There is one issue which has been with me since I started designing lighting systems decades ago.
I. Cannot. Find. ANYONE.
Seriously, for more than three decades, I could not find the correct person or Engineer to converse and/or pick each other’s brains. But if I do, they do fall into a few general categories:
1. The solutions given were… different
To me, when it came to solving problems, one can take any, or use different methods as long as the problem is solved (with minimal collateral, that is). Let’s relate this with Scale Lighting. For example, I need a solution to light up the Enterprise NCC-1701A as accurate as possible, with the changing lighting of the deflector dish and working photo torpedoes:
“Well, that’s easy. Use Arduino.”
“But I do not know Arduino”
“OK, no problem. You can then try with ESP32.”
“That is also Arduino.”
‘Oh.”
I did follow the progress when Arduino first started in 2005 or so. But by now, I know I do not have any interest nor the time to learn up about Arduino. To be honest, I hated programming, both in Machine Codes and C-Language. This meant I had to invest in a lot on alternative tools to overcome programming issues. Because when it comes to scale lighting, one of the challenges is the amount of limited space within the model. Therefore, stuffing a big Arduino board in there is not going to help. The solution circuit always starts from a single Microchip PIC IC and evolves from there. Compared to the Arduino which has a lot of other supporting circuit (hence the big size), I only need to add the components I needed. This saves a lot of space. Unfortunately:
“Well, you can use an Arduino for all this. It is so simple.”
“I don’t know Arduino and C Language.”
“Just download the sketches (programs) and modify them, no need to learn. Arduino is great to use… bla bla bla.”
“Dude, the circuit needs to be inside a very small space (size of a thumb) and it all runs from a single small chip. Plus, there are certain issues with Arduinos when you want SELL stuff.”
“Oh.”
2. That Blank Look, or Huh?
Or, something like that. Imagine someone coming up to yo and asks, “Say, do you think if I just fade the LEDs in and out with a flash at the peak would look convincing as a 1/24 revolving siren?”
Yeah.
And then you just wished you did not ask those questions in the first place. Maybe it is just me but I just find it very defeating to come up and meet a person with the impression they know how to solve my design problems. And when that bubble burst, I just want to get away as fast as possible because I know their recovery attempts and trying to help would be a waste of time. So, yeah, I do have a problem. And it is me.
HELLO, CHATGPT
So, after a six month hiatus, I decided to try ChatGPT again. We have been using this during my last Job in a Restaurant to polish up my articles and text. And after typing my question, I got it answered in a flash. ChatGPT does know what I am talking about despite it not having any facilities to answer in a graphical form. The screenshot below confirms my doubt when I needed to trigger the external interrupt pin without using a switch but a signal from another chip. I have guessed the answer but I just need confirmation/ validation. It would be great if ChatCPD could show me some answers in image form.
But for the time being, this is good while my Wife said with my using the ChatGPT now, I have even more reasons not talk to people.
