashion
3
Step 8: Start inserting components.
We've all seen LED fans that you can put in your computer to make it look cool. They usually come in blue, sometimes red or green and consist of a basic PC fan with 4 bright LED's mounted in the 4 corners. They source their voltage from the fan's power input, structural packaging so if you're using a fan controller (either the one built into your motherboard or otherwise) to slow the fan, the LED's get dim. Well, I got a new case for my server and it took 120mm fans, so I had to buy new fans for it. I got a nice blue LED fan for the front but one of the LED's was burned out and it didn't look good, plus the fan was loud and I was out of controllable channels on my motherboard. I got a free replacement for the bad LED, but I already had my mind set on converting the fan with the bad LED into something much better using what I'd learned about microcontrollers last Fall. The plan? A self-contained, digital, full control fan controller based around an AVR microcontroller that could have fine control over the fan's speed, read back the RPM, and control not just the brightness of the LEDs but also the color. Having seen a lot of cool projects using RGB (red-green-blue) LED's online, I figured it would be a good project.
Good project, I opted for an easier option. I got two colour changing solar lamps (for the garden), dismantled them, took out the board with colour leds. Now because each was 1.5 volts I connected them in series and put the positive on the orange wire on the 24 pin motherboard connector structural packaging and the negative to any 3 of the black wires. The I just mounted then into the fan and I all works perfect. P.S: I did this on the heat sink fan on my open server. Photos below vvvvvvvv http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FNZ/L202/HH2W0O0R/FNZL202HH2W0O0R.THUMB.jpg http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FX1/FSHK/HH2W0O0N/FX1FSHKHH2W0O0N.THUMB.jpg http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FIZ/Y68L/HH2W0O0L/FIZY68LHH2W0O0L.THUMB.jpg
I'm working on a new protocol for the "FanBus" RGB Fan Controller system. structural packaging The "FanBus" design (see my more recent Instructable) is designed to have more than one fan on a serial port, but otherwise is identical hardware. I'm using the original design built here as a test bed for new software, this time running the serial line at 38400 baud (up from 19200) and implementing a new register-based protocol structural packaging that should make communications more reliable (designed so that collisions should be impossible). The new framing is: 0x00 0xFF This is a write operation, for a read, a value of 0x01 is used instead for the start byte. To prevent collisions or framing errors, the value may NOT be 0x00, 0x01, or 0xFF (as if these were allowed, structural packaging a misaligned frame could be read incorrectly structural packaging as valid). As for the internal register address, the new scheme sets up a virtual register bank which consists of pointers to code variables, structural packaging allowing quicker, simpler reads and writes of values without a long chain of if/else or switch/case statements. In tests it is performing structural packaging well, and I got my Processing audio script up and running with it which looks epic. I need to clean up the code and revise structural packaging the initialization sequence to get the save-to-EEPROM and fade-in operations fixed, then push the code to my 3 FanBus controllers in my desktop to do a multi-unit test. Just goes to show that hardware isn't the only thing, a nice software/firmware update can make a HUGE difference!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQJaOcYtfAg For some reason the embedding didn't work, but here's a video of my new RGB fan system in my new computer. The Processing script processes the audio output and uses the fan LED's for audio visualization.
AWESOME! if i had the parts i would do this. it looks totally awesome. i wish my case fan had leds, too bad its flat black. but thats where chrome spray paint comes in! (then i'll add my own, no matter what anyone says) and dont feel bad about your case, look at mine: -Intel celeron 400mhz processor -256mb SDRAM, hoping to bump up to 512 -2 10GB hard drives (IDE) -350W power supply -64MB PCI graphics card Its a shame, i know :(
Lol, wow! I'm going to build a new gaming desktop in the next few weeks, looks like I'll have to build another one of these. I'm going to use an Antec 900 case which has two front fans, each with 3 LED's instead of 4, so I may modify the design for 6 LED's. structural packaging What's the circuit board hanging out the side of your PC for?
I'm using an Antec 902 Case (Essentially the same but for a few minor details), and I have to say, it's great. Are you going to light up the "Big-Boy" fan on the top, because I personally think that would be awesom
No comments:
Post a Comment