2026 09 07 Brain Lights
Brainlights is an exploration of sensory overload from noise. The piece cycles through 4 different stages: Normal; Excited; Overload; and Recovery. The intensity and frequency is driven by the amount of sound in the environment. I wanted this piece to be safer for flicker sensitive people. Therefore instead of using PWM and flickering LEDs to dim the amount of light, it instead uses OpAmps to provide a flicker free experience. My hope is with correct filters on the light modulation it can also be epilepsy safe (though I’m not sure that will get done in time).
Reading Timer
I really like reading. Like, a whole lot. If I’m not careful, I will easily eat up 4 hours straight of reading. Alas, my body isn’t so happy with that. Between headaches from eye strain and my back being sore, I really need to take breaks when reading. While I considered getting a pomodoro timer for my phone, that’s not a great thing to put on the ultimate distraction device. Instead I wanted to make my own timer, and at the same time make it work for my migraines. Recent advances in migraine science have shown that certain green wavelengths (520nm) can help sooth the light sensitivity that comes with migraine (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32903062/), so that was going to be my only source of light.
Seattle Subway
This project was inspired by the fine folks over at https://www.traintrackr.io/ They’ve done some really nice layouts of subways around the world. My sister got a christmas gift of the Boston one which inspired this project.
This project was done on a lark, but really exciting for me. I got to try some new tools, some new approaches, and some new ideas. It was a great amount of fun to get up and running.
What I’m building: Ganglia
Yes, I know there is a network monitoring project called Ganglia. That’s not this. Move along now.
I’ve dreamed about building this for about 20 years now (see earlier post). It’s a musical/sound sculpture instrument that consists of 10-20 noise makers distributed around a room. Many of them will have the ability to play back audio samples, but other will have the ability to physically make noise.
By chrisprosser
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Fun with Driving Solenoids
I got frustrated trying to figure out the best way to drive some solenoids. I was looking for something foolproof that I didn’t need to design myself. I’m trying to build as much as I can with JLCPCB Assembly which limits parts. I settled on the Infineon BTS724G. It’s an automotive part that has all the protections you can think of. Good for an unmonitored art installation.
But I was torn on the circuit design. Do I need decoupling caps? Do I need my own snubber diodes or will the chip handle it?
By chrisprosser
read more20 years in the making
I tried to start this project back in 1999/2000 when I was living in San Francisco. It was inspired by a piece I saw in the gallery at Cellspace https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=CELLspace.
The piece was a fantastic little music box about 4 inches by 6 inches. It was filled with a microcontroller and all sorts of electromechanical fun. It played a song with no traditional instruments. I loved it but lost track of the artist years ago. I wanted to make something similar, but fill a room not a box.
By chrisprosser
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