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Chapter 10

Dancing Dolphins

In This Chapter

Taking a peek at the schematic

Checking off the parts list

Breadboarding the dolphin circuit

Making dolphins out of lights

Lighting up your dolphins

W

e all know that lighting effects make for a good time at movie pre-

mieres and parties. Building a design from lights and making the lights

move in sequence can give you a great effect.

In this project, we show you how to create a series of dolphins dancing

across the water (well, the plywood). You could just as easily create a series

of spaceships in sequential stages of taking off, birds flying through the sky,

or just about anything you can imagine.

Along the way, you can pick up some tips about timer chips, decade coun-

ters, and the artistic opportunity of stringing lots (and we do mean lots) of

LEDs in sequence.

The Big Picture: Project Overview.............................................................

When you complete this project, you’ll have a wall display sporting five dol-

phins, outlined in LEDs, that light up one after the other, making them seem

to dance across the wall. You can see the little guys jumping and jiving in the

finished display shown in Figure 10-1.