Backstage
Blinkenlights was planned and built in record time. We had only four weeks from first thought to the display of the first movie. So we managed to be ready on prime time: the 20th anniversary of the Chaos Computer Club, making a present of huge dimensions to both the Club and the town of Berlin.
Hardware
Blinkenlights consisted of 8 floors with 18 windows each. Behind every window there was a single lamp on a self-made tripod. Each lamp was connected to the power source via a relay. When the relay switched on, the window pane became bright.
In order to achieve the appropriate self-illuminated effect we painted all windows with white color. The lamps had a capacity of 150W only.
Each relay was connected to the eighth floor via a control cable. There all cables came together in a huge thread of cables connecting to the Blinkenlights Chaos Control Center. An amplifier provided the cables with the necessary power to switch the relays. The control computer was capable of switching each relay independently. This is where Blinkenlights Movies became reality. Overall we laid out around 5000m of cable in the house.
Software
Three computers shared the work to control the whole system. Although it would have been possible to put it all in one system, we decided to separate the modules (control, playback, telephone interactivity) in order to allow distributed development and operation. The modules communicated using network protocols.
The input format for the playback center was a Blinkenlights Movie.
The Blinkencrew
Planning, Conception and Production of Hardware and Software was primarily done by this team. Many more actively contributed to the project.
| Björn Barnekow | Programming, Design |
| Fiedel | Electronics |
| Michael "Papillon" Gerdes | Installation |
| Packet | Programming |
| Prom | Programming |
| Sven Neumann | Programming |
| Tim Pritlove | Project Coordination |
| Tobias Engel | Programming |
During the final phase many members and friends spent hours and sweat using their soldering irons, leathermans and saws. May Eris Discordia be with you whereever you go!
