Maybe Magpie
New Member
Awesome, thanks! The more measurements the better - whatever will let me accurately recreate the disk in a modelling program so we can get the shell printable.
Tron Legacy - Sam Flynn's Identity Disk
- Thread starter GITM
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- tron legacy
Awesome, thanks! The more measurements the better - whatever will let me accurately recreate the disk in a modelling program so we can get the shell printable.
Measured the disc. The measurements should be close to by a millimeter off maybe.
- Outer diameter: 22,8cm
- Inner diameter: 11cm
- Total hight on the inside: 2,5cm
- Hight until the split: ~1,3cm
Angles are a bit more difficult for me to measure. It does slope down from 2,5 to about 1,5cm so a rough 1cm slope. My math is not good enough to calculate the accompanying angle though
Not really important for this but;
(I also read before that the Identity Discs made by Spinmaster are smaller then the movie props were. I don't have any links handy for that though.)
Good luck with your project, I hope this helps you.
Looking forward to see your results. Then I can learn from that for when I start working on my suit
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That's correct. The Spinmaster discs are sized to the smaller identity discs that the female programs used at about 9". I read that the hero discs used by the male actors were an inch larger in diameter.
Thanks!
I just realized that the outer diameter I measured included the blade on the outside aswell. I gestimate that adds about ~1cm but I'll measure that again when I get home.
Back with another update!
Unfortunately the last few weeks have again been busy so I didn’t get much work done on the disc.
I did finally get all the hardware finished now.
The Adafruit Push-button Power Switch Breakout has been installed and I added the 1000µF 10V capacitor to the output. In the NeoPixel Überguide Adafruit specifies you should add a capacitor to the power input of the NeoPixel strips to prevent power spikes from damaging the NeoPixels. I opted to add the capacitor to the main power input which also works and saved me from more complex wiring.
I also installed the status LED’s for the charger so I could see the charging status on the C-ring on the back of the disc.
After calculation the correct resistor values I glued the LED’s together so I could solder the anodes of the LED’s together. After that I hooked up the wiring and heatshrinked everything.
I calculated the required resistors by checking the forward voltage on my LAB power supply which turned out to be 2.5V for both LED’s. The maximum current draw turned out to be 2mA for the green LED and 50mA for the orange LED. With those numbers I calculated the required resistor values using this site (link= http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz).
The disc now also has it’s charging status LED’s installed. The pictures turned out a bit grainy but it still shows the result with which I’m very happy.
I do plan on hooking up a voltage divider to the Feather M0 so that can measure the battery voltage and have a red LED come on when the batteries are running low.
When I was putting everything together I did realize I made a mistake, not a big one but next time I will definitely not repeat this. What I did was hook up the LED’s power to the output of the charger in my design instead of to the input of the charger. This means my LED’s are powered by the voltage the charger put’s out and this varies during charging. So I decided to calculate the resistors using 4,1V of input voltage which is the maximum output voltage of the charger. Since I glued the charging board in place already it’s too much hassle to correct it. For the purpose of giving me status indication it still works fine. So it’s not an issue but it does warrant a new version of the schematic and I will not be repeating this in the next disc I modify
The resistor values on there are calculated with a 5V power source as a reference. Always keep in mind to calculate your own resistor values as those might be different depending on the LED’s that are used.
To concluded for now, a side by side of the original and my modified disc.
I did notice I forgot to add the LED bezels in the top half of the disc so there is some more to come hardware wise. Those also will be getting white LED’s so they’re lit up.
Unfortunately the last few weeks have again been busy so I didn’t get much work done on the disc.
I did finally get all the hardware finished now.
The Adafruit Push-button Power Switch Breakout has been installed and I added the 1000µF 10V capacitor to the output. In the NeoPixel Überguide Adafruit specifies you should add a capacitor to the power input of the NeoPixel strips to prevent power spikes from damaging the NeoPixels. I opted to add the capacitor to the main power input which also works and saved me from more complex wiring.
