Skylighting

Noisebridge's skylights are boring and dull.

Lets make them shiny shiny!

The Idea

In all of Noisebridge's skylights, a set of RGB LED strips at the base. Each controlled by a standalone microprocessor connected via ZigBee, with the network as a whole controlled by a RaspberryPI base station.

The system should be as Anti-Fragile as possible:

• If the power goes out, it should come back on and look neat
• Each skylight can act independently of hardware failure of any other skylight
• Multiple base station designs can be used to control simultaneously, as long as can speak a protocol over ZigBee
• Wireless by default, wired if available
• Use of DNS-SD so you don't have to scan the network to find a damn basestation
• Replacing parts is really cheap and easy to do
• Solar powered, so as to not rely on The Grid
• Some sort of "Sleep Mode" that is launched after a period of inactivity or missing heartbeat

Some really neat uses:

• Clicking a spot on a map on Infobanana turns the overhead lighting into a magical directional indicator
• When someone buzzes the door, perhaps a certain pattern could be shown
• A UI that lets one configure each cell's RGB for an event
• Automatically turning on/off based on a motion sensor grid in the space

The Software

• Skyglighting on Github - Main issue tracker
• Graviton - Internet+RPI network control, interactivity, and discoverability
• gpiotty - RPI+ZigBee connectivity

The Hardware

Currently in the prototype stage, but here's what is allocated:

• Two XBee radios w/ USB serial boards
• Two RaspberryPIs with wifi dongles
• Three LED strips
• Two solar panels
• One battery

The Plan

This is being developed by User:Tdfischer using the following milestones. Help is welcome and encouraged :)

1. Blink some LED lights via Arduino - First prototype
2. XBee to XBee communications between two linux systems over USB - Establish control environment
3. XBee to XBee communications over RaspberryPi GPIO pins - Development of gpiotty
4. XBee to Arduino communications - Wireless control prototype
5. Skylight power supply - Hardware design
6. Realtime display update protocol - Development of Graviton/implement pixelpusher
7. Control interfaces - Providing an API for super neat interactivity

Parts Needed

• Arduino/ZigBee shields
• Arduinos
• The full length of LPD8806 LED Strips for all skylights - 45 meters!
  • Aliexpress
• RPI/ZigBee shield
• Microcontroller selection for skylight units
• ZigBee chips
• Battery charger/regulator circuit