Climbing Wall - Interactive & Programmable

It's been a while since I last posted, but finally my latest and so far biggest project is ready to be shared. I proudly present an interactive programmable traversing climbing wall. The wall is a total of 10 meters (32 feet) long and about 2.5 meters (8 feet) high. It has overhanging sections, individually controllable LEDs that are used for route control, an arduino due microprocessor to change routes and play games, and many homemade climbing holds. You can see the consecutive build process, which sometimes feels like 2 steps forward, one step back, in the video. Way more details are given in the steps of the instructable.

The idea to build a regular climbing wall in our basement quickly developed into an LED controlled system to increase the variety of routes that can be climbed and allow interactive controls. At this time (yes, years ago) commercial LED climbing wall systems such as the Kilter Board or the Digital Training Boards didn't exist yet. The designing and building was a wild ride which required countless details to be dealt with. I took things step by step, learned many things, saw my kids grow up, had great reasons to buy more tools and eventually finished.

My favorite climbing games on the wall are "Hot Lava" and "Chase the Blues". In "Hot Lava" you add more forbidden holds and feet after each climbing pass until you can't climb across anymore and fall off into your doom. In "Chase the Blues" you climb towards a single hold, when you reach it your friends press a remote control button and the hold jumps to another location. You keep going to raise the high score, but often enough your forearms will betray you and you fall off.

You can find demo videos of a number of games in Step 1.

I hope this sparks your interest and am looking forward to your comments.

Tschöhö

Superbender

This was a project with many individual steps that required different supplies and tools in each step. I am listing materials and tools at the beginning of every individual step.

The first step shows some videos of how the finished climbing wall can be used. Steps 2-5 are summaries of the planning and design of the wall, the art work, and the electronics. Steps 6 - 29 describe the actual build of the wall and the last Step 30 shows a few glamour shots.

Before we dive into the detailed build process I am showing off a few videos of the climbing games that I have invented and programmed so far. The first video cycles through the control menu, the other videos show the games listed below. Unfortunately the videos don't show the colors of the LEDs very well. They are strong and clear in real life. A couple of the videos are taken in the dark to make the LEDs more visible to the camera.

Game videos:

1. Hot Lava: The old classic from every living room has reached the climbing world. This is a multi-player game. Starting with no holds illuminated, the players climb across the wall. The last player presses a ceiling or wall button. A percentage, e.g. 5%, of hand / foot holds lights up in red. Those are hot lava and are not allowed to be used. The players work their way back avoiding those holds. One of the buttons is pressed again and more hot lava holds are added. Climbing becomes harder and harder. If you touch or step on a hot lava hold you are not allowed to use that limb for the rest of the passage. If you fall off, you burn to ashes. The number of passes is logged and the high score is tracked.
2. Chase the Blues: Endurance game where the climber chases a single blue hold across the wall until he can't stay on anymore. The climber, who can use any hand or foot hold, gets one point for every blue hold he reaches before he eventually falls off. The climbing partner has a remote which is pressed to select the next random hold. The eternal high score as well as the high score of the climbing session is tracked.
3. Regular Route Climbing: In the most basic version a selected percentage, e.g. 25%, of hand holds is illuminated and the climbers are allowed to only use these holds. All feet are on. When the end of the wall is reached the routes can be reset by pressing the wall or ceiling button. Stay on and continue, or take a break and wait for your friends to make their pass. The button clicks are tracked for the session and the high score is recorded. Variations of the game exist that also indicate what feet shall be used.
4. Route Climbing with Clipping: Similar than regular route climbing, but a percentage of the installed bolts are lit up in a different color than the hands. The climber wears a harness carrying quick draws and a short rope tied to it. The climber needs to clip each illuminated bolt. Safety first. The rope simply slides out of the quick draw as the climber moves on. One variation of the game indicates what feet shall be used, another variation indicates what hand hold is required to be used when clipping.

There are endless possibilities. Leave your ideas in the comments. I am excited to see what you come up with.

This step describes the design development and planning of the physical climbing wall, including support structure, panels, and hole distances.

