# Super Versatile, $10 Complete Prop Controller



## halstaff

As many of you have seen, I've been designing and building, with lots of help from Fritz, quite a few different controllers for various tasks in my haunt using the Picaxe 08 chip.
My ultimate goal was to design a single board that would be able to control almost any of my props. I wanted it to be able to be programmable, be triggered by a PIR, control a servo as well as two 12V devices and control a sound board to provide ambient as well as a scare audio track.
I know there are many great, ready to go controllers out there but I wanted to make my own and since I use a lot of servos, I needed to include that on my board. 
The board uses a Radio Shack circuit board and by using the picture below, you just install the components into designated spots. No need to read a schematic or know how to build it on a bread board. Just drop in the parts and solder it up. A couple of hours and it's DONE!
The best part is, once you have the download cable, these boards cost less than $10 each to assemble. Add one one of the new 300 second audio boards, a Parallax PIR, Big Lots computer speakers and a couple of power supplies and the whole package comes in under $50. 
I'll be using one to control my entire Madame Leota scene. The ambient audio track will be playing until the effect begins. The program will trigger using the PIR and move the servo which will activate a DVD player with the projection. The 12V headers will turn on my haunted bookshelf and the LED's which illuminate it. In this application, I won't be using the audio scare track as the projection will provide the audio for the scene. All controlled by a unit I built myself and only cost me $10.
I had the board running all afternoon and it ran without a hitch but I would appreciate any feedback. I'm looking into several options for getting a printed circuit board made to make it even easier to assemble. If nothing else, it will eliminate all the wire links as well as several necessary solder joints on the underside of the board. If you're interested, I'd like to know in order to gauge interest. I have no interest in making any money off this, in fact one option is to have someone else produce and sell them. I would just like to have them available if anyone would like to build one.
I'd like to thank all those that have patiently answered all my questions as I've slowly learned their trade including Fritz, Otaku, Hpropman and SteveO. We're so fortunate to have people that are willing to share their expertise in so many areas so that all of us are able to provide a better Halloween experience to our communities. 
Here it is! Let me know what you think.



Here's the board after the updates and made into a pcb which makes building a working board a breeze -



The new update for 2014 -










And a video of the controller in action -


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## Otaku

OK, how cool is that! Nice work, Steve. Is it possible to run the board with a 12VDC supply, say ~2A, and use a LM7805 to power the 5VDC components? It would add 3 more parts (the LM7805 and two 0.1uF decoupling caps) but would save the hassle of using two supplies. Alternatively, there are 5VDC/12VDC split supplies available for applications like this. I can get the source for you if you're interested in doing a slight re-design.


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## halstaff

Great idea! It would be nice just having 1 power supply and there's room on the lower part of the board to add it in.
I knew I had left that spot open for something!


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## niblique71

I love what you did Halstaff. Joe was helping me over the winter to get some Picaxe projects together, but finances were tight and that damn programming cable really killed the projects. I really like to see that soo many people including Joe have come together to share knowlege for the good of the communuty.

One thing that has stopped me in the past was the difficulty to combine Motion (Servos, Relays, Selenoids) with sound easily and cheaply. Once you get to the $60- $75 range you might as well just buy a picaboo or similar controller with sound cabilities built in. So you did a great job getting the pacakge to around $50. BTW is the sound board you mentioned Stereo??? I've discovered that stereo makes a HUGE difference in a totters experiance of various scares.

I'm hoping that Joe's PCB guy can get a board put together cheaply. Either way I'd love to see a complete parts list with sound board also included. I don't mind using radio shacks mini board for now. Keep up the great work. AND good luck in the $20 prop challege, GREAT entry!!!


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## halstaff

I'm using this sound board - http://www.electronics123.com/s.nl/it.A/id.3041/.f?sc=8&
category=2
I'm very pleased with the sound quality as long as you use the computer speakers even using the low quality setting. It gives up to 300 seconds of audio, has 4 triggers, runs on AAA batteries and comes with an audio out jack. Unfortunately, it is mono. I use an adapter to allow it to go to both of the computer speakers and it works fine for me.
I'll work on putting a parts list together. I'm revising the design a bit to take advantage of Otaku's suggestion. The board will only require a 12V power supply.


