Remote Lightbox Controller (RLbC)

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This is the second version of my Remote Lightbox Controller (RLbC) made from parts from the controller from last year. This new version is cleaner and simpler.


At the top is the power supply for the box.  It's complete overkill at 15VDC@30A, but heck it was only $24 off of ebay.  In the lower right is your typical XBee +shield on top of an Arduino Uno (Rev2).  To the lower left is a SainSmart 8 channel relay board whose logic-side components are powered by the little green 5VDC power supply.  Yes, I might've gone with a buck/boost convertor, but since I already had the 5VDC kit I used it.

 

Another view of the control box.  Here you can see the wiring that connects the output jacks to the channel relays. 

 

Lid closed, lamp cables plugged in.  The lamp cables are 25+feet long with standard 1/4" mono plugs at each end.


Test arrangement.  At this point, I'm able to transmit control signals wirelessly from my laptop to the RLbC to turn lights on or off.  The lights are actually automotive LEDs that I found on Amazon, but my god are they bright.  If I look at them for too long I get a headache.



The laptop runs VixenLights 3.3 that allows me to tie trigger points to any kind of audio file.

The black box with the antennae is an FM Transmitter that sends the audio out over 106.5 FM.

The little white box on top of the FM transmitter has an XBee Explorer module inside of it, connected to the laptop via USB.  The XBee Explorer communicates with the XBee in the remote control box about 20 feet away, sending the trigger signals for switching the lamps on and off.

The jambox just sits next to the FM transmitter. If we can hear the audio program from the jambox, then we know that visitors can hear it too once they tune their car radios to 106.5 FM

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