Tools & Materials

1. Computer with Internet
2. 3D CAD design software => Solid Works or similar
3. Brain
4. Measurement tape
5. Pen & Paper

Planning Support frame and panels

The actual planning process is a living thing. My plans changed as ideas evolved. Unexpected challenges were encountered and plans needed to adapt. For example, I started to plan for individual overhang sections that had 90 degree sides. After a while of seeing the initial designs in the computer those started to feel clumsy. I then change the design into the transition triangle shaped sides of the single overhang section that is in my current design. Those looked much better, but it was pretty obvious that the new design required much more complicated woodworking. I didn't regret going that route, but the angles were challenging. Keep your mind open and experiment.

Information collection for planning:

1. Transfer the information you collect into your computer model to create the space the climbing wall is being built into.
2. Measure out the walls and ceiling height of the location for your wall as accurately as possible and record them.
3. Identify if you have joists and in which directions they run.
4. I was building the wall in my basement and the joist in the ceiling were useful to mount the overhangs and the ceiling section.
5. The drop ceiling was covering the floor joists of the first floor and removing the ceiling panels told me how high my wall could be.
6. I decided to include a 4' (120 cm) roof section in the climbing wall that essentially is fastened to the ceiling joists.
7. Identify where the house services are, specifically electrical, heating ducts, and gas lines that could be in the way. Integrate this work in your planning.
8. I found a gas line above the drop ceiling as soon as I had ripped out the dry walls. Surprise!! It ran straight through the section of the climbing wall roof and wall. Not very encouraging to run into this hurdle. We ended up rerouting the gas line, which added cost and time.
9. We also had to reroute some electrical wires. This was expected and is described further down.
10. Before you make any plans, read the resources that are online.
11. Doing research and reviewing what others have done was very helpful to me. A shout out to all those folks who take the time and share information on the interwebs. You guys are awesome. Keep going.
12. Plenty of information is available that can help with the planning process. Here are some links and link collections that I have found and which helped me thinking this through:
13. Atomik climbing holds site
14. REI
15. Climbing Wall Design
16. How to build a climbing wall
17. Instructables climbing wall 1
18. Instructables climbing wall 2
19. Instructables climbing wall 3
20. website on deck construction with 2" x 6" boards
21. Identify spots that need special attention for your design. In my case those were:
22. Outlets
23. I made the decision to keep all the existing outlets accessible in the climbing wall area. Keeping them maintained the bedroom status of my basement room with regards to building code.
24. Check if outlets are GFCI protected. If not plan to convert them.
25. I decided to make removable covers for the outlets to keep climbers safe and outlets functional.
26. Entry way to crawl space
27. I had to maintain access to my crawl space and came up with a crawl through solution
28. Heating ducts
29. I discovered some pinched flexible ducts running across joints behind the drop ceiling
30. I improved the ducting using the climbing wall overhang as an opportunity to create the required space at the ceiling for it
31. Ceiling lights
32. I reviewed how the neon lighting fixtures and its cables were run
33. Dimmable LED lights seemed to provide a much better lighting solution for my basement
34. I ended up improving the lighting of the entire basement, which required a number of additional steps. I am not discussing the lighting work here, but stay focused on the climbing wall.
35. Gas line
36. I found a big bad ugly surprise. Under the drop ceiling ran a gas line across the envisioned climbing wall space straight into my crawl space. That caused the project to a halt for a while to figure out what to do.
37. I ended up having a pro reroute the gasline and at the same time get the house back to code (which it wasn't). Another thing that I have not documented, again staying focused on the climbing wall instead.
38. Transition areas of overhangs
39. As mentioned above, using transitioning areas between overhangs and wall sections was a second thought after the first CAD models were done.
40. The new version looked much more professional.
