Mine works now, I will try it tonight. It’s quite simple, it starts with a delay of 10 minutes and there’s one button that works as a RC and to increase the delay by 10 minutes with each key-press. When the delay is down to 0 it will flash for about 10 seconds. And then start over with the 10 minutes delay.
Are you getting any LD:s from it?
No, not yet. I have been tweaking it all week trying to get it to work properly. And now it finally works the way it should, but my dream recall has been much lower than usual for some reason. And it’s been over 2 weeks since I have had a LD last time 
.
I have only seen flashing lights in my dreams once this week. But I did wake up two times this night while the lights where flashing.
gah, i know how it feels… after i finished my kvasar, i tried it out for about a week, getting the settings to work and everything.
but lately i’ve been so tired and so busy that my dream recall is way down and i barely get enough sleep as is. i’ll go back to it whenever i get more sleep.
good luck with your device though, i hope it’s gonna work.
Great to hear that people have built there own nova dreamer type device. Just keep in mind that for best results you still have to do your RC and train yourself to recognize the cues the device gives you.
Good luck all. 
Tonight I did see flashing in a dream, but I didn’t realise I was dreaming .
I was skating in a circle on a ice and about once a second I would almost pass out, and I saw red every time. I thought it was real and that I really passed out every time. I thought the red was from seeing red every night from the novadreamer clone 
Oh well, atleast I’m getting closer. I should really start noticing flashing IRL.
/edited/ I added a few more functions to the button. Now I can turn of the lights if I wake up with them flashing. And I have also added a countdown reset by holding the button for about 0.5 sec.
here’s my kvasar…
the problem (as i figured) is the spacing between the sensor, the IR led and the eye… sometimes it’s not constant (the dissadvantage with safety glasses) and when it is, the IR sensor is a little too close to the eye… it detects eye movement allright when i test it, but when i sleep the glasses move around and the settings are lost.
So as I figure I’ll just build a new support and see how that works. I didn’t have much time lately to work on that, but i’ve also had a really hard time ld’ing, which is motivating me to try and finish the project…
(also in the image is my small pic programmer, it works quite nicely)
Yesterday I made a completely new version of my novadreamer clone. I remembered that I had some old swimming goggles that would work very well. I put a IR-LED and a photodiode on one side and a LED on the other. And I then have wires going to a small box that has a 1x16 LCD screen, very handy when testing and also much easyer to read data from what happened during the night 
It seems to be working quite well but it get’s very moist in the goggles because they sit so tight. So last night I took them off after 2 hours and I can’t make any holes in them because that will make them much less sensitive. But if I can’t figure out any other way I might have to 
I couldn’t sleep at all with the swimming goggles on they got very damp even with holes in them and they where uncomfortable. So I made a new mask that’s soft 
After a bit of fixing I could even sleep with it on last night but when I woke up after 4 hours of sleep it hadn’t flashed once and it had a 80 minutes delay 
I wonder if it’s possible that I woke up several times and pressed the RC button but I can’t remember? or did I move somehow and happen to press it by mistake or is it some programming error 
I think the mask had also moved quite a bit during the night, so I have to make it tighter around the head.
I have the goggles to look for eyemovement every 5 minutes and they check for about 30 seconds before going back to the 5 minutes delay. They only react on quite large and fast eyemovements. Or lots of smaller ones and they don’t react to slow changes in ambiemt light in the room.
//edited//
I figured out why they didn’t flash during the night. A small programming mistake And I have also added a little code so that I can see at what time each eye-movement detection occured, but since I ran out of memory I can only record the first 28 times. But that should be enough, I hope 
//edited// again 
I used the eeprom to save the data and I made the LCD show at what time after it was turned on, the detection of eyemovement occured and how long the REM-period was. I also had to make it a lot more sensitive because it didn’t detect anything last night even if I wore it all night.
I also have it displaying the total assumed REM-time. With each detection it adds 5 minutes to it. It’s not that accurate, but it’s always something fun to look at in the morning 
And that’s about all I can do with it because the program memory is almost full (970 out of 1000 bytes). And I have now used about half of the RAM available and the eeprom to save the data from the night.
//edited// again 
The flashing works very well now 
but since I have only gotten 2 nights with 6-7 hours of sleep each I haven’t seen any flashes in dreams yet And I have changed the programming every day and I tried to save the data from the night and put it on the LCD directly in time + amounts of minutes the REM lasted. But it hasn’t worked properly so I have changed that every day with no improvement.
So now I only save 1 number for each time the detection happens, so in the morning I have to manually figure out at what times the detections happen. This because the largest number I can use is 256, so each 1 represents 5 minutes during the night. I hope this will work And I will keep editing this post until I get a LD from the NDC (novadreamer clone ) or someone else posts something here.
