Page: ......
*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
I've been busy designing recently and I'm happy to report I've made some serious progress! I've very nearly got the final prototype board fleshed out and a design I reckon ought to work very well for the casing.


Non-Https Image Link

Non-Https Image Link


I'll send off for the first set of prototype boards some time next week (still needs some tweaking and double-checking). I need to investigate a few more companies to find someone to make my polycarbonate balls. Just need to get the software up to scratch now. As it stands you'd need to have some special hardware to add new light sequences etc. into them... once I've got my head around a few things, you'll just be able to plug your hyperlights into a USB socket, fire up your software and tell them what you want!

Watch this space biggrin cool

Cake or Death?


TabtI Doubt, Therefore I Might Be
1,007 posts
Location: Horsham


Posted:
so pretty, those photos were good flicklampa!

how would you make a contact hyperlight?

frosted plastic casing?

Owner of Dragosani's right side.


*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
The idea of swapping the electronics from one housing to another screams "easiest way to destroy something" to me so I'll definitely not be doing that. Thinking about it though, seperate housings for seperate jobs makes a lot of sense. I've been coming up with all sorts of ways to try and get the poi to be easily changeable into juggling balls, but all the stuff I've thought about will almost certainly just add to their cost and (probably) end up making them more fragile as well.



This all leans towards making seperate toys for seperate jobs ...which makes designing things easier ...which means you're going to see HyperPoi sooner rather than later wink



[Edit] Got it in one; frosted housing and sintead of a lens to concentrate the light up the sock, you'd have a reflector which would bounce the light inside the ball instead [/edit]
EDITED_BY: *HyperLight (1156170623)

Cake or Death?


sketchGOLD Member
Empirically random...
431 posts
Location: Lincoln, United Kingdom


Posted:
what like a changable cap bit for where the beam normally is?

"This dark place planet Earth, orbits one star,
Come from afar, far away state of mind,
open up your third eye, black helicopters in the sky"


*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
That was my original idea.. so you'd screw on a reflector to turn it into a juggling ball.

The problem is; if you do that, you've either got to carry a reflector around (which would probably get lost in about 5 minutes at a beach)... or you do something like having a refletor on one end of the ball and a clear cap on the other. That way you could keep them somewhere safe (on the hyperlight itself) and just swap the two ends when you need to. The problem then is that you need more screw threads to keep everything attached and screw threads add quite a lot to the cost of making the housings frown

Cake or Death?


AsenaGOLD Member
What a Bummer
3,224 posts
Location: Shatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
Wellllllll, Hyperlight Poi first please Mr Jon sir biggrin

I'll be so happy at my new spinning toys I won't care how long it takes for a contact version to come out biggrin

Now stop posting on HoP and make me some Hyperlights... Please? ubbangel

RobertBruceGOLD Member
member
63 posts
Location: Montreal, Quebec Canada


Posted:
Just read the posts for the first time... Looking good wink I have a few projects on the go also that have some of the features your going for but quite different... maybe next year will be the year of LED Poi that is good news for Poi spinners smile

Good to know there are more Poi geeks out there smile
Great work !!

Robert Bruce
Poi Geek, Technologie Freak. Montreal, Quebec Canada


ficklampaBRONZE Member
member
81 posts
Location: sweden,stockholm.


Posted:
or you could have blacklight leds and a white flagattached behind.

the only thing worth dying for is life itself


*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
 Written by: RobertBruce

I have a few projects on the go also that have some of the features your going for but quite different... maybe next year will be the year of LED Poi that is good news for Poi spinners smile


I'll second that - competition can only be good news (for the spinning community) biggrin

I spotted some photo's of your endeavours the other day and was rather impressed. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with wink

Cake or Death?


TotalEclipseGOLD Member
Member
120 posts
Location: Nr Petersfield, United Kingdom


Posted:
Just found and read this entire thread - this is excellent! Amazing job, and no doubt one that will be fairly profitable as well wink

Very impressed. Inspiring me to go out and try and make something better than a souped up broom handle... biggrin

I bow to your excellence *bows* meditate

*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
Well I'm keeping my fingers crossed on the profitable part. I think just seeing lots of people spinning HyperLights would be reward enough hug

Hey don't knock broom handles; They're excellent learning tools! wink

Made some progress over the bank holiday - the USB side of things is now working. You plug your poi into your USB socket and it will receive new sequences from the PC. Unplug the poi and they will start flashing your new sequences - dead easy. Not so easy to get working though. I had a few hair tearing moments and the PC almost had a flying lesson at one point, but it's all good now biggrin

Cake or Death?