I also installed the status LED’s for the charger so I could see the charging status on the C-ring on the back of the disc.
After calculation the correct resistor values I glued the LED’s together so I could solder the anodes of the LED’s together. After that I hooked up the wiring and heatshrinked everything.
I calculated the required resistors by checking the forward voltage on my LAB power supply which turned out to be 2.5V for both LED’s. The maximum current draw turned out to be 2mA for the green LED and 50mA for the orange LED. With those numbers I calculated the required resistor values using this site (link= http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz).
The disc now also has it’s charging status LED’s installed. The pictures turned out a bit grainy but it still shows the result with which I’m very happy.
I do plan on hooking up a voltage divider to the Feather M0 so that can measure the battery voltage and have a red LED come on when the batteries are running low.
When I was putting everything together I did realize I made a mistake, not a big one but next time I will definitely not repeat this. What I did was hook up the LED’s power to the output of the charger in my design instead of to the input of the charger. This means my LED’s are powered by the voltage the charger put’s out and this varies during charging. So I decided to calculate the resistors using 4,1V of input voltage which is the maximum output voltage of the charger. Since I glued the charging board in place already it’s too much hassle to correct it. For the purpose of giving me status indication it still works fine. So it’s not an issue but it does warrant a new version of the schematic and I will not be repeating this in the next disc I modify
The resistor values on there are calculated with a 5V power source as a reference. Always keep in mind to calculate your own resistor values as those might be different depending on the LED’s that are used.
To concluded for now, a side by side of the original and my modified disc.
I did notice I forgot to add the LED bezels in the top half of the disc so there is some more to come hardware wise. Those also will be getting white LED’s so they’re lit up.
Maybe Magpie
New Member
Thanks a bunch for those measurements! I'll get back to you when I've got something worth sharing on that front. TRON fans gotta stick together in these trying dead-fandom days, hee. Hopefully we'll get a new movie soon (without Jared Leto, I friggin' hope)
No problem! Glad to help
We have to stick together indeed, that's why I'm sharing my build and plan in sharing other stuff I do both here, on my website and on YouTube. I feel it's very fulfilling to help others as stuff others have shared helps me.
Thing is people usually stay interested in something for a short time. In the beginning I didn't think of doing a Tron Cosplay / bring parts of the movie to life either. So we might still see more Tron fans popping up
We might inspire new people like others before us inspired us.
I'm looking forward to a new movie, but only if it has decent production quality with the right actors that do the part/movie justice. We'll have to wait and see.
Maybe Magpie
New Member
Houston, we have disc-off! I modeled out the specs for the disc holder I got off Shapeways as well (thank the users for calipers) to make sure it'd interface correctly and huzzah! Now I just need to properly place the bezel mounts. The measurements match up, so thanks. You're a lifesaver! I'll cut it into quarters so smaller printers can just print 4 (well, 8, considering there's two halves) of the same file and bam.
Look great! Thanks for sharing, glad I could help you
I like how you took smaller printers into consideration in your design. Good thinking!
I might get one in the future but I'll probably start out with a smaller one first so stuff like this would help someone like me a lot ^^
Good luck with the rest of your project!
Hi, I think a fast/easy way to add sound would be using a small speaker and the following board from Adafruit:
Adafruit Audio FX Mini Sound Board - WAV/OGG Trigger 16MB Flash
I thought of that one in my initial design but did not go for it since I wanted to store the entire soundtrack album aswell.
Good luck with your build!
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Hi everyone,
Quick update.
Was hoping to post more details but unfortunately I ran into a snag while making a video update. I have to reshoot it. It's getting too late for that right now so a video will be posted tomorrow.
Anyway, the disc is finally spinning using the animation code from Erv Plecters's sketch!! Very big moment.
Even got audio added but ran into issues with the audio slowing down the animation.
