Extreme Color Organ

Hi All! I have wanted to do something fun with my bedroom for a while now and the Make it  Glow challenge provided me with a reason to do so. A few months ago I acquired a strand of GE-35 Color Effects lights and owing to the inherent dangers of controlling wall voltages, the strand provided me with an alternate and safe way to light up my room and be able to control it with my arduino. As I researched the hacks for the RGB strand I was taken with the idea of having the lights move with my music. I ordered a MSGEQ7 from Sparkfun and started my room's renovation when it arrived in the mail.

Step 1: Materials Needed

1x Arduino 328
1x GE- 35 Color Effects Light Strand- I used a 50 count strand
1x MSGEQ7
1x 10nf Cap
2x 100nf Cap
1x 200K resistor
1x Wire
1x Breadboard - I used a Proto Shield
1x LED - I used a red LED
1x PIR Sensor - Radio Shack
1x 3" Servo Extender
1x Male to Male Audio Cable- Cut in half and each end terminated in a pin Header
1x Stereo Audio Splitter
1x Music Device
1x Pliers- For pesky staples
1x Mono Plug
Staple Gun
Hot Glue Gun
Soldering Iron
Solder
Optional- Knife
Optional- Drill
Optional- Hammer
Optional- Scroll Saw
Optional- Book-  One you don't mind ruining forever

Comments

[Build_it_Bob]

V E R Y NICE !
Awesome work ...thanks for sharing with us!
Build_it_Bob

[samwhiteUK]

The video is private

[ookid]

You are absolutely right! Sorry, I didn't see that.

[ookid]

Sorry about the broken link, its fixed now.

[Surf8971]

Got a lot of random colors on color organ and red when in motion detect? any ideas?

[Surf8971]

What pin did you run the lights to. The external link is not working.

[ookid]

The data line from the lights is connected to digital pin 4 on the Arduino. If that doesn't work, make sure you have everything wired up correctly. Sometimes breadboards don't make good contact with wires so try "wiggling things around" and see if that works.

[Surf8971]

Found it in the code after I asked. Thanks for the reply.

[kyleslab]

That is really, (pause for dramatic effect), awesome!
And, is that an iMac I see in the right bottom corner?

[ookid]

Yep, well, sort of. Its an older iMac with a power mac processor instead of the newer Intel-based Macs. The screen is on its way out though and flickers between a washed out blue tinge and the normal display which makes for some interesting programming :D

[ookid]

Just checked out your profile and it looks like you are a fellow mac lover, am I right?

[kyleslab]

Perfectly, indeed. I am like a Mac fanatic! I have a Mac SE from 1986 (parent's computer), a power pc G4 (work), a Macbook Pro ( 2007-2008, I think ),
iMac (2009), and Macbook Pro (latest quad-core i7). The crazy thing is that the Mac SE STILL works! After all those years (even though it was kept in the best shape, no yellowing at all), that's just amazing! And what does that show?
That Macs are built to last (until a newer one comes out, hehe.) Unlike a pc that is done in 2 or 3 years. Am I right? If only pc users could understand...
They just literally don't understand how to use them or anything. Even though they are more user-friendly than a pc. And they think they are too expensive but even a baseline Macbook pro (quad-core i7 500gbt) compared to a pc with the same (which will never happen because pc's don't deserve that kind of hardware),
will equal about the same. So they aren't really overpriced. But, I never use pc's so it doesn't matter. Macs rule!

[ookid]

Our lineage of Macs sounds just about like yours. I remeber playing on my parents mac plus in the basement, later getting a Powerbook G4. We then got the iMac 5.1 I am using now, a Mac Book Pro, the ~5 iPods, iPod touch/ iPad/ iPhone. Now that I have been introduced to the power of an iMac and its ease of use, you are not going to see me switching to any windows computer anytime soon!

[UOS]

gonna be on my bedroom too =) (when i got married in 1.5 years or so =) )

[Rank Penguin]

This is pretty cool!

[scoochmaroo]

Um, wow.