This September, Parallax has been in business for 35 years. As part of our celebration, we asked our customers to tell us your Parallax story. This is one we received from our community which will be shared throughout the month.
My Parallax journey began when I learned about the BASIC Stamp shortly after being introduced in 1987. Having no use for it at the time, I kept the BASIC Stamp in mind in case I needed it for a solution.
It wasn’t until 2003 when I found an application for the BASIC Stamp. My son and I were interested in building a scale model of the Grand Haven Musical Fountain in Michigan. Our family had been watching evening shows for several years, and our son asked if we could build a small version for home.
I started designing the elements of the model with the BASIC Stamp. I programmed individual elements, but unfortunately, there was not enough processing power for all the features at once. I unsuccessfully looked at other processors at the time and none could handle the complexity in real-time. The Parallax Propeller 1 was introduced in 2007, and I looked to see if the Propeller had enough processing power.
As I proceeded to interface 21 servos operating water valves to control water heights and motion, I realized that Parallax had developed something very powerful. I went on to program 240 RGB LED lights in several light strips to manage the magical illuminations that are so important to achieve the full effect.
Next was the music. The prototype fountain plays wav files and lo and behold, the Propeller can do wav, too!
All of these features on the prototype fountain are coordinated by a pre-programmed control file, a text file on a micro SD card that includes time stamps and commands. The files are created by a choreographer in advance and saved. Our son created a dozen choreographed songs that play on the prototype and model fountains. I programmed the Propeller 1 to read the text file to decode the time stamps and commands into timed water heights, motions and lighting. The Propeller 1 handled all this while playing music.
We demonstrated the scale model in front of the prototype fountain playing the same music and choreography. After that we took the fountain on a four-state tour through 2013.
The fountain won awards and exhibits:
– “Honorable Mention” – 2008 Propeller Contest, Rocklin, California
– “Best of Show” – Maker Faire Lou in Louisville, KY
– “Best of Show” – Propellerpowered Expo 2013, Orrville, Ohio
– Exhibit – Maker Faire Fort Wayne, Indiana
– “Maker of Merit” – Maker Faire Detroit, Michigan
– Exhibit – “Dancing Waters – 50 Years of the Grand Haven Musical Fountain,” Grand Haven, Michigan
The fountain is currently owned by the Tri-Cities Historical Museum, Grand Haven, Michigan. None of this would have been possible without processors, components and boards from Parallax, objects from GitHub (formerly OBEX), and helpful advice on the forum (forums.parallax.com).
Parallax gave us resources for a great father-son project that ultimately pleased the entire family, taught our son and others about technology and is enjoyed by a community.
My next Parallax journey using the Propeller 1 is to develop devices to improve the safety of parachutists. This project is nearing completion and will be announced soon.
Dennis Page
Scale Model Grand Haven Musical Fountain
p.s. Dennis Page is based in southeast Michigan and was an aerospace engineer for 30 years in Los Angeles and an automotive engineer for 18 years in Detroit.