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## Stinky Pete

Thanks Halstaff, this is great. I'm looking forward to the revised design. I'd like to build some of these myself. If you decide to make pcb's, you can count me in for several.


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## IMU

OK, I have no idea what I'm looking at but I'm sure its great. I'd love to be able to make animated props with servos and such ... I just have no idea what I'm doing.


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## halstaff

OK, here's the current update. Using Otaku's suggestion, I added a 5V voltage regulator so now the board only requires a 12V power supply. Cheaper, easier and cleaner design. That's the way I like it.


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## fritz42_male

Just fyi you can get a universal 12v 4a psu inc usa power cord for under $9 here shipped!

http://www.buyincoins.com/details/12v-4a-lcd-monitor-adapter-power-supply-ac-cord-product-1989.html


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## JeffHaas

Got a question...instead of using the Electronics 123 board, couldn't you use the Tenda MP3 board instead? I looked over the specs on the 08M and Pin 0 seems to support Serial Out, which is what I think you need to communicate with the Tenda board.


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## Dead Things

Absolutely freakin brilliant!! You've pushed forward the boundaries for the home haunter. Great job!!


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## Dead Things

halstaff said:


> I'd like to thank all those that have patiently answered all my questions as I've slowly learned their trade including Fritz, Otaku, Hpropman and SteveO. We're so fortunate to have people that are willing to share their expertise in so many areas so that all of us are able to provide a better Halloween experience to our communities.


I agree and now we can add your name to that list!


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## paulcav151

*Out of Stock*




fritz42_male said:


> Just fyi you can get a universal 12v 4a psu inc usa power cord for under $9 here shipped!
> 
> http://www.buyincoins.com/details/12v-4a-lcd-monitor-adapter-power-supply-ac-cord-product-1989.html


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## halstaff

Jeff, I've never used the Tenda board so maybe someone else can chime in on it. How much are they?
Too bad about the power supplies being out of stock. I was going to order a couple of them even though I don't need them right away. Maybe by the time I need them, they'll be back in stock.


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## fritz42_male

Yes you could and I'll be having a play with it soon


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## JeffHaas

Halstaff, it's this board:
http://www.mdfly.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_53&products_id=284

Should be back in stock in awhile. At $9.95 for a serial-controlled MP3 board it's a nice deal.


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## fritz42_male

Sheesh! Do I have to do all the work? 

This unit in stock - same unit but without the power lead which you can get anywhere anyway.

http://www.buyincoins.com/details/1...-power-supply-acer-benq-aoc-product-1988.html

The Tenda website seems to be offline - hope they haven't gone bust!

edit: nope, it's back up

I also have a Tenda video replay board - not serial controllable but you can hack into the buttons which would mean that you could control it with Halstaff's board (whatcha gonna call it mate? - needs a name - u can't use VLC though! )

EDIT:
Strange - MDFLY are selling the audio boards on eBay even though their website says they are out of stock?


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## halstaff

fritz42_male said:


> Sheesh! Do I have to do all the work?
> 
> This unit in stock - same unit but without the power lead which you can get anywhere anyway.
> 
> http://www.buyincoins.com/details/1...-power-supply-acer-benq-aoc-product-1988.html
> 
> The Tenda website seems to be offline - hope they haven't gone bust!
> 
> edit: nope, it's back up
> 
> I also have a Tenda video replay board - not serial controllable but you can hack into the buttons which would mean that you could control it with Halstaff's board (whatcha gonna call it mate? - needs a name - u can't use VLC though! )
> 
> EDIT:
> Strange - MDFLY are selling the audio boards on eBay even though their website says they are out of stock?
> 
> SD Card MP3 Player Module Rx Tx TTL microcontroller | eBay


You know how the work piles up while you're on vacation! Now you have to catch up again.