41. Lesson learned: Think big. Takes extra time & effort, but it is nice to look at the final result and like every bit of it.
42. Decide on typical 2x4 and 2x6 support distances that work with 4' x 8' plywood panels and with typical joist distances.
43. Supports in x-direction every 16 inches (40 cm)
44. This was an easy decision
45. First I reviewed the links above and watched some YouTube videos as well.
46. Then I made the decision to use the same spacing than the framing width
47. This fits nicely to the 4' x 8'plywood panel size
48. 3x 16" = 48" = 4' = width of panel
49. Panels typically reach from middle of one stud to the middle of the stud that is 3 studs over
50. Supports in y-direction every ≤ 32 inches (80 cm)
51. I came up with this dimension by gut feeling
52. It needed to provide stability to the base frame
53. This dimension is probably most important for the overhang sections
54. Distance of cross supports at ceiling every 12 inches (30 cm)
55. Again I decided this by gut feeling
56. It places the cross supports closer to each other than those of the walls to create more contact points and increase the load bearing
57. In tests I confirmed that each cross support was strong enough to carry my weight (~75 kg)
58. Decide on typical climbing holds hole distances (see image)
59. The repeat units need to work with the frame distances
60. x-direction hold distance: 8 inches (20 cm)
61. y-direction hold distance: 14-16 inches (35 - 40 cm)
62. Each column is shifted by 8 inches with regards to the next column
63. Every hold has a directly associated LED
64. y-direction offset LED to hold: 4 inches (10 cm)
65. according to the Pythagorean theorem the length between LEDs is then about 9 inches (leg a = 8 inches, leg b = 4 inches).
66. Based on this calculation I chose the length of cables between LEDs to be 12 inches (30 cm)
67. Note that a special order was needed for LED strings with 12 inch cable length.
68. Also note that I eventually learned in a gym that it is impossible to see a lit up LED that is flush with the panel surface when it is below a hold and you are looking from top down. To solve this problem I decided to associate several LEDs with each hold. In other words, my programming solution will light up not only the LEDs below the hold, but those that are around the hold as well for better visibility. See programming step.
69. Think about the type of overhangs you prefer:
70. My wall was meant to be an endurance wall. I decided to make the overhangs not too steep.
71. Very steep overhangs make it difficult to use the room for anything else but climbing wall.
72. Overhang 1: 13 degree, 32 inches (80 cm) wide
73. Overhang 2: 17 degree, 48 inches (120 cm) wide
74. The steepness of the overhangs drains my forearm very well. Those choices work well for me.
75. The transition sections between the overhangs are made by 2x triangles each
76. Think through how you fasten things to the wall and to each other
77. Due to building code the climbing wall needed to be floating. This means the frames can't be fastened to the floor, but need to be fastened to the wall or ceiling only.
78. Regular walls:
79. Fastened brackets with anchors in the concrete wall.
80. Overhead sections:
81. Top: Align boards with the ceiling joists and bolt them to it.
82. Bottom:
83. Fasten 2" x 6" baseboard to wall with anchors
84. Nail support beams to baseboards
85. Frame work
86. Create an interconnected skeleton that supports neighboring sections
87. 2"x4" & 2"x6" skeleton and panels (in a CAD program or on paper)
88. The images show my Solid Work model.
89. Creating this model took a significant amount of time but it allowed me to work through many details before I entered the build process.
90. I consider making a CAD model for the planning and visualization highly beneficial and strongly advise to create one.
91. People have also used cardboard models at scale and card board at full size to figure out what works for their wall. Check the links above. This also seems useful.
92. Again, for me the CAD drawings were extremely helpful to size all of the parts and work through challenges.
93. Expect that you have to change some design details when building
94. The CAD model never perfectly fits reality. Walls, corners and ceilings in houses are just not square. (I am a millimeter type guy. At times my OCD was highly offended. Big learning for me to go with the flow of things. I obviously couldn't make my house more square than it already is. Very annoying.)
95. Building the CAD model was very useful, but lots of measuring and adjusting is still necessary when building.

