Wireless Tower of Lights

The Wireless Tower of Lights at the University of Idaho is an ongoing project to convert the show's electronics to a fully wireless system. The Tower Lights show is displayed on the south side of the University of Idaho's Theophilus Tower. Each window is rigged with a set of LED lights which illuminate in synchronization to music. The old system relies on the building's unused CAT-5 wiring that runs from the basement up through every room. The new system will not rely on wires, and could be used in any building.

Background
The Tower Lights Show has been an exciting part of the University of Idaho for years. The system used to make this light show happen is outdated however. We are renovating the Tower Lights hardware and making it wireless. This new system will be easy to transport and set up, so that the light show could be used in any building. There has been interest for using the system in buildings in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to put on light shows for events.

Problem Statement
The​ ​University​ of​ Idaho’s​ ​Tower Lights​ system ​currently​ ​runs​ ​on​ ​old unused​​ Ethernet​ ​wiring​ ​in​ ​the Theophilus​ ​Tower.​ ​Our​ ​team​ ​is​ ​faced with​ ​the​ ​problem​ ​of​ ​turning​ ​the current​ ​Tower​ ​Lights​ ​control​ ​system into​ ​a ​battery​ ​powered​ ​wireless system.

Project Goals
The current control system must be made wireless. The changes that we will make to the system are outlined below.

Specifications
The​ system that we design must meet all of our client's needs. The specifications provided by the client are that the light bars must be able to conserve battery for up to three days and then perform a show of up to one hour, and the wireless range should be around 100 meters. The lightbars must produce enough brightness to be visible from a 100 meter distance, and otherwise we were left with a lot of freedom for the design.

Project Problems/Solutions
Problems encountered during the project, as well as our solutions to these problems, are outlined below.

Design
There are a couple subsystems to our project including the light bar itself, the LED circuitry, and the battery. Outlined below are the diagrams and thoughts that we have put into the project.

CAD Modeling
Before initial prototyping, we created a CAD model.

Electrical Components
Below are some diagrams showing the electrical components and considerations about their selection in our design.

Implementation/Testing
Initial implementation and testing of our design has just begun. Below you can see the hardware we plan to use followed by our schedule.

Testing
We did extensive testing on the lightbars to ensure that we met all of our client's needs. We did battery testing to show that the lightbars can withstand a 2+ hour show, and our code is able able to support 64 channels which exceeds the client's need of 40 channels.

Schedule
The schedule for out project has not changed much since the beginning. Here is a basic outline of the entire schedule of the project.

Meeting Minutes
Our meeting minutes and meeting agendas can be viewed at the following URL: Meeting Agendas and Minutes

Presentations/Reports
Below are links to the presentation material and reports generated throughout the semester: Snapshot Day 1 Poster Materials Snapshot Day 2 Poster Materials Snapshot Day 3 Poster Materials Expo Poster and Presentation Final Project Portfolio Final Design Report

Software
Below is a link to all of the code that we generated in order to make this project work. This includes code that runs from a laptop to broadcast to the lightbars, as well as Arduino code that runs on each individual lightbar. Wireless Tower of Lights Code

Team LEaD Design
Our team has 4 members, all of which provide unique talent and bring new ideas to the table.

Contact
Paul Martin (mart2659@vandals.uidaho.edu)

Kevin Dorscher (dors7905@vandals.uidaho.edu)

Andrew Butler (butl6046@vandals.uidaho.edu)

Adrian Beehner (beeh9036@vandals.uidaho.edu)