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## halstaff

For those that are concerned about having to program a Picaxe, please read on. The Picaxe was designed as a teaching tool and is fairly easy to understand. In addition, there is plenty of code already written that you can just copy and paste. I
You use a free Program Editor and download from your computer via a special cable. It's really the only extra item you need to purchase and it comes in the starter kit. For my board, you will need to add an adapter with a header on one side and a jack on the other that connects to the download cable but it's only soldering 3 wires. Here's a picture showing the connections -










Here's the sample code I'm using to test the features of the board -

'Room Micro Controller Test

Init: 'Just a starting point label
Pause 60000 'Wait 60 secs for PIR to 'settle down
Servo 4,155 'Move Servo on Port 4 to start position
Symbol delay = 5000 'Sets variable delay for making the whole thing wait for a while after pressing the button
Symbol time=b1

low 0 'Start ambient audio track

Testit:
readadc 1,b0
pause 5 'Brief pause on the checking loop
b0 = b0 + 5 * Pin1 'Pin 1 is PIR
if b0 < 100 then Testit
goto BEGIN

Begin:
high 0 'Stop ambient track and start effect audio track
high 2 'Start motor
servo 4,175 'Start servo movements
pause 4000
servo 4,210
pause 4000
servo 4,175
pause 3000
low 2 'Stop motor
servo 4,150
pause 4000
servo 4,190
pause 5000
servo 4,210
pause 3500
servo 4,155
pause 3000
high 2 'Start motor
servo 4,200
pause 5000
low 2 'Stop motor
low 0 'Stop effect audio and start ambient track
for time = 1 to 20 '20 is the number of seconds of retrigger delay
pause 1000 'Pause for 1 sec
next time
Goto Testit


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## Stinky Pete

fritz42_male said:


> .... (whatcha gonna call it mate? - needs a name - u can't use VLC though! )....


Since it uses the Picaxe 08, how about the Halstaff-Picaxe 8000, or HP8k for those typing on a smartphone.


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## beatlerat

I am interested in using this prop controller for a couple of things. I am sure I can modify the circuit for a ATtiny13. How about a parts list and circuit diagram?
Thanks, 
Keith


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## halstaff

Here's the parts list with the quantity and Jameco parts numbers - 
Part Quantity Jameco Part #
5V Relay 1 2081414
Screw Terminal 2 2120647
1N4001 Diode 2 35975
Header Strip 1 160882
330ohm Resistor 2 690742
22K Resistor 1 691180 
10K Resistor 2 691104 
1K Resistor 1 690865 
0.1uf Capacitor 4 151116 
8Pin Socket 1 112206	
2N4401 Transistor	1 38421 
LM7805 Regulator 1 786138 
IRL520N Transistor	1 209058 
Jumper 1 19141	
Wire Jumper Kit 1 2096018
(Or 22AWG Solid Wire)	
12V Power Supply 1 100870
Radio Shack #	
Printed Circuit Board	1 275-150
Robot Shop #
08M Picaxe Chip Starter Kit RB-Pic-03
OR 08M Chip RB-Pic-04

I don't have a schematic on this as it was built on a breadboard and by using PEBBLE, a free, downloadable layout program. Here's the link -http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=12629&highlight=pebble If anyone decides to try it, I would be happy to post the PEBBLE code for the board.
The closest board the program has to the Radio Shack board I used has one extra row of unconnected points so I have that crossed out in my layout and everything above that row just shifts down. This layout allows most of the connections to be down on the top of the board but there are several spots that require solder bridges on the underside of the board. I've noted those with the blue circles.
I was hoping we'd have enough interest to warrant having some boards printed but so far not many people have expressed an interest. Maybe there will be more interest as we get closer to Halloween.


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## hedg12

This is awesome, Halstaff. I think I have pretty much everything I need to build one of these already - just need the free time to do it. 
Any chance you could post close up pics of both sides of a completed board?


