That looks cool. I definetly have to build one 
. It’s a lot more simple than what i had in mind…
Im also planning to build a programmer, either for the PIC or for AVR and get started with some programming for it.
Which programmer did you build? I know that the parallel port in Windows XP does not alwasy work like it should. Can’t even get printers to work with it anymore
Edit: have you seen this? https://www.jdm.homepage.dk/newpic.htm
okay im prepared ot build the kvasar mask but i wondering if anyone has built it and it worked? I would only be moved to make this if there was positive feedback from someone that it worked for.
thanks heaps guys
i’m building one too… I have everything I need (except for one or two, including the IR Sensor) and I’ve already started putting it together.
For the IR Sensor i called Hamamatsu and a very very nice lady made an exception (they only ship to companies with a min 50$ purchase) for me and is now shipping me two “samples” of the S4810, free of charge 
All i have to do now is finish putting it together and then wait for the sensor to get here (meanwhile i can build the programmer)… hehe, and to think a week ago i had NO IDEA of any of this. It’s really fun.
One question though… on the Kvasar diagram there are two lines going nowhere saying “com in” and “com out” (right side of PIC)… does anyone know what they are and where they go ? or do i just leave them untouched ?
so here’s stage one of the electronics :
i didn’t want to build it too small cause i’m not that great with the iron hehe, it’s already crazy enough with all the wires. it’s going pretty good and it’s tons of fun hehe (at least i find it fun)
Hi, just to let you know I’m going to build a kvasar mask. To tell the truth I’m not goint to build it by myself because I don’t know anything about electronics. A friend of mine will help me. Now I’m looking for the components but I’ve already some problems. I wrote to Bjorn some question. I’ll write down my questions, maybe someone in this forum can help me:
Glad theres people building it, i may wait untill it is succesfully built before i attempt it myself…hope it works though
as soon as it’s done and i get a chance to test it out, i’ll be sure to make a small webpage with the building procedure from the eyes of a newbie and some results (maybe a journal of sorts).
right now i printed the plans for the pic programmer (took a while to decide which one i wanted to build hehehe)… and i’ll be getting the S4810 in the next two weeks (i should hope)… It’s being delivered as a sample, which I got free of charge from a very nice lady at Hamamatsu.
A while back there was a product called the dream mate(even looked like the nova dreamer) that suddenly went out of business. This thread has been around for a while but, I don’t know of anyone who has successfully built one yet. Must be hard to make. I do have a question though. If the devise does not have a REM detector would it not be simpler to hook up a strobe light to a timer? Just a thought. Good Luck. If any one succeeds I might buy one.
MeusOpusMagnus, good job! About the com in, com out on kvasar I believe that is a serial interface to connect to your computer via serial port to download information like REM patterns, etc. I am not sure if this is implemented. Very good job for a first prototype though! Once you get this working I guarantee you are going to want to build a smaller one I will try and post some pic’s of mine this weekend!
vinz, I buy my electronics from www.mouser.com They definitely have the 16F84.
mouser.com/index.cfm?handler … deid=57911
You DONT want the 16C84. The C means PROM that requires a UV eraser to erase, versus the F for FLASH (program multiple times, electrically erasable by your programmer). Also, as you can see on mouser the actual part # is PIC16F84-04P. The 04 is the processor speed (4 MHz) and the P is the package type, PDIP. You want PDIP, you don’t want SOIC, which is for surface mount.
Also it appears a standard NPN transistor will do the trick in the kvasar design. You can get these at any radioshack:
radioshack.com/product.asp?c … 276%2D1617
Also, to those of you building a PIC programmer, I highly recommend the one available here:
sparkfun.com/shop/index.php? … 636&cat=3&
It’s the PIC-PG2C product #. The programmer is $13 and works like a charm!
There are several components that are unnecessary for the KVASAR design.
1.) Pin 16. You do NOT need the 22pF capacitor and 4k resistor! PIC’s have internal oscillators that generate the clock for you. If you already bought them and have them in place it is okay though, but you will want to remove these when optimizing for size.
2.) All 1k resistors that are connected to the switches are not necessary! Most PIC’s (I didn’t check on this one) have internal pull-up resistors so you can remove these.
3.) You don’t need 2 150 ohm resistors on the eye LED’s. On my desigin I connected them like this, sorry in advance for the bad drawing:
IO1 ---------LED----|
----150-200 ohm resistor ---------GND
IO2 ---------LED----|
EDIT: Ahh I couldn’t figure out a good way to draw this, the board removes extra spaces, imagine the second line being spaced out to the | on the first and third lines. Sorry.
Eww, that’s ugly. But you get the point. I connect the cathode end of both LED’s to 1 150-200 ohm resistor which is then connected to ground.
Again these are all just suggestions and it will work as depicted in the schematic. Also for items 1 and 2 you will have to modify a control register so let me know if you don’t see it in the data sheet.
hey dwax thanks for the tips, i WAS thinking about building a much smaller one if this one works (i’m going out today to buy the parts needed for a small, simple pic programmer), so the hints you gave me are certainly going to come in handy.
i also e-mailed Bjorn Brindefalk and asked him about the com in/com out (he said they’re just for future development if needed) and if anyone was wondering about that big orangy-red component (lower left corner in the electronics picture on his website), it’s just a big push-button i couldn’t figure out what it was for the life of me.
i got your diagram, so far that takes away a whole bunch of resistors and the capacitor, and if i make the buttons the really small ones i should get a very compact design. I’ll go check the datasheet for the pic and see if i can find anything about that.
from Bjorn’s website, he’s also working on a more compact one.