SymBRONZE Member
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom


Posted:
At the moment are you able to store more than one sequence? Are there some built in ones? How do you select the one you want?

Good news that it's working though biggrin With some luck I might be in a new house in Newbury by the end of the week...you could be our first guest! smile

There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees


Mr ChutneySILVER Member
Tosser
1,712 posts
Location: Bristol,UK


Posted:
Looking forward to having a play Jon. Unlikely to be free before the party on the 2nd, but maybe we could do a vid the week before Fal? Alternatively, maybe at Fal, hidden away somewhere?

*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
 Written by: Sym

At the moment are you able to store more than one sequence?


Absolutely! A rough back-of-an-envolope-I-may-be-wrong calculation suggests there's space for ~6000 instructions. Now bear in mind that any sequence you make can be called by other sequences and we have provisions for up to 64 built in effects (that number could be increased as and when we think of more!)... the possibilities are rather staggering biggrin

 Written by: Sym

Are there some built in ones?


Yes, there are a number of effects you can use like the stutter and rainbow fades you've seen in the photos. As well as that, there are a few built in sequences that I've come up with myself which combine the basic effects.

 Written by: Sym

How do you select the one you want?


Currently there is no way to do this. The mark 3 prototypes I'll have at Falmouth will most likely have a switch to select. The final versions will probably use a system like Aerotech's i.e. tapping ...only it will be vastly simpler than their system. The way I think it'll work right now is that you'll tap it a few times to get it into 'select a program mode' and then a couple of (maybe one) taps to shift it on to the next sequence. That area still needs a bit of thought really - any suggestions wink

Looking forward to the visit already! hug

 Written by: Mr_Chutney

Looking forward to having a play Jon. Unlikely to be free before the party on the 2nd, but maybe we could do a vid the week before Fal? Alternatively, maybe at Fal, hidden away somewhere?


Any of those sound good to me smile

Cake or Death?


SymBRONZE Member
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom


Posted:
That all sounds great!

I will think about the menus...I would want a 'preview' of the sequence when I selected it but then some of them might start in the same way so the preview would be hard. If I had 3 that all started the same (the slow bits at the start of a spin for example) then selecting the right one might be hard. You would need a 'select this one' tap as well.

 Written by: *HyperLight


bear in mind that any sequence you make can be called by other sequences



That has got me more excited than anything else you've said yet! WOW! biggrin

hug

There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees


AsenaGOLD Member
What a Bummer
3,224 posts
Location: Shatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
Hidden away??? NO NO NO!!

*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
 Written by: Sym

I will think about the menus...I would want a 'preview' of the sequence when I selected it but then some of them might start in the same way so the preview would be hard. If I had 3 that all started the same (the slow bits at the start of a spin for example) then selecting the right one might be hard. You would need a 'select this one' tap as well.



I must admit, the same thought had occurred to me which is one reason I'm not 100% certain how to do it (yet)... I'm sure we'll think of something!



In any case, one of the things you'll be able to re-program is the code that actually drives the Poi. So if at a later date, a better (or just alternative) way of changing programs is devised, you'll just be able to download the new code from t'internet and upload it to your Poi biggrin



 Written by: Sym

That has got me more excited than anything else you've said yet! WOW!



I thought people would like that one too wink



...and as for hiding them, that'd only be while we shot footage for the next promotional vid. In any case, I might well want a few additonal performers wink
EDITED_BY: *HyperLight (1156849746)

Cake or Death?


AsenaGOLD Member
What a Bummer
3,224 posts
Location: Shatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
Additional performers ah?

But you'd need someone to make em look good right... I'm out then frown ubblol

As long as I get to have a lil play I'm happy biggrin

entheogenGOLD Member
member
173 posts
Location: Berlin, Germany


Posted:
I like the idea of a switch to change programs rather than the tapping method. I've watched a hobby juggler once performing with aerotech balls, he had a couple of drops and the balls bounced in such a way that they switched programs. The whole effect was ruined and he subsequently spent a good amount of time kneeling down and tapping the balls over and over on the floor in front of his audience.

'There are two mantras in life, yum and yuk. I choose yum.'