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## halstaff

I also have a Tenda video replay board - not serial controllable but you can hack into the buttons which would mean that you could control it with Halstaff's board (whatcha gonna call it mate? - needs a name - u can't use VLC though! )

I guess it does need a name. 
For those that haven't checked out Fritz's VLC (very low cost) board, here's the link -http://www.ipprofessional.com.au/VLC%20Servo%20Controller.pdf
It's the first Picaxe board I tried and I use a bunch of them in my haunt. His how to is very well done and easy to follow. It's a much better design if you need to use all 4 servo headers on the 08. For example, I have a 3 axis skull triggered by a PIR and I use it for my cave eyes as well. Figure out what you need done and then choose the controller to fit the job.


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## halstaff

hedg12 said:


> This is awesome, Halstaff. I think I have pretty much everything I need to build one of these already - just need the free time to do it.
> Any chance you could post close up pics of both sides of a completed board?


So you want to see how sloppy my soldering is  ? 
No problem, here they are. You'll see that I like to use Sharpies to keep track of things as I go.


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## fritz42_male

Halstaff - those boards solder ok IF you give the tracks a quick polish with fine wire wool first. My first one looked like yours but the joints come out much neater after a polish. 

Also, what solder and iron do you use?


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## halstaff

fritz42_male said:


> Halstaff - those boards solder ok IF you give the tracks a quick polish with fine wire wool first. My first one looked like yours but the joints come out much neater after a polish.
> 
> Also, what solder and iron do you use?


I'll give that a try because they sure don't solder up as well as the 08 proto boards.
This is the solder RS recommended when I got started - http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062715
This is the iron I'm using - http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3132686


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## Otaku

Fritz, you raise a good point regarding solder and irons. I use Kester 60Pb/40Sn with the #44 rosin flux core, .020" OD. I've found that Kester solders and fluxes are about the best on the market. I use a Mettler model 200 soldering station and tips of various temps, depending on the heat tolerance of the components I'm using. I range from 400 °F to 650 °F. You can usually find the heat tolerance info on the component datasheets.

Another thing - when possible, use IC sockets instead of soldering directly to the pins and if rework is needed use a solder vac (not woven copper tape) to remove the solder.


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## hedg12

halstaff said:


> So you want to see how sloppy my soldering is  ?
> No problem, here they are. You'll see that I like to use Sharpies to keep track of things as I go.


You notice I've never posted a picture of my soldering, or my workbench, or my workshop...  I like the sharpie idea, too - I may have to borrow that one.

Thanks for the pic!


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## halstaff

fritz42_male said:


> Halstaff - those boards solder ok IF you give the tracks a quick polish with fine wire wool first. My first one looked like yours but the joints come out much neater after a polish.
> 
> Also, what solder and iron do you use?


Thanks for the tip. It worked like a charm!


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## fritz42_male

No problem. Like most things it's all about preparation. Your station is better than the one I have (a cheap Dick Smith one).

Just fyi, I'm on holiday in the Uk at moment and getting bored bought a cheap Theramin kit from Maplin. The only soldering iron I had to hand could almost be used for leaded glass! Still got good joints though because I cleaned the surface of the board first.

PS I always used to use Multicore solder -best I ever found


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## halstaff

I know how that is!
You could always work on the design of the audio and Kiwi boards. I've had mine for a over a week and it's still waiting to be soldered up. Must be some kind of record for me.
Have you checked out Gary's new op amp circuit? It's going to be another useful board.


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## halstaff

JeffHaas said:


> Halstaff, it's this board:
> http://www.mdfly.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_53&products_id=284
> 
> Should be back in stock in awhile. At $9.95 for a serial-controlled MP3 board it's a nice deal.


Does anyone have any idea when these will be back in stock?


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## fritz42_male

Why not buy them from Tenda direct? I'll dig out the details and email you. I foudn them to be quick and attentive.

Alternatively, this module comes with serial control capability and has an Arduino example:


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## fritz42_male

Hey all, New MP3 module here that is worth a look. Push button control, up to 20 sounds, 132 seconds of playback at high res and USB download:






He also has other sound modules as well


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## JeffHaas

Does Tenda deal with small orders from individual users?

And that new guy has a ton of useful greeting card-type modules that look useful.


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## fritz42_male

Well they sold stuff to me but I spent about $100

Why not try and get a group buy if they have a minimum order?


