This project is a continuation of my original firework ignition system. My goals with this version of the ignitor were to make the connection between the controls and launch box more flexible, make the system safe and secure, and make it easy to use. The system is made up of two parts: The controls and the launch box. Both of the units communicate wirelessly to give the user full manual control over the 32 cues on the launch box and the ability to run multiple stored timed sequences. The timed sequences can be created and uploaded using the FireworksV2 windows program I made. The ignitors that I am using are made from 22 guage stranded wire attatched to either end of a small piece of nicrome wire. When a cue is activated, the nicrome wire is powered by a 12v sealed lead acid battery causing it to heat up red hot and ignite the fuse it is wrapped around.
Both the controls and the launch box use a teensy 2.0 as their brains and communicate with eachother using xbees. The controls are powered by four AAA batteries and the launch box is powered by a 12v 7Ah sealed lead acid battery.
The controls are housed in a small Otterbox to give them a durable weather proof case that is ready for use in the field. Since there is limited space available on the panel and 32 cues to control, I decided to use 8 buttons and a 5 way selector switch to divide the 32 cues into 4 groups of 8. The controls have an arming switch and a large 10mm red "armed" indicator LED. When the arming switch is in the "armed" position, the indicator will begin to blink if the launch box is not also armed and hold steady if it is. Sequences created on the FireworksV2 program can be loaded to the controller through a male-male usb cable plugged ito the usb port on the panel. To run a stored sequence the user just needs to set the mode slide switch to "auto" and press one of the 8 buttons. Right now the control can only store 8 different sequences but I plan on adding more using the selector switch. I also plan to add text to the control panel to make the controls easy for anyone to use. The system can also be controlled directly by a computer running the FireworksV2 program via a male-male usb cable which gives the user the ability to remotely view which cues on the launch box have continuity.
The launch box is currently housed in a cardboard box (im hoping to put it into a briefcase some time soon so that it can be more easily deployed and to give it slight protection from weather). The two buttons in the upper left corner are for power and arming the system. The arming button on the launch box works the same as the arming switch on the controls, the indicator blinks if the other unit is not also armed and stays steady if it is. The 32 cues are distributed using 16 4-conductor speaker terminals. I am still in the process of adding indicator LEDs above each cue to show which ones have continuity.
The FireworksV2 program is a windows form application I created using Visual Studio C#. Its main purpose is to provide a way to create timed sequences and upload them to the ignition system. It does this by first giving the user the ability to select what cues that will be used and at what time those cues should be triggered. Sequences can be saved and opened at another time as well. After the sequence is set, the user can upload it to the controls or run it directly from the FireworksV2 program to see the cues that have continuity. The user can also test a sequence to check the timing by running it on the computer without igniting any cues. To make it easier for the user to create a sequence, I added a stopwatch into the program so that they can time how fast fuse burns or how long a firework lasts. I added a way to ignite each cue directly from the program just to give the user more ways to control the system and one more way to help debug any possible problems.