Tools & Materials

1. Computer
2. 3D CAD design software => Solid Works or similar
3. Printer & paper
4. Artist
5. Coloring pens, pencils, crayons or similar.

Mural planning:

1. My wife is an artist and pretty much every surface in our house is either painted or covered in paintings and other art. The climbing wall was a great opportunity for another mural. We chose a desert scenery and stuck to the following guide lines:
2. Use clear lines
3. Use only a few non-mixed colors. This will allow for easy repairs if ever needed.
4. We have 5 colors, which includes the sky.
5. The images show our draft. We printed out the solid works model of the walls and colored right on them until we had something that looked promising
6. We were unsure how placing climbing holds on the panels would impact the visibility of the mural. It didn't and we love the very pleasing look of the finalized wall.

The first image shows the electronic schematic of the entire build. It contains a section that provides the power, a section that provides safety & protection, and a section that provides the inputs and controls for the LEDs. The image is rather large and difficult to see. Ideally you download it and look at it on your computer. For convenience I took screen shots of the individual sections and show them here to discuss each detailed view.

Tools & Materials

1. Computer with Internet
2. Power point type program => Open Office

Power Section

Power to the LED String

The power section of the electronics consists of a lighted on/off toggle switch, four home build fuse holders with LED indicators to identify broken fuses, three 12V / 60W class 2 power supplies to power the LED strips and one gutted and connected 9V wall wart to power the Arduino Due.

1. The power section was physically separated from the electronics section to limit shocking hazards following best practice.
2. Each power supply is individually fused.
3. The fuses have indicator lights that light up when broken to simplify trouble shooting. (See description in images)
4. A lighted power switch was chosen to ease trouble shooting.
5. The main power line is protected by a GFCI device that is further upstream. (It is in line with the outlets that run behind the climbing wall.)

When 1000 LEDs are connected the basic load is about 1.5-2A on the power supply

1. 2 power supplies 12V/60W (class 2) will be sufficient to power the climbing wall because only a few LEDs are switched on at a time
2. I used three power supplies to have a little more bandwidth and be able to use the wall for disco lights and other fun things
3. Use real class II supplies
4. 12V/5A = 60W max power
5. Avoid all LED to be lit at full power at the same time. This will exceed the power supply limits.
6. Each panel with 4'x8' requires 1.5 LED strips
7. 60 mA per LED when full blast = 1 white LED with 3 colors on = each color draws 20 mA / LED
8. Note that I am avoiding to use the white color in my programs. This saves current draw and allows more LEDs to be lit.
9. Also note that when running the wall, the "full blast" intensity was too much and not pleasing to the eye. I tuned down the light intensity (see programming section) to make it more pleasant, but keeping it strong enough for good visibility. This conveniently reduced the current draw of each LED. 15% intensity worked well for my wall.
10. 4.5 A total current for 75 LEDs + strip works fine with 10V as well, tested on bench

=> when programming the wall, the total current draw needs to be considered so that the power supplies are not overloaded

1. Individual fuses protect each power supplies
2. 1.5 A inlet protection
3. 5 A outlet protection for 12V / 60 W power supplies
4. Individual 'power on" indicator LEDs for each power supply

Power to the Button LEDs

The LEDs in the buttons that give climber input while climbing, came with resistors connected inline with the LEDs. I tested the LEDs and they required 2 and 3 Volts to operate at 20 mA. Note that the button is specced for 12V operation. The excess voltage, i.e. 10 and 9 Volts, that is not needed to operate the LED will be present at the resistor. With a resistor value of 460 Ohm and a current of 20 mA, the power that is converted into heat in the resistor is according to Ohm’s Law:

P = I²*R = (0.02A)² * 460 Ohm = 184 mW.

Given that I am using 8 of these buttons, we are turning about 1.5 W into entropy. That is a lot of heat. Furthermore, if I hook up every button LED individually I’d be drawing 160 mA of current from my power supply at all times.

To improve on this situation I used small LED drivers that are essentially 20 mA constant current sources. These allow me to run sets of 4 LEDs in series instead of all LEDs individually.

All I had to do was make a little board from components that I had laying around. Considering I was using parts I had paid for at one point, I am not saving any money, but I am saving important slots on my fuse board to tie in climbing panels.

Safety & Protection Section

1. Individual fuses protect each set of LED power cables
2. 4 A inlet protection
3. Individual "power on" indicator LEDs for each set of LED power cables should simplify troubleshooting
4. Some additional fuses are available for future additions