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## JeffHaas

Found a website selling them in Thailand, they ship world-wide:

http://www.thaieasyelec.net/index.php/Breakout-Board/Embedded-MP3-Playback-Module/p_126.html


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## halstaff

JeffHaas said:


> Halstaff, it's this board:
> http://www.mdfly.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_53&products_id=284
> 
> Should be back in stock in awhile. At $9.95 for a serial-controlled MP3 board it's a nice deal.


The boards are back in stock but you better hurry. There was 18 this morning and now it's down to 9. I've got 3 on the way.


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## JeffHaas

Well, they'd better order more next time!


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## halstaff

It doesn't look like mdfly is carrying the boards anymore. Hopefully they'll get more in and add them back to their products page.


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## JeffHaas

Someone mentioned you can get them directly from Tenda, they're happy to sell to end users.


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## fritz42_male

Twas me and they are. If I was US based, I'd buy a bulk lot to get the better price to sell to forum users but I'm in Oz


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## halstaff

I finally decided it was time to learn Eagle and have some of my controllers made up into pcb's. This is one of them that has been completed. 15 minutes from starting to assemble to a fully soldered and operational board.


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## hedg12

Very nicely done! 
Any aspirations of selling these? You could probably sell quite a few, even in kit form.


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## halstaff

Thank you!
I haven't had much interest in them up to now but maybe now that I've made a pcb, it will generate some. I do have someone that is willing to put them on his site if I decide to go that route.


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## halstaff

I was inventorying my boards while putting together my presentation on Picaxe at HauntX and realized I wasn't using this board anymore. That's unfortunate as was pretty useful but it really needed to be updated.
So I added the Tenda stereo board, fused the relay and pulled an input pin for a trigger. This allowed me to not only have a triggered prop but have my choice of 12V, a servo header, audio and a ac/dc relay. The new form makes it very useful once again.
Make sure to check out the original post in this thread as I've added a video of the updated controller in action.


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## canuck

Hi There Halstaff,

Do you have these as kits? I would be interested in one or two of these.

Thanks!

Doug


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## halstaff

canuck said:


> Hi There Halstaff,
> 
> Do you have these as kits? I would be interested in one or two of these.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Doug


Doug, I do. Shoot me a pm and we can talk about it.


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## Dead Things

Brilliant Steve. Will be adding this to my order


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## Aquayne

This is amazing. I am hoping to build a "chicken Cannon". I hope to fill some rubber chickens with foam and fit them over the outlet of compressed air. When a trigger is pressed the rubber chicken will fly off and toward a target. I hope to get it set up so that a loud chicken sound will go off as the chicken flies off the compressed air. This sounds like it may be what I'm looking for.


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## JeffHaas

This will do it! I've got six of these that get used for different things in our haunt, from running a talking "cybernetic" skull to triggering a mutated baby.

I've read your other thread, and if you go this way, I will be able to give you some code that will get you started. The main effort with this is taking the time to turn the little prototype board into a controller. You'll need to learn to solder small sections of wire to assemble it.


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## Aquayne

I have been looking online and I cant find as much stuff for Picaxe as I can Arduino. Where should I look for Picaxe stuff? I need to be able to accommodate 2 inputs (switches or triggers), a stereo sound out component (3-5 seconds), and be able to control 2 relays. Should I get a Picaxe starter kit? Or just a breadboard and a picaxe module with download cable?


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## JeffHaas

Picaxe is out of the UK, it's a privately-owned company focused on education, which means that the manuals are very complete. Arduino is open-source, so lots of Chinese electronics companies have created their "own" versions and put them out there, and then let you look on the official Arduino site for info.

You can find Picaxe parts at:
http://phanderson.com/picaxe/
https://www.sparkfun.com/

To start out, you'll need the download cable and at least one of the chips. It's probably easier to get a breadboard and the breadboard adapter and some connector wires, then you can try out setting up various switches and relays and so on before you settle on a final design. Get some LEDs, resistors to work with them, and a few cheap push buttons. That will let you experiment with inputs (buttons) and outputs (LEDs). Later you can swap the LEDs for relays and use the same code.


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