Model Lighting Control

I design controllers to implement LED Lighting on display models using microprocessors.

Using microprocessors (PLC's) allows a large degree of flexibility in lighting sequences as well as lowering the power requirements and heating effects in models. Lighting sequences can be free running, switch triggered or controlled by an external computer.

Small stepper motors and hobby servos can be controlled and sequenced for dynamic content.

Clients

ModelArt

For Model Art I produced a custom LED sequencer with dimming and speed control capable of driving 32 LED's or circuits. This product is used in a 1/250 scale model of the Burj al Arab for emulating the lights in the lateral curved beams of the building. The device is shown top right and is populated here with green LED's for testing.

Further refinement of the controller designed for this product featured the networking of 6 of these boards with a control console. The console allowed a user to select a specific circuit using a keypad and LCD screen incorporated in the model. It was used in a model of a hotel to show prospective guests the location of a specific suite.

Inventive Studio

The photos above and to the right are of a model by Inventive Studio for Schneider Electrical. It has strobing runway lights, light sequences for conveyor belts and other indicators highlighting Schneider product applications. The model is currently displayed in the foyeur of Schneider Electrical head office in Midrand

The photo above shows a model fitted with servo driven indicators. To the right is a part of a model showing equipment by Aramco for the detection of contamination of groundwater by oil seepage.

Below is a model built by Inventive Studio for City Power Johannesburg. The models show the flow of power, indicated by a a series of sequenced LED indicators, from power stations through substations to consumers. Buildings are lit internally and the models have working traffic lights and street lamps.

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