REM Detecting LED Goggle Device Nova Dreamer Wanna Be Thing

Quest for Lucidity
81

Greetings,

I’m new to the board, I came across it while I was searching for plans to build a novadreamer-like device and I also found the Kvasar dreammask… After some painstaking searches on ebay, I have found and bought a lot of 3 PIC16F84 chips for which I’m still waiting.

I also bought a PIC programmer that works through USB, although I have no experience whatsoever with microcontrollers and I haven’t been involved with electronics for many years now but this project intrigued me and so I couldn’t resist the calling. It was my pseudo-hobby in my teen years and I did a bit electronics engineering in college so I should be able to overcome the challenges. I just hope that i won’t need an ossiloscope or anything like that, heaven forbid.

It will be very interesting to find out how to program the chip.
I hope it’s not too complicated and I hope I won’t need to master assembly language…yuck. I’m not sure how I’ve gotten myself into this but I might as well follow through.

I thought that it would be a good idea to join this forum to get some feedback and insight into the project and to talk to people with experience as I have a few questions too.

Now, in the Kvasar schematic, I see a part labeled S4810. What is this component? It looks like a regulator of some sorts.
Also, what components can be substituted for an equivalent standard, I don’t want to have to bother with ordering specific components that are accurate to the last digit of their number, I just want to use off the shelf parts as long as they function.

is the the com in and com out to be connected to a serial port?
And finally the most important of all, the LEDs…

I see one IR LED only, isn’t the IR LED required for both eyes so that both eyes are illuminated by IR light? And what is the LED control for?

And now for the most important part of all and the primary reason for my post, the photosensor…

Again there is only one photosensor… I guess it only monitors one eye? And I haven’t been able to find the photosensor, my only resource is ebay and I’m afraid I can not order them from elsewhere. Can anyone enlighten me about the photosensor? What is it exactly and can there be a standard substitute…I.E…is it just a photodiode that’s sensitive to IR light? Would that work? Or…perhaps a photo-transistor?

And finally, does anyone have their own schematic of a working model, I have seen that a few of you have built your own and from the sounds of it, it works. If you could send me a link to your schematics and specs or email them to me I would greatly appreciate it. I’m also online on msn, yahoo and ICQ.

Thank you all for reading my post.

82

It’s an integrated photodiode and output transistor that gives you a logic signal without needing an A/D. You calibrate the Kvasar to detect changes in the light level reflecting off your closed eye. https://sales.hamamatsu.com/en/products/solid-state-division/photo-ic-series/photo-ic/s4810.php
I can’t find the S4810 on digikey, mouser, or newark. Please read the Kvasar page to find alternate part numbers (the honeywell one is available from digikey)

Please read this thread to find info on COM IN/OUT.

Unless you have a lazy eye, your eyes will move in sync during REM. If one moves, the other moves too. Therefore, only one eye needs to be monitored. The Control LED is on pin a3, search the source for “a3” to see what it does, when it’s turned on, and if it’s needed. (hint: it lets you see when the IR led is on)

I’m building my own mask of unrelated design later this summer. I’m putting that in its own thread, though :wink:

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Oh I see, so the S4810 is main the sensor. I had confused it with the circle with the S inside it thinking that S would be the
IR sensor. But then that leaves me wondering what the S is for. Other than that, everything else seems to be clear and I’m still waiting for the parts to arrive, I’m placing an order for the honeywell one this week and we’ll see what happens.

Meanwhile I’m going to look deeper into the manual and study the design some more. It was great that you replied, looking at the forum and seeing the last messages were posted around 2004, I didn’t have much hope of anyone replying.

Anyway, I’ll keep posting updates.

Thanks

84

Circle-S is a speaker, connected to pin B3 (bottom left). He used an earphone; I’d use a piezo buzzer like on the Nova/RemDreamers.

You should really check out the Jal site, if you haven’t already.
His FAQ, guide, and example programs are fantastic.

Second, get a copy of MPLAB from Microchip’s website, it’s an IDE and simulator for PICs - lets you test things out on the PC before hacking up the hardware.

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well after reading the entire topic it seems like it acutally came to a dead end. i havent seena lot of the users that were posting back then i wonder if they lost interst. Right now i am going on a hunt to find out why the nova dreamer was discontinued, maybe its the same reason that this mask didnt work. Comments?

86

That’s an interesting thought. But didn’t a bunch of people
report that it worked for them? And there were some people
here that claimed that it worked for them…or not? I’m going to re-read the entire thread again…but still, when I tried to buy a novadreamer off eBay, the few that were on there were still in such high demand that I couldn’t get one because the final price was ridiculously high, in 3 figures. And so that is why I have decided to attempt building my own. But again it would be interesting to see what your findings are.

By the way, i couldn’t get the S4810 optosensor cause the company’s minimum order is 50 so I decided to go for the Sharp. All parts should be here by next week, my only dilema is keeping the battery small but supplying enough power and I’m thinking of using something smaller than AAA, perhaps a 1/2AA.

87

Lithium AAAs are THE ideal power source. They’re expensive but extremely lightweight (7.5 grams each vs. 12 for alkaline), last a long time, and most importantly their voltage doesn’t droop much until they’re exhausted. Alkaline batteries start out over 1.5 volts, but their voltage drops steadily as the battery is used up, and this affects the sensor calibration.

The 16F84A is specified to run between 4-5.5 volts, though you can push it like the Kvasar does and run it at 3. Its low-voltage counterpart (16LF84A) can run on 2 volts, though at reduced frequency (max 4 mhz). One battery at 1.5 volts won’t work, you need at least two and ideally three. There’s no need to run faster than 4 mhz, unless you have a scrolling LED sign in there :wink:

The NovaDreamer uses a 16LC58B-04/P (link) at 4 mhz and runs on two AAAs. The Kvasar uses a 16F84 (link) at 4 mhz and runs on two AAAs. The 16LC58B draws about 0.5 mA; the 16F84 draws about 2 mA. The biggest current hog in the device is probably the IR LED.

If you absolutely can’t stand AAA batteries on your face, you could power it off a lithium button cell (CR2032 - the size of a quarter, weighs 3 grams) but as they only store 220-240 mAh you’ll be changing batteries frequently.

88

Actually, a lithium button cell is a pretty good idea and I think that whatever batteries are used, they should be rechargeable anyway. But I think the 1/2AA is 3.something volts.

I’m seriously thinking about using a button cell now, maybe in parallel to provide more cuttent. The only issue is finding a practical method of changing them, in other words, the battery clip or holder has to be simple and easy to handle.
Or better yet, I might just design it to stay in the device and have a connector on the mask to accept a wall wart charger.
I will experiment to see which is the best.

If I remember correctly, I did order the low-voltage version of
the microchip but I’m not sure, the specs did say 2 volts if I recall correctly.

How did you find out what chip the Novadreamer uses? In all the pictures I haven’t even seen a microprocessor, only an 8 pin chip.