June 15, 2012

The "Hexome" - the Arduino-powered hexagonal-based monome

Once again Mike Cook from the UK has astounded us with one of the most beautiful and well-engineered projects around - his "Hexome", a hexagonal-based monome. First, what is a monome? From his site:

A Monome is an undedicated controller consisting of an Cartesian array of illuminated switches. As it is undedicated, its function is wholly defined by the program driving it. Normally a Monome is configured as an 8 by 8, 16 by 8 or 16 by 16 array. Using standard software it presents a uniform program interface that has allowed many people to write programs that use it. Its main use is in music applications and has been programmed in a wide range of languages including Max, Chuck, PD and Ableton Live.
It is well known that a tool, especially a music tool, often dictates what you can do with it, some things are easy yet others remain virtually impossible. By changing that tool you often open up new and interesting possibilities, it is with this in mind that I developed the Hexome.

You can see it in action below:

 

For those looking to experiment with Arduino and various colour display types, an interesting start could be made with our RGB LED display modules, which can be daisy-chained together to allow control of multiple modules from the one Arduino-compatible board and external power:


However to get started, Mike has detailed the intricacies of design and construction for this great project - including the theory, schematics and code on his website

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