Colorize: Whiteboard Activity
The whiteboard activity allows kids to draw on a whiteboard and control a DMX light by turning on and off the red, green, and blue channels separately and see how those colors shining on the board affect the colors in the drawings they made. Some colors change while others can seem to disappear altogether. They can turn on multiple at a time to mix colors, all 3 switched on will create white. Looking at the DMX light (though not directly) shows which RGB channels are on, allowing the kids to see actual lights mixing into colors.
Supplies
- Whiteboard Hardware
- DMX Light with Stand (includes ¼ inch bolt with ¼ wing nut that you can tighten or loosen by hand)
- DMX cable
- Power Cord and Power Supply for whiteboard hardware
- At least 2 outlets, one with 3 pins
- Various dry-erase markers, at least Red, Green, and Blue. But other colors are fun too!
Please Check the CSV for the detailed BOM list.
Laser Cut the Whiteboard Material
You would need to laser cut the whiteboard material based on the DXF below
Downloads
Make a Stand for the DMX Light
We made a 10x 8 x8 inch box. This would be a stand for the DMX light that shines on the whiteboard
Make the Wooden Stand for the Whiteboard
We used hardwood for the surroundings and MDF was glued to the back of the whiteboard so we can thread the standoffs into it for the Arduino and the power supply
Make sure you drill holes for the DMX and the power supply at the back.
The hardwood was of height of 2.5 inches. This was to make sure everything had enough clearance
Do the Electronic Connections
We have a tinkercad Diagram with all the necessary connections.
Check it in the link above.
We use header on top of the Arduino to make the connections easier
Upload the Necessary Code Into Arduino
Make sure you download the zip file
Unzip
open it in Arduino IDE and upload it to the Arduino.
Downloads
Experiment
Check the video to see various effects the light has on the drawings