Control Your World — Part 3
Wipe
[WIPE UP] [WIPE DOWN] [WIPE LEFT] [WIPE RIGHT]
[WIPE IN] [WIPE OUT]
Other
[ROTATE] [ROTATESMALL] [TIME] [HOLD] [AUTOMODE]
[FLASH] [TWINKLE] [SPARKLE] [SNOW] [INTERLOCK]
[SWITCH] [SLIDE] [SPRAY] [STARBURST]
Graphics
[SLOTMACHINE] [NOSMOKING] [DRINK] [ANIMAL]
[FIREWORKS] [GRAPHIC1] [BOOM]
message shown in Figure 4 and you wouldn’t believe how
fast they back off.
I won’t tell you the other messages I have loaded.
I have also created an application note showing how to
connect a microcontroller to one of these signs. You can
find that at the Kronos Robotics website at www.kronos
robotics.com
Experiment and have fun, and be sure to visit the
“Control Your World” forum at www.kronosrobotics.com/
forums/ viewforum.php?f= 21 NV
Speed
[SPEED1] [SPEED2] [SPEED3] [SPEED4] [SPEED5]
To insert the effect, just add it to your messages,
as in:
BBSend Text(1,”[ROTATE]Nuts and Volts”)
Program 3 is a bit too large to include here, but it
is included with all the source code provided in this
article.
There is a lot you can do with one of these signs.
The animated text and graphics will be sure to attract
attention wherever you decide to use them, but the real
power is going to be real time updates.
As a bonus, I have created a program called
BetaBrite TNG shown in Figure 3. It is a cool little
program that will make it very easy to set up messages
for your sign. There is both a desktop PC and Pocket PC
version included. Be sure to check the KRMicros and
Kronos Robotics websites for all the source code, as
well as some compiled.
Going Further
The BetaBrite sign comes with its own software so
why would we want to create our own interface? Well,
for a couple of reasons. The most important one is we
now have the ability to display real-time information.
We could use Zeus to go out and query a website and
then display some important piece of information so the
public could see it. Things like stock quotes, web hits, or
sales information.
In my lab, I use one to display the time. When a
visitor arrives, the sign beeps and displays a message
“Arrival.”
You could use the interface to display real time race
times or event times.
I recently started teaching my teenage daughter
how to drive. I make her keep it under 40 MPH and
most other drivers will tailgate, even though we are
under the posted speed limit. Well, I solved the
problem. If anyone gets too close, I just load the
PROGRAM 2
‘BetaBrite Real Time Message Sample
func main()
BBSetTime(1,”1215”)
Loop:
BBSendText(1,”Nuts and Volts”)
pause 1000
BBSendText(1,”Is Real Cool”)
pause 1000
goto Loop
endfunc
func BBSendText(tPort as integer,ttext as string)
Const Ch1 1 ‘Zues Channel 1
‘Open the ComPort
ComOpen(Ch1,baud=9600,port=tPort,parity=2,bits=7,stop=2)
‘Tell the Sign we are ready to comunicate
ComOutput Ch1,chr(0)+chr(0)+chr(0)+chr(0)+chr(0)
ComOutput Ch1,chr(1)
ComOutput Ch1,”Z00”
‘Send Priority Text Message
ComOutput Ch1,chr(2)+”A0”
ComOutput Ch1,ttext
ComOutput Ch1,chr(4)
ComClose Ch1
endfunc
func BBSetTime(tPort as integer,Time as string)
Const Ch1 1 ‘Zues Com Channel 1
‘Open the ComPort
ComOpen(Ch1,baud=9600,port=tPort,parity=2,bits=7,stop=2)
‘Tell the Sign we are ready to comunicate
ComOutput Ch1,chr(0)+chr(0)+chr(0)+chr(0)+chr(0)
ComOutput Ch1,chr(1)
ComOutput Ch1,”Z00”
‘Send Time
ComOutput Ch1,chr(2)+”E “
ComOutput Ch1,Time
ComOutput Ch1,chr(4)
ComClose Ch1
Endfunc
September 2006 43
