US Digital Indicator
This was a project that went in three stages. I got a new old stock U.S. Elevator digital indicator on eBay and wanted to do something cool with it. These indicators aren't very common to find on US elevators, so this was a neat buy for sure. As for electronic components, it's fairly simple: two lights (up and down), and a seven segment display. When I first got this indicator, I didn't have a controller for it. At the time of getting this indicator, I had not yet learned about arduino, so that was out of the option. That left me with making my own, analog controller.
Stage 1: Analog Controller
This is exactly what I made. A custom made, 3d printed indicator controller. It was a fairly simple (yet annoying to make) design. It had a large wheel with 10 different positions (0-9) and used screws to indicate a "segment on". There were 7 switches (one for each segment) that would be pressed by the screws. This was a very crude design, but it worked for the time being.
Stage 2: Digital Controller
Over time, my original analog controller started showing it's flaws. There were minor design problems and just general inconsistency with it. I had recently acquired an Arduino microprocessor and decided to try it out with this indicator and see what I could do. In the end, I ended up designing a digital controller for my indicator, adding a remote control feature, and started adding a physical control panel.
Stage 3: Additional Features
After the successful upgrade to the digital controller, I decided I wanted a few more things added to my design. The panel with the power switch has more buttons and switches. I decided to connect those controls to the Arduino so I could use them to control the indicator. I also made a more permanent mount for the IR receiver so it's not just hanging around. To finish things off, I updated the programming to work with the new control panel and got rid of a couple of bugs. With these added features, I finally decided this project was finished and successful.