And it seems like the detection has to be quite sensitive for it to work. A change of 1 happens all the time and 20 if I move my eye from the center all the way to once side. It didn’t detect anything at all during a night when I had it at 8 and now I have it at 4 and that seems to work well. I also have a sort of “adaptive” sensitivity, so if the ambient light changes slowly it won’t detect that at all.
BUMP
Thought I would make a new post instead of keep editing the last one becuse it was getting a bit long. I have been fixing more things every day. At the moment I have them waiting 5 minutes and then detecting 5 minutes because it would seem that big eye-movements don’t happen that often in my dreams. I don’t remember seeing any flashing in my dreams yet, but it seems like I don’t sleep as heavy with the mask on as I do without it.
And here’s some data that I have collected the past 3 nights.
2.10.2004 1:15-1:50 2:50 4:20 4:35 4:45 6:00 6:55-7:05 8:05 Flashes 17
3.10.2004 1:30-1:45 2:50-3:05 4:05 4:50 5:25 5:45 6:25 7:20 Flashes: 14
4.10.2004 1:45 3:02 3:55-4:10 6:25 Flashes 7
The - means that a detection has happened every 5 minutes between those times. These times are counted from when the NDC was turned on when I went to sleep at night. And a few of the flashes each night are from when I took off the mask to look at the clock. I have now fixed so if I wake up and the mask if flashing and I press the RC button, that time isn’t saved.
I have also been trying to optimize the code a bit and I use picbasic instead of assembler since it’s easyer and it’s takes less time to make a working program. I now use 776 Bytes out of 1024 So I can add more stuff if I can think of anything else to add.
how much less complicated is your mask to build ? since you’re saying you use a photodiode the very specific ir sensor in the kvasar isn’t needed anymore (and since it’s so hard to get i think your mask certainly has an advantage)…
and, when you get LD’s or when you feel the project is finished (if ever) or even as an on-going project, are you planning to release the plans (either freely or charge something for them) ?
Well since I use a LCD it’s a bit more complicated to build and a bit more expensive, but I suppose I could design a similar mask without the LCD that would be about the same as the kvasar. But the code is very different and I adjust the sensitivity and the amount of flashes by re-flashing the pic so my mask isn’t that user friendly
And I’m not sure if I could recreate the circuit since it’s really small and there’s lots of wires going all over it. So there’s really no point in giving it out to people unless they understand picbasic and already have picbasic. And I’ve figured out that I get more LDs and remember more dreams without using the mask so I haven’t improved it since I last posted here. But anyone that would like help can pm me and I hope that I can help them
Greetings,
I’m new to the board, I came across it while I was searching for plans to build a novadreamer-like device and I also found the Kvasar dreammask… After some painstaking searches on ebay, I have found and bought a lot of 3 PIC16F84 chips for which I’m still waiting.
I also bought a PIC programmer that works through USB, although I have no experience whatsoever with microcontrollers and I haven’t been involved with electronics for many years now but this project intrigued me and so I couldn’t resist the calling. It was my pseudo-hobby in my teen years and I did a bit electronics engineering in college so I should be able to overcome the challenges. I just hope that i won’t need an ossiloscope or anything like that, heaven forbid.
It will be very interesting to find out how to program the chip.
I hope it’s not too complicated and I hope I won’t need to master assembly language…yuck. I’m not sure how I’ve gotten myself into this but I might as well follow through.
I thought that it would be a good idea to join this forum to get some feedback and insight into the project and to talk to people with experience as I have a few questions too.
Now, in the Kvasar schematic, I see a part labeled S4810. What is this component? It looks like a regulator of some sorts.
Also, what components can be substituted for an equivalent standard, I don’t want to have to bother with ordering specific components that are accurate to the last digit of their number, I just want to use off the shelf parts as long as they function.
is the the com in and com out to be connected to a serial port?
And finally the most important of all, the LEDs…
I see one IR LED only, isn’t the IR LED required for both eyes so that both eyes are illuminated by IR light? And what is the LED control for?
And now for the most important part of all and the primary reason for my post, the photosensor…
Again there is only one photosensor… I guess it only monitors one eye? And I haven’t been able to find the photosensor, my only resource is ebay and I’m afraid I can not order them from elsewhere. Can anyone enlighten me about the photosensor? What is it exactly and can there be a standard substitute…I.E…is it just a photodiode that’s sensitive to IR light? Would that work? Or…perhaps a photo-transistor?
And finally, does anyone have their own schematic of a working model, I have seen that a few of you have built your own and from the sounds of it, it works. If you could send me a link to your schematics and specs or email them to me I would greatly appreciate it. I’m also online on msn, yahoo and ICQ.