It is however finally spinning!!
Will also be doing seperate video's on the sketch and how I got all the diferent elements figured out for those who are interested.
More tomorrow!
Quick update.
Was hoping to post more details but unfortunately I ran into a snag while making a video update. I have to reshoot it. It's getting too late for that right now so a video will be posted tomorrow.
Anyway, the disc is finally spinning using the animation code from Erv Plecters's sketch!! Very big moment.
Even got audio added but ran into issues with the audio slowing down the animation.
It is however finally spinning!!
Will also be doing seperate video's on the sketch and how I got all the diferent elements figured out for those who are interested.
More tomorrow!
propmaster2000
Sr Member
Hey RiCor,
Real nice job on the Tron disc.
Back when the Sam Flynn ID Disc first came out (a long time ago) I too wanted one that had better lighting and effects.
I knew nothing about Arduino and 5V Addressable LED's so I did it the hard way (my way).
One issue I had was the power supply and using LIPO batteries.
Charging them was not the issue but I was more concerned about over "discharge" voltage".
Allowing the batteries to discharge below a certain "critical voltage" causes them to puff up and not able to charge again.
How are you controlling this max "discharge" limit?
Does your disc electronics monitor this lower voltage limit before it becomes critical, then remove the batteries from the circuit
for battery safety?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Here is my attempt to enhance the smaller toy, along time ago:
Mine is nothing like what is currently being done with today's electronics.
I made a thin flexible circuit board and hand soldered what I thought was the minimum number of LED's and SMD transistors required (56)
to cover the Discs blade perimeter. Then used shift registers to advance the LED light forward and then retract.
Then did the same for the 16 start-up LED's. Each LED circuit has it's own control element.
My Blade does scan, but it is hard to see due to my cameras (old Canon 10MP) scan rate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKAGooFpR1I&feature=youtu.be
Real nice job on the Tron disc.
Back when the Sam Flynn ID Disc first came out (a long time ago) I too wanted one that had better lighting and effects.
I knew nothing about Arduino and 5V Addressable LED's so I did it the hard way (my way).
One issue I had was the power supply and using LIPO batteries.
Charging them was not the issue but I was more concerned about over "discharge" voltage".
Allowing the batteries to discharge below a certain "critical voltage" causes them to puff up and not able to charge again.
How are you controlling this max "discharge" limit?
Does your disc electronics monitor this lower voltage limit before it becomes critical, then remove the batteries from the circuit
for battery safety?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Here is my attempt to enhance the smaller toy, along time ago:
Mine is nothing like what is currently being done with today's electronics.
I made a thin flexible circuit board and hand soldered what I thought was the minimum number of LED's and SMD transistors required (56)
to cover the Discs blade perimeter. Then used shift registers to advance the LED light forward and then retract.
Then did the same for the 16 start-up LED's. Each LED circuit has it's own control element.
My Blade does scan, but it is hard to see due to my cameras (old Canon 10MP) scan rate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKAGooFpR1I&feature=youtu.be
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Hi propmaster2000
Your disc definitely looks great! I would not feel bad having that one!
I had it easy with the NeoPixels
Good question about the discharge voltage. I'm aware of that and on of the things I want to add is a voltage devider. That voltage devider will be connected to my M0 Basic Proto which will then have a red LED come on as soon as the voltage of the batteries reaches a certain point.
It's in my planning but it wasn't actively on my mind so thank you for the reminder
When it comes to cutting of the batteries I have the following in mind;
Getting the Adafruit Push-button Power Switch Breakout has yeilded a great bonus, namely that it has a "kill-pin" which turns of the FET when 1 or more volts is applied to it.
I'm thinking about adding a delay in the sketch between the red LED lighting up and the "kill-pin being triggerd". So first the M0 will turn on the red LED informing the user that the batteries are running low and after a minut or so (or maybe longer) the disc is turned off if that wasn't done yet.