SymBRONZE Member
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom


Posted:
Just don't drop wink

There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees


AsenaGOLD Member
What a Bummer
3,224 posts
Location: Shatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
ubblol He must looked like he was blaming the balls, and hitting them in punishment... ubblol

Sorry... offtopic

But I kinda agree, but then you'd have to take the Hyperlights out of the socks, switch em, and then pop em back in... effort!!

What about this remote that was mentioned not so long ago... couldnt that be really simple, just like 2 buttons to cycle through the sequences?

SymBRONZE Member
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom


Posted:
And when you missplace the remote? :P

Maybe an 'input' button that when pressed would allow the taps to work? Having said that, the chance of 8 or 10 taps happening in a spin seems remote.

There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees


AsenaGOLD Member
What a Bummer
3,224 posts
Location: Shatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
lol You obviously havent seen my clumsy style then Sym wink ubblol

I was about to say, hide the remote in the sock or summat, but then whats the difference between getting out the remote instead of the hyperlight ubblol ... sooo dumb ubbangel

Nevermind ah....

SymBRONZE Member
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom


Posted:
 Written by: Asena


lol You obviously havent seen my clumsy style then Sym wink ubblol



I thought you would just have 1 solid whack any that'd be it wink

ubblol

There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees


sketchGOLD Member
Empirically random...
431 posts
Location: Lincoln, United Kingdom


Posted:
 Written by: Sym


Maybe an 'input' button that when pressed would allow the taps to work?



or just use a similar button instead of taps altogether, personally im not feeling the tap thing.....
maybe a little clicky button (technical term) near the top that you can feel through the sock shrug

"This dark place planet Earth, orbits one star,
Come from afar, far away state of mind,
open up your third eye, black helicopters in the sky"


*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
I know what you mean about having a button, but they make me nervous because it's a potential weak point, and another opportunity for water to get into the ball. Another problem is that to avoid triggering the thing when you're spinning around and hit your poi together, I'd need to make them recessed slightly which means you'd probably need something to prod them with... which means you would probably need to take them out of the socks. Finally, it'll add to the cost of the things because I'll need to add a pair of switches to the build.

From a functional point of view though, I agree a pair of buttons (one for forward, one for back) would be much easier for the spinner. wink

Cake or Death?


entheogenGOLD Member
member
173 posts
Location: Berlin, Germany


Posted:
I could imagine the same problem arising from a nervous poi spinner- the poi may smack in such a way that the program would change, or worse that one poi turns off completely. I'm pretty sure the end result would be the same as the juggler... it was one of those things that hurt a bit to watch cause I really felt what he must'ave been going through.

'There are two mantras in life, yum and yuk. I choose yum.'


*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
I've been thinking about this a little more.. what we need is something we don't do when we're spinning. So I thought to myself; what is the one thing we're least likely to do when spinning and worrying about knocking the things off? Staying still!

So if you were triggering from tapping, just have something that waits until you've had (say) 2 seconds without any movement followed by (say) 3 taps in quick succession.

You could do the same with the buttons. Make it so that to enter the 'switch mode to ....' option you have to hold the button down for (say) 2 seconds.

That way, it doesn't how much they're tapped together or knocked about while you spin smile

Cake or Death?


AsenaGOLD Member
What a Bummer
3,224 posts
Location: Shatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
Not just a pretty face ay Jon wink

SymBRONZE Member
Geek-enviro-hippy priest
1,858 posts
Location: Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom


Posted:
but but but! That'll ruin my 3 wibble 2 second to 3 wibble combo move!

wink

I'm not sure that system will mean you *never* change a program, but it'll make it a lot harder! Nice one smile

There's too many home fires burning and not enough trees


*HyperLightBRONZE Member
old hand
1,174 posts
Location: Great Malvern [UK]


Posted:
Well I do try wink

taps are suprisingly distinctive actually (when you mean to do them) because the acceeration tends to be harsher so I think even your cunning "3 wibble 2 second to 3 wibble combo move!" won't thwart it wink

It'll need some testing to get it just right (without making it silly). If we can get away without adding the buttons it would make for a much more rugged design I think... which can only be a good thing!

I was thinking some more about not being able to tell one sequence from another too. What if when you were tapping your way through the different programs, each one had a signature pattern that you could define? That way you could make something that's distinctive that you'll recognise without needing to go through the whole sequence biggrin

Cake or Death?


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