Featured Project

This project aims to build a mimicry stage lighting control system. Generally speaking, the direction control system (usually a robot arm) will imitate the movements of the operator's arms so that the direction of the light can be controlled arbitrarily. In addition, the color of the light array can be determined by either the operator or the inherent information extracted from the music that is being played. Also, the whole system can be built in small size and can be installed easily, so that it can be deployed in scenarios like home parties.

More specifically, an operator (mostly a presenter or DJ) holds (or wears) a control device, the joystick, in each hand. The joysticks track the movement of each arm and transmit the direction information to the central server. This information is then processed and redirected to the mounted projector light arrays to control the actual direction of beams. Each hand controls each side of the lighting array. The system can also memorize a period of movement and playback. Besides, the color of the lights can be manually determined or be automatically determined by the rhythm or tempo of the music being played. The movement of the light gimbal can even be determined by the inherent feature of music.

Project Videos

• Team29 final demo video - UIUC ECE445 senior design project