Project
# | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
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1 | Direct Music Synced LED Strips |
Daniel Vargas Siyan Shaikh William Reinhard |
William Zhang | design_document1.pdf design_document2.pdf final_paper1.pdf final_paper2.pdf proposal1.pdf |
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Problem Modern day LED strips that respond to audio are often inaccurate, delayed, and uncustomizable, ruining the experience. They use microphones to collect the audio information, often relying on cheap microphones, causing delays in light changes and poor sound pickup when compared to the actual sound output. They also do not react to different pitches, relying on total volume level. If there is pitch differentiation, it is between very few tonal regions, usually bass, midrange, and treble. This leads to basic outputs and simple display settings. Some strips also do not come with customizable outputs and colors, meaning you have to follow what the manufacturer wants. Solution Overview Our solution is to innovate and directly connect the music to the LED strips and use FFT analysis to pick out more pitch ranges to create a more immersive experience. We also want to enable a 3rd party method, such as an app through bluetooth or a remote, to create specific outputs, such as smooth transitions or blinking, as well as assigning colors to certain pitches. They can also add preference to certain pitch levels, such as emphasizing bass to be displayed more. We also want to attempt to emulate left/right distinctions to create a ‘surround sound’ of light. Solution Components Controller FFT Analysis Connecting an audio jack to a controller, most likely a Teensy 3.1, and using the software provided to create an FFT. Using this FFT we can find different frequencies and pick out which ones are more pronounced. Output Specifications We want to have 3 different specifications, type of output such as blinking, emphasis on what pitch range, and finally the overall volume level of the music. To prevent blending of pitch colors that would output brown/grey, the user can select a ‘theme’ of output colors, and amongst those pick out specific pitches if they choose. LEDs We want to use RGB LEDs to allow for easy customization of the lighting experience. This will also enable us to include color logic into our controller and not rely on certain strips being one color. `Third Party UI We would need to include a bluetooth component that could communicate with either a controller or smartphone app to select LED preferences. Power We would most likely need some AAA batteries to be connected, ultimately needing some sort of box to house the controller and power supply. Depending on power requirements, we will need to design a power distribution circuit to power the controller and LEDs separately. Criterion for Success Ideally, the LEDs would respond in real time to provided audio pitches and display assigned colors with varying intensity. LEDs should also be able to mimic sound direction by activating specific diodes based on aural location. To allow greater control of the LEDs, the user Interface allows users to create “Themes” to save color presets for tones. |