And I'm looking for some advice if anyone has some to offer.
My idea is to have addressable LED strips built into the edges, powered by an arduino and controlled by an RGB LCD shield. I pretty much have that part figured out. What I was planning on doing was getting a few sheets of 3/4" thick MDF to make a 5'x5' or 6'x6' platform for the top. This will be supported by a few (probably 3 in the middle and 1 running along each edge) 2x4's running through across the platform. There will be a bottom platform for a little more 2x4 support. The arduino will go in between these 2 platforms. The edges of the top platform will be cut a couple inches inward and I plan to put down some polycarbonate or some kind of translucent material that can hold up being stepped on. My questions are:
1) Is the structure as a whole overkill? I don't mean to make this easily portable but it shouldn't be impossible for 2 people to transport either.
2) Does anyone know what it'd take to mount the LCD shield so it can be controlled from the side of the floor?
3) Does anyone have better ideas on how to make the same type of system work? I feel like there's gotta be some way to make a 1 layer floor work with lights.
4) General advice? Tips? Criticisms?
If you keep your joists and cripples close enough you can save weight by using 1/4 or 1/2" ply ( 8" - 12" on center instead of 16). Additionally, since it will be sitting on a surface instead of supporting itself, you can use 1x4 instead of 2x4 for your joists, I'd still use a 2x4 exterior frame though. For that matter, you could probably get by with using 1x2 (or 2x2)for your frame and a 1/2" to 3/4" plywood floor (in which case you should use 2x2 for your exterior frame). All you really need the frame to do is support the floor, and give you space to run your wires and LEDs, it is not really structural.
I can't help with the electronics.
That's a good point with the frame. I've been thinking that I shouldn't need too much there and I've been thinking about reducing the size and maybe taking out the bottom piece of plywood, underneath the frame. So I'd have a top piece of plywood (instead of MDF) and smaller frames all around. I'm more worried about doing a swing out and someone stepping off the platform and hurting themselves because it's too high up.
