LED Display Gift for my friend made with Launchpad and MSP430G2231 microcontroller

Gift for my friend made with the Launchpad development kit from Texas Instruments and MSP430G2231 microcontroller. The Launchpad costs only USD4.30 and you can program almost anything with it into the MSP430 series of chips. C++ compatible too. I programmed the 14 pin MSP430G2231 through the Launchpad kit. After which it is taken out and placed into a socket holder soldered onto a separate circuit board.

It is (as seen in the circuit) connected through the socket to a 10 LED level indicator (whose purpose is obviously NOT to run a display like this) to flash each and every LED at specific intervals such that they display the words "HAPPY ORD DAENG RIZAM FROM BCK 10TH JUNE" when u move the display at a very fast speed. The indicator is simply made up of 10 separate LEDs, if u do not have a level indicator u can simply solder 10 LEDs and control it with the programmed MSP430 microcontroller, those LEDs are powered by the 3V button cell on the board.

Next I connected the whole circuit board onto a motor which spins it at a rather fast rate. The motor is made by the company TAMIYA, rather expensive, again the motor is made for cars and not for such a purpose so hopefully if I ever make such a display again I'll look for another motor. As you might have noticed, I can only control 8 out of the 10 LEDs in the indicator because there are only 8 outputs on the controller IC.

The words are programmed to spin a little, but they are not very stable and any change in the motor speed affects the quality. Two AA batteries are used to run the motor which is in a separate circuit.

Making the LEDs flash at the correct rate by calculating the angular velocity of the motor etc was difficult enough. I used the Very Low Power Oscillator (VLO) clock in the microcontroller and set up the delays and flashing time with it. An external crystal oscillator is not required. Writing the code was quite tedious. But it is all worth it. The microcontroller chip costs only about 1USD, and since I ordered its sample its for free and sent to me through Fedex! You do not have to buy a specialized dot matrix display or anything like that.. The motor is much more expensive than the programming board itself, and the button cell, AA battery holder too. But think of it this way, its worth going through all the thinking to create it, provides a sort of satisfaction in the end though it can be frustrating in the middle of the programming. And if you're doing it for someone...its all the more meaningful. =)

Hope u guys like this little DIY project of mine! =)

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• ti
• launchpad
• msp430g2231
• texas
• instrument
• LED
• microcontroller

[darkvisionaire]

nice!! can u show how u did it ?

[prab03]

Awesome!!