Your disc definitely looks great! I would not feel bad having that one!
I had it easy with the NeoPixels
Good question about the discharge voltage. I'm aware of that and on of the things I want to add is a voltage devider. That voltage devider will be connected to my M0 Basic Proto which will then have a red LED come on as soon as the voltage of the batteries reaches a certain point.
It's in my planning but it wasn't actively on my mind so thank you for the reminder
When it comes to cutting of the batteries I have the following in mind;
Getting the Adafruit Push-button Power Switch Breakout has yeilded a great bonus, namely that it has a "kill-pin" which turns of the FET when 1 or more volts is applied to it.
I'm thinking about adding a delay in the sketch between the red LED lighting up and the "kill-pin being triggerd". So first the M0 will turn on the red LED informing the user that the batteries are running low and after a minut or so (or maybe longer) the disc is turned off if that wasn't done yet.
Hello Everyone finally shot and uploaded the long awaited update.
I'll be working on a few follow up videos that will explain the different steps I took whilst I was writing the sketch.
Had to learn a few new things. All in all it was very educational but it did take up "some" time.
But the disc is now finally spinning and it's a great feeling!
Freshly uploaded video:
https://youtu.be/czxUh5J4Iak
I have created a GitHub account where you can find the repository that contains all the sketches I have been working on so far.
The animation code is completely thanks to Erv Plecter. He made all this possible. So again, a big thanks you to Erv!
GitHub: https://github.com/RiCor-net
Playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyythBBSchB6DWGi_5Xz2ogSqaS3vKtYN
It isn't perfect yet. The Music Maker doesn't always work well, I've been having issues with the disc animation/sound failing upon boot.
From what I read in the Adafruit Music Maker guide (link: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-music-maker-featherwing?view=all) I may be able to fix this by resetting the Music Maker upon boot before the rest of the code/sketch is executed.
I'm also thinking about adding the Feather M0 Bluefruit again and have that control the NeoPixels. During testing I have found that the animation runs faster without audio. As soon as I included the audio the animation seems to be slowed down, this is especially apparent with the bladespin animation.
Adding the Bluefruit version of the M0 as an extra board should resolve this issue. I will then have the two M0's communicate with each other via serial communication.
That setup would also make it possible to remote control the disc via an app on my phone using the bluetooth connection. I do not need that for the disc's primary functions but having bluetooth back in the game would give me more control when it comes to using the disc to play the Tron Legacy movie soundtrack. Since I only have 1 spare button in the current setup I would only be able to start/pause playing and I would like to also be able to skip to a song, stuff like that.
Also I do have a little bit of hardware remaing, namely the "holographic emitters" on the top of the disc.
I will be installing 3mm LED-holders and and some white LED's there.
I'll be working on a few follow up videos that will explain the different steps I took whilst I was writing the sketch.
Had to learn a few new things. All in all it was very educational but it did take up "some" time.
But the disc is now finally spinning and it's a great feeling!
Freshly uploaded video:
https://youtu.be/czxUh5J4Iak
I have created a GitHub account where you can find the repository that contains all the sketches I have been working on so far.
The animation code is completely thanks to Erv Plecter. He made all this possible. So again, a big thanks you to Erv!
GitHub: https://github.com/RiCor-net
Playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyythBBSchB6DWGi_5Xz2ogSqaS3vKtYN
It isn't perfect yet. The Music Maker doesn't always work well, I've been having issues with the disc animation/sound failing upon boot.
From what I read in the Adafruit Music Maker guide (link: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-music-maker-featherwing?view=all) I may be able to fix this by resetting the Music Maker upon boot before the rest of the code/sketch is executed.
I'm also thinking about adding the Feather M0 Bluefruit again and have that control the NeoPixels. During testing I have found that the animation runs faster without audio. As soon as I included the audio the animation seems to be slowed down, this is especially apparent with the bladespin animation.