Thank you all for reading my post.
It’s an integrated photodiode and output transistor that gives you a logic signal without needing an A/D. You calibrate the Kvasar to detect changes in the light level reflecting off your closed eye. https://sales.hamamatsu.com/en/products/solid-state-division/photo-ic-series/photo-ic/s4810.php
I can’t find the S4810 on digikey, mouser, or newark. Please read the Kvasar page to find alternate part numbers (the honeywell one is available from digikey)
Please read this thread to find info on COM IN/OUT.
Unless you have a lazy eye, your eyes will move in sync during REM. If one moves, the other moves too. Therefore, only one eye needs to be monitored. The Control LED is on pin a3, search the source for “a3” to see what it does, when it’s turned on, and if it’s needed. (hint: it lets you see when the IR led is on)
I’m building my own mask of unrelated design later this summer. I’m putting that in its own thread, though 
Oh I see, so the S4810 is main the sensor. I had confused it with the circle with the S inside it thinking that S would be the
IR sensor. But then that leaves me wondering what the S is for. Other than that, everything else seems to be clear and I’m still waiting for the parts to arrive, I’m placing an order for the honeywell one this week and we’ll see what happens.
Meanwhile I’m going to look deeper into the manual and study the design some more. It was great that you replied, looking at the forum and seeing the last messages were posted around 2004, I didn’t have much hope of anyone replying.
Anyway, I’ll keep posting updates.
Thanks
Circle-S is a speaker, connected to pin B3 (bottom left). He used an earphone; I’d use a piezo buzzer like on the Nova/RemDreamers.
You should really check out the Jal site, if you haven’t already.
His FAQ, guide, and example programs are fantastic.
Second, get a copy of MPLAB from Microchip’s website, it’s an IDE and simulator for PICs - lets you test things out on the PC before hacking up the hardware.
well after reading the entire topic it seems like it acutally came to a dead end. i havent seena lot of the users that were posting back then i wonder if they lost interst. Right now i am going on a hunt to find out why the nova dreamer was discontinued, maybe its the same reason that this mask didnt work. Comments?
That’s an interesting thought. But didn’t a bunch of people
report that it worked for them? And there were some people
here that claimed that it worked for them…or not? I’m going to re-read the entire thread again…but still, when I tried to buy a novadreamer off eBay, the few that were on there were still in such high demand that I couldn’t get one because the final price was ridiculously high, in 3 figures. And so that is why I have decided to attempt building my own. But again it would be interesting to see what your findings are.
By the way, i couldn’t get the S4810 optosensor cause the company’s minimum order is 50 so I decided to go for the Sharp. All parts should be here by next week, my only dilema is keeping the battery small but supplying enough power and I’m thinking of using something smaller than AAA, perhaps a 1/2AA.
Lithium AAAs are THE ideal power source. They’re expensive but extremely lightweight (7.5 grams each vs. 12 for alkaline), last a long time, and most importantly their voltage doesn’t droop much until they’re exhausted. Alkaline batteries start out over 1.5 volts, but their voltage drops steadily as the battery is used up, and this affects the sensor calibration.
The 16F84A is specified to run between 4-5.5 volts, though you can push it like the Kvasar does and run it at 3. Its low-voltage counterpart (16LF84A) can run on 2 volts, though at reduced frequency (max 4 mhz). One battery at 1.5 volts won’t work, you need at least two and ideally three. There’s no need to run faster than 4 mhz, unless you have a scrolling LED sign in there
The NovaDreamer uses a 16LC58B-04/P (link) at 4 mhz and runs on two AAAs. The Kvasar uses a 16F84 (link) at 4 mhz and runs on two AAAs. The 16LC58B draws about 0.5 mA; the 16F84 draws about 2 mA. The biggest current hog in the device is probably the IR LED.
If you absolutely can’t stand AAA batteries on your face, you could power it off a lithium button cell (CR2032 - the size of a quarter, weighs 3 grams) but as they only store 220-240 mAh you’ll be changing batteries frequently.
Actually, a lithium button cell is a pretty good idea and I think that whatever batteries are used, they should be rechargeable anyway. But I think the 1/2AA is 3.something volts.
I’m seriously thinking about using a button cell now, maybe in parallel to provide more cuttent. The only issue is finding a practical method of changing them, in other words, the battery clip or holder has to be simple and easy to handle.
Or better yet, I might just design it to stay in the device and have a connector on the mask to accept a wall wart charger.
I will experiment to see which is the best.
If I remember correctly, I did order the low-voltage version of
the microchip but I’m not sure, the specs did say 2 volts if I recall correctly.
How did you find out what chip the Novadreamer uses? In all the pictures I haven’t even seen a microprocessor, only an 8 pin chip.