Spider and Spider Web by SpiderWebMan

[BrianBruderer]

In 2009 I made a spiderweb with a rope light on each segment of the web. It seemed appropriate to have a spider singing and playing a keyboard at the same time.

In 2010 I added UV glow, lighting and fog. There are two videos on youtube, you will find them if you do a search for spiderwebman or you can use the two links below:

Ghostbusters:

Monster Mash:

-Brian Bruderer

[iresq]

Very Cool. Must have taken some time wiring up all those individual rope light segments.

[BrianBruderer]

Yes it did. But it was not done in the way you might think. There are a total of 79 segments but it is controlled with 32 channels. There are 4 groups of spirals, with up to 12 segements in each group. There are 4 groups of radials with up to 12 segments in each group. I used "multiplexing" which means any one segment requires 2 channels to be on. So there are 4 channels which enable each of the spiral groups and 4 channels that enable each of the radial groups. Then 12 channels that enable individual spirals and 12 that enable individual radials.

The multiplexing reduced the required number of channels, but it also reduced the number of wires, and makes sequencing much easier.

iresq wrote:

Very Cool. Must have taken some time wiring up all those individual rope light segments.

[NWSanta]

Very Cool! And from the previous post it sounded like Charlie Brown's Teacher...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUyLwXhqlWU

Seriously! Very Talented and kudos to you to sticking it to the end and making a fantastic final product!!!

-Evan

[toddmoon]

Way cool job.

I guess I am a need to see guy to understand multiplexing programming. Is this a programming technique or is there some hardware involved with multiplexing?

I would love to see a picture of the setup and or a screen shot of the programming.

[ryebred]

Great Job! Both your Halloween and Christmas shows have some very unique elements in them. And the sequencing of your shows utilized those unique elements very well.

[R Weiland]

:cool: Congrats! Well done. My wife loved your spider playing the keyboard. Very creative to use multiplexing. Can you elaborate a little on which controllers you used and how you wired a segment to them?

[Vic Fortenbach]

BrianBruderer wrote:

Yes it did. But it was not done in the way you might think. There are a total of 79 segments but it is controlled with 32 channels. There are 4 groups of spirals, with up to 12 segements in each group. There are 4 groups of radials with up to 12 segments in each group. I used "multiplexing" which means any one segment requires 2 channels to be on. So there are 4 channels which enable each of the spiral groups and 4 channels that enable each of the radial groups. Then 12 channels that enable individual spirals and 12 that enable individual radials.

The multiplexing reduced the required number of channels, but it also reduced the number of wires, and makes sequencing much easier.

I understand multiplexing, but I would love (and im sure others would too) to see how you multiplexed your web. Less LOR channels + more lights = better display.

Thanks,

[PaulXmas]

Ditto!!!

[R Weiland]

Brian, I have several questions on how you made the multiplexing work and I am not inclined to experiment and fry a controller so I hope you are willing to provide some details. I got the multiplexing concept down. Two 16 channel controllers can form a 16 row by 16 column matrix, providing 256 cross points and the ability, in theory, to control any one of 256 cross point channels. The problem I have is if the row and column are both powered from the same 120V source the voltage differential at the cross point is zero, same potential, so no current will flow into the light at the cross point. If the controllers are powered from different legs of the 120V then the voltage differential at the cross point will be 240V and my lights won't last too long. So how did you do it? What controllers, what lights? Are you adjusting the brightness? Inquiring Minds Want to Know.

Thanks

[morrisonstreet]

Are there any instructions on how to do this type of multiplexing? What is involved?

[BrianBruderer]

R Weiland wrote:

Brian, I have several questions on how you made the multiplexing work and I am not inclined to experiment and fry a controller so I hope you are willing to provide some details. I got the multiplexing concept down. Two 16 channel controllers can form a 16 row by 16 column matrix, providing 256 cross points and the ability, in theory, to control any one of 256 cross point channels. The problem I have is if the row and column are both powered from the same 120V source the voltage differential at the cross point is zero, same potential, so no current will flow into the light at the cross point. If the controllers are powered from different legs of the 120V then the voltage differential at the cross point will be 240V and my lights won't last too long. So how did you do it? What controllers, what lights? Are you adjusting the brightness? Inquiring Minds Want to Know.

Thanks

In your example, 16 channels would each supply 120v to the hot wire for each cross point. The other 16 channels operate relays that open and close the ground for each of the cross points. The caveat is that remember that a light filament acts like a resistor so voltage will "leak" through the crosspoints. To prevent leakage you need to use DC and put a diode on one of the wires at each crosspoint. The diode can be on either the hot wire or the ground wire, but you need to do all of them the same, ie put a diode on each of the ground wires at each crosspoint.

If you are still interested at this point, you can turn you 120v AC into pulsating DC by making a bridge rectifier out of 4 diodes. You need to do this for the output of each of the hot channels. You of course do not need a rectifier for the ground channels.

I bought 100 1watt diodes for 3 cents each. 3watt diodes are about 20 cents each in quantity. I used 1 watt diodes at each intersection and 3 watt diodes for the bridge rectifiers. However, you may need larger wattage diodes depending on the lights you are using.

It is all doable, but it is a major pain. I do not recommend it to anyone except those that have have experience with DIY electronics.

Also, my setup used 12v transformers and so there was not a shock hazard. If you are using 120v you need to make sure there are no exposed wires that would be a shock hazard.

[BrianBruderer]

morrisonstreet wrote:

Are there any instructions on how to do this type of multiplexing? What is involved?

In your example, 16 channels would each supply 120v to the hot wire for each cross point. The other 16 channels operate relays that open and close the ground for each of the cross points. The caveat is that remember that a light filament acts like a resistor so voltage will "leak" through the crosspoints. To prevent leakage you need to use DC and put a diode on one of the wires at each crosspoint. The diode can be on either the hot wire or the ground wire, but you need to do all of them the same, ie put a diode on each of the ground wires at each crosspoint.

If you are still interested at this point, you can turn you 120v AC into pulsating DC by making a bridge rectifier out of 4 diodes. You need to do this for the output of each of the hot channels. You of course do not need a rectifier for the ground channels.

I bought 100 1watt diodes for 3 cents each. 3watt diodes are about 20 cents each in quantity. I used 1 watt diodes at each intersection and 3 watt diodes for the bridge rectifiers. However, you may need larger wattage diodes depending on the lights you are using.

It is all doable, but it is a major pain. I do not recommend it to anyone except those that have have experience with DIY electronics.

Also, my setup used 12v transformers and so there was not a shock hazard. If you are using 120v you need to make sure there are no exposed wires that would be a shock hazard.

[Austen]

The face on the spider is hilarious! Very good job!