Adding the Bluefruit version of the M0 as an extra board should resolve this issue. I will then have the two M0's communicate with each other via serial communication.
That setup would also make it possible to remote control the disc via an app on my phone using the bluetooth connection. I do not need that for the disc's primary functions but having bluetooth back in the game would give me more control when it comes to using the disc to play the Tron Legacy movie soundtrack. Since I only have 1 spare button in the current setup I would only be able to start/pause playing and I would like to also be able to skip to a song, stuff like that.
Also I do have a little bit of hardware remaing, namely the "holographic emitters" on the top of the disc.
I will be installing 3mm LED-holders and and some white LED's there.
Last edited by a moderator:
propmaster2000
Sr Member
Hi , RiCor
I watched your video and nice job on your Disc as well
When I did mine I was just hearing the word Arduino for the first time, but never took the time to pursue it.
I've worked in the film industry for 17yrs. full time as a prop builder and never had to put sound in a Hero prop.
It of course was never needed.
If a prop made sounds at all, it was a problem since any sound would be added in post.
When I make props today I still never consider adding sound, but there is exceptions to that rule.
I am currently modifying a Playmates 2009 Star Trek Movie Phaser Toy and it came with sound, so I left it in.
A Phaser without sound seemed crazy
If I enhance an existing item/toy (Tricorder) which already has sound, I usually try and leave it in.
I didn't however leave it in on my Tron Disc Modifications......
Old habits are hard to break.
.
I watched your video and nice job on your Disc as well
When I did mine I was just hearing the word Arduino for the first time, but never took the time to pursue it.
I've worked in the film industry for 17yrs. full time as a prop builder and never had to put sound in a Hero prop.
It of course was never needed.
If a prop made sounds at all, it was a problem since any sound would be added in post.
When I make props today I still never consider adding sound, but there is exceptions to that rule.
I am currently modifying a Playmates 2009 Star Trek Movie Phaser Toy and it came with sound, so I left it in.
A Phaser without sound seemed crazy
If I enhance an existing item/toy (Tricorder) which already has sound, I usually try and leave it in.
I didn't however leave it in on my Tron Disc Modifications......
Old habits are hard to break.
.
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Thank you propmaster2000 !
Really cool to read you've been active in the industry for so long. I've seen a number of your posts in the past, it's really really cool what you do.
Thank you for appreciating my first effort at prop making
The whole Arduino thing was new for me aswell, made some mistakes in the beginning out of ignorance but that did lead me to learn a lot.
This is also why I decided to share and document the whole project, so that others can learn / avoid pitfalls, etc.. I hope someone else can use what I did, maybe not for the same project but also as inspiration for something else.
Reading were you're coming from I think it is very understandable that you do your props this way.
Sounds from a prop are unwanted in a production environment, that I can definitely understand. It's a lot easier to do that in post were you have more control/flexibility.
However it's a nightmare for us fans and propmakers if we want to recreate a prop as closely as possible ^^
Yeah, old habits, it is however understandable that you took out the sound from the toy prop, that was just horrible and had to be derezzed
Really cool to read you've been active in the industry for so long. I've seen a number of your posts in the past, it's really really cool what you do.
Thank you for appreciating my first effort at prop making
The whole Arduino thing was new for me aswell, made some mistakes in the beginning out of ignorance but that did lead me to learn a lot.
This is also why I decided to share and document the whole project, so that others can learn / avoid pitfalls, etc.. I hope someone else can use what I did, maybe not for the same project but also as inspiration for something else.
Reading were you're coming from I think it is very understandable that you do your props this way.
Sounds from a prop are unwanted in a production environment, that I can definitely understand. It's a lot easier to do that in post were you have more control/flexibility.
However it's a nightmare for us fans and propmakers if we want to recreate a prop as closely as possible ^^
Yeah, old habits, it is however understandable that you took out the sound from the toy prop, that was just horrible and had to be derezzed
