Main Entrance Rebuild - Part EIGHT

 

As explained earlier, I have changed the wiring implementation.  In the orginial build of the Main Entrance, the wiring all came up the back in a conduit like structure, as shown here.

But that was problematic and I could never keep it looking straight.  So I came up through the towers in the front as shown here.

There are two levels for the LEDs.  The first illuminates the area on either side next to the hanger bays.  This includes the area around the internal power generators and the hanger observation area.  The second level is the conference room and the briefing room. The briefing room also powers the upper observation deck.

This shows the wire routing for the first level.  I used five tan 1 x 2 modified plates with pin hole to route and conceal the wire in an area where it could be seen.  Placing these next to each other creates a conduit structure for the wire.  This runs on both sides very near the spheres for the internal power generator, as you can also see in the above picture.

This shows the three LEDs that are used on each side.  Two illuminate the internal area for the internal power generator and the single LED will illuminate the observation area.

 

This shows the lighting arrangement for the conference room.  The interconnect is complete, there is just no power connection.

This shows the power connection.  You note that the wire is passing through two 1 x 1 Technic bricks as guides.  the Light Bluish Gray 1 x 2 modified plates with pin holes serve as guides for the wire also.

These two pictures show the power wire coming from the front tower where a 1 x 1 Technic brick is guiding the wire.  It then goes through a 1 x 2 modified plate with pin hole and finally through another 1 x 1 Technic brick.  These bricks with holes in them, keep the wire snug up against the wall and the ceiling.  You can probably see them if you look really hard, but it will take some body contortion in the normal display setup.

On the other side of the main entrance, the first level is identical.  The second level where the briefing room is slightly different.  Since this side had to power the observation deck also, routing is a little different.  The main power wire goes to a small 1 x 2 LED PCB that is used to distribute power.  One goes back to the LEDs for the briefing room.  And one uses the standard 2 pin connector to power the observation deck.  See the red arrow in the picture above.  These LEDs will eventually be the RBGW type, so that I can switch the briefing room from RED to WHITE.

The power for the observation deck passes through the wall using three 1 x 1 round plates.  Then it enters a conduit structure composed of 1 x 2 modified plates with pi hole (on the top).  Then it passes into the observation deck through a hole in the Technic beam that is supporting the roof and tower structure.

After that the wiring remains the same.  The observation deck is illuminated in BLUE, because I think it adds some contrast to everything else.  The small connector for the tower is the same.

 

 

 

Main Entrance Rebuild - Part SEVEN

 

Well before LEDs, let's talk motors.  In this blog post, I explained the upper gearing system.  This blog post will discuss how the motor is integrated into the Main Entrance.  In the end I built a motor module.  That is with some surrounding part removal, this section/module that contains the first reduction gears and motor can be removed.

This view shows the pieces.  The worm gear holder will be replaced with the black version, instead of transparent clear.  This implementation keeps everything in place and with some careful work, can be removed as a unit. 

By driving the perpendicular split at the right, the two gears run in the opposite direction.  Thus the let door moves right while the right door moves left when closing.  Then the opposite is true for opening.

 

Here is the final proto.  After the Brick Fest event, I am sure there will be changes, there always is. 

 

 

Main Entrance Rebuild - Part SIX

 

Next step is adding the wiring for the LEDs. 

I had previously showed this in the base.  This is where all the wiring will come up for the two sides.

This shows the mostly completed wiring.  I have used this power distribution module to make most of the wire connections.

The main connection is a USB Type-A connector on an 18 gauge wire that connects to the battery.  There is also a Mini USB Type B connector on the module that I use for testing.  I used the modified plate

with pin holes to route the wire around and more importantly to keep it contained when moving, transporting, setup, tear down , etc.

In the blog post Small Detail I showed the final installation of the internal power generators.   Here they are.

On the left side underneath the green, blue, red and orange round tiles is a transparent neon green round 2 x 2 brick.  Inside this brick is a UV LED and a Cool White LED (small SMT LEDs from Amazon).  The UV LED is illuminated with a triangle waveform while the Cool White uses a burst mode waveform.  Contained in the sphere is a RBGW LED module where only the RBG is connected.  This is illuminated with a random PWM pulse for each color.

 

Under the sphere I used a Technic 2 x 4 plate to get the hole I needed to move the wire through.  Under the round brick I had to drill a hole for the wire.

The backing structure for the internal power generators contains the light controller for each generator and small power distribution PCB.  I used a 2 x 1 LED PCB to do this power distribution.   It makes easier to take apart.  You can see the power wire passing through the hole showed in the first set of pictures.  

Once the structure is set in place, I started putting the corner wall panels on.  I had to be careful to run the wires though the small opening that was there. 

Next is to connect up the LEDs.

 

Brick Fest Live - Oklahoma City

 What follows are the pictures we took of the display at this event.

 

Something new was the Flash Mob attacking the Space Outpost.

Finally here is the back side up close.