Thank you very much for your help.
Hi there,
as I said I finished building the mask and all I need now is to program the PIC16F84 microcontroller in order to make the mask work. I had some problem programming the chip using the NTPICPROG program provided on the webpage of EK-projects that brindefalk refers to on his very own homepage. So I contacted the EK-project owners, and they said you definitely need to use another program (IC-prog) to write on PIC16F84 chips of newer date. So my advice woud be to start building the programmer and program the chip before starting building the actual mask. However, Vinz, here are the answers to your questions:
1.) No you have to use either the Sharp sensors ( which are NOT available in Europe, and believe me I chcked every provider in the entire country!) or the Hamamatsu s4810. It is hard enough to build the electronics, so if you have to go trouble-shooting later on you don t want to worry about non ideal parts.
2.) you can use any cheap NPN transistor, e.g. BC107A
3.) use the PIC16F84. Where did you look in order not to find that one. It is so common you should be able to get it everywhere!
MeusOpusMagnus: I piss myself laughing!! I really enjoy having someone to talk to who also started building the kvasar mask, my friend, but, I really want to see you sleeping, having that dinosaur type of monster fitted between your eyes. lol. Ok. I am sorry, as I made a comment before knowing all the background facts in detail: so, how big is your head? lol
However, it is good talking to you people about building that kind of stuff
happy soldering,
tom
my head is ABSOLUTELY GIGANTIC !!! hehehe, actually i think my hands are just really small.
anyway, ONE STEP AHEAD OF YOU !!!
old “prototype”, the batteries would go in the big empty space on the board… it fits over the safety goggles, which in the end would be spray painted black, with lining around the edges.
new, SMALLER one… which makes use of those connecting lines on the back of the plate… what you get is less wiring (waaaay less) and a much more compact design
but see, i didn’t think about that when i started the first one… hey, i’m really new to this… i mean, REALLY (i honestly don’t even know what a transistor does… yet! )…
this is the two compared… i made the buttons the smaller kind… the electronics are half the size of the old one (without the battery… then again, i don’t wanna know what the old one would have looked like WITH the batteries too 
IT’S ALIVE !!!)
BOOOYEAH !
I, yes, me, that’s right, I just programmed my PIC with no problems whatsoever… I started building the programmer on Sunday, it was done by Sunday night, but it didn’t work on my PC (running windows XP)… I did some “research” and I found out I had to change some settings and use this special driver. That was Monday.
Today I changed a resistor which was too big and I tried the programmer with the new settings and the driver on my 486 (win 2000). It worked like a charm, I had no issues whatsoever. It wrote the program, it verified OK and it even read it back ok
All I need is that sensor and I can try out my Kvasar mask (which is also going to become an art project, I’ll present it in a plexyglass case with some information about it and a slide projected on a wall next to it, dealing with the idea of escapism)… Hopefully I’ll get the sensor by next week
The uJDM programmer is EXTREMELY simple to build, CHEAP and very effective (if you have the right serial port i guess)… To build it I didn’t even follow the diagram on the site, I just looked at the two pictures he posted of the PCB board (both sides are posted) and soldered my parts in the exact same manner… It took about 30 minutes to get everything done. I’ll post pictures soon.
Hey MeusOpusMagnus,
your new device looks great. I am also building the Kvasar device and I am finished alreday except for progamming the PIc16F84 though. I tried several tricks to solve the program including emailing brindefalk and the makers of the Ek project programmer. however, it seams it doesnt work for me and my windows XP. but I found a solution which is sending in my PIC chips to an electronic shop, that will progrma the chip with the correct code for about 3$. I guess thats is a deal.
also, I hop to post some pics of my kvasar soon
Very best wishes,
Thomas
getting it programmed is a really good idea, i didn’t know you could actually do this… i mean, i assumed it could be done by some store, but i never really looked into it.
windows XP is a bit tricky, it needs a driver and you have to use Windows API instead of the IO settings on the software. Also, the voltage in your socket may not be good or the IO delay needs to be played with if you do use IO… I just used this old 486 i have and that works great so i guess you could see if any of your friends has an old computer lying around.
I also e-mailed Bjorn and the guy who wrote the JAL software, asking them both about the programming difference between 16f84 and 16f84a and they both replied the chips are supposed to be 100% compatible.
So i shoved some batteries in my almost finished mask (missing the leds that are attached and the sensor) and I pushed the buttons like described in the manual. I got the right beeps when expected, so it WORKS (so far hehe, i don’t know if the leds flicker and if the sensor will work, but at least i know the button functions all work well)…
MeusOpusMagnus
sounds like you did it. Let us know how it works.
That’s great that someone already made schematics (and that sensor is available at the local electronics store ).
I glanced at the source for it and it looks like the trick is to calibrate the infra-red LED to the lowes level that is detected when the eyelid is still (this is done with the mask on). Once you have done that the slightest change in the eyelid will probably disrupt the signal temporarly which is detected by the micro controller.
I think the biggest problem will be to build one that’s comfortable enough to sleep with.