Arduino Due + Inputs & Controls

1. Arduino Due
2. An Arduino Uno does not have enough memory to drive a really long LED string. For the strip to function the arduino needs to use a small amount of memory for each LED that is on the strip. After ~600 LEDs the arduino has no memory left for any program and the whole thing doesn't work any more. Surprise!
3. I switched to an Arduino Due, which offers significantly more memory and can handle more LEDs. But it also operates only with 3.3 V signals, so a voltage level switch board was required to make the Arduino Due work with the LED strip and with the Arduino Nano that I used for the sound effects.
4. 1000 uF flux capacitors are absolutely essential to clean up the 12V power source and allow the Data communication to work
5. Data cable
6. The Length of the signal cable to the first LED is critical. From there on the signal is boosted at each driver chip, i.e. each LED, but the distance between LEDs still has to be kept small, i.e. don't go much beyond 12".
7. The data signal must therefore be routed directly from one LED string to the next. In other words, the data line needs to be daisy chained from LED string to LED string, while the power needs to be brought in at certain intervals to ensure the voltage is sufficiently close to 12V.
8. The data signal is passed through the LED string in a specific direction. Pay attention when you manually shorten or lengthen the strip. Once the standard connectors are removed it is easy to mix up the direction and everything stops working. Trust me, you can save a lot of rework and frustration here by simply paying attention at the right moment.
9. Inputs
10. At Arduino: 4 buttons + 1 reset button will be used to navigate the user menu
11. "Up" / "Down" to navigate program (yellow)
12. "Select" to pick and start game or functionality (green)
13. "Abort" to stop game and go back to selection process (red)
14. "Restart" button for Arduino (black)
15. On Wall: 4 buttons to tell program that you have completed a climbing pass and request a new climbing route
16. Outputs
17. Color information to specific LEDs to light up
18. Display information for game control and program selection
19. Sound request for games, which are fulfilled by arduino nano + amplifier + speaker

In this step I discuss the planning for the LED wiring considering both the panel layout as well as the power distribution along the long LED string. I will address details of the electronics in step 3.

Tools & Materials

1. Computer with Internet
2. 3D CAD design software => Solid Works or similar
3. Power point type program => Open Office
4. Printer & paper

Labeling

1. Label the drawings
2. Label the cables in real life
3. Note that the LED strips are directional. Data has to run in a specific direction through the LED strip. Labeling significantly helped avoiding to mix up things.

LEDs

1. Ensure you understand the specs of the individually addressable LEDs you intend to use. Review the data sheets and do your research in the internet. There are many LED strings out there and they are all a little bit different.
2. You need LEDs that are on a cable string, i.e. not a strip.
3. LED chain specifics of the string that I used:
4. Individually addressable LED with Driver Chip WD2812
5. 12 V supply power
6. 5V Data line
7. 12" cables between LEDs (special ordered from an Alibaba site)
8. Note that the LEDs I used are now outdated or obsolete. I couldn't find it as a LED string when finally writing this instructable (after like 6 years of building). Most of the knowledge can be applied to other LED strings, but be aware of the differences.
9. The LED chain has 3 wires
10. Red/blue are 12 V power
11. White is the 5V data signal string
12. A similar LED chain to the one that I used is described here
13. Note that this has only 4" between LEDs and you'd need 12"
14. Make sure you do your research, all the chains may slightly differ
15. Many LED chains are now "strips" which can not be used for a climbing wall build, you need cables between LEDs to make this work
16. Here are some tips about WD2812 driver chips and their use in Adafruit's neopixels. This and similar info helped me to design my system.

Power

1. 12 V power distribution plan (see images)
2. My wall required ~800 LEDs and the LED string is made with relatively thin 22 American Wire Gauge (AWG). The ohmic losses through these wires are too high to power all the LEDs from one end of the strip.
3. The 12 V power needs to be connected to various locations along the LED string. The LED strips have extra wires for such power connections at either end of the string.
4. I used 12 AWG wire for all 12V power transmission after calculating ohmic drops. I also made sure the fill factor of the conduit at full lighting output (which won't ever be used) meets codes and standards.
5. I provided power with the thicker cables to 4 pull boxes, i.e. power distribution points, placed along my 32 foot (10 m) long wall. Note that neither the boxes, nor the conduit that I used, were required by code. I wanted to package things such that the probability for squeezing wires was minimized.
6. In the image that shows the panel numbers, the approximate pull box locations are indicated by red letters. The panel are numbered using the syntax "Letter.Number". The letter is the pull box that feeds power to that panel, the number is the running panel count.
7. Route 12 V power to the pull boxes that are fastened along the wall. From there connect power to the LED chain.
8. I used three 12V / 60W class 2 power supplies. Class 2 was required by code.
9. Strategically decide on pull box locations based on the amount of LEDs on each panel. Typically, I kept LED strings below 90 LEDs, and longer strings were always powered from both sides of the string to ensure the power that could be delivered to each LED of the string is close to 12 V even when a higher total current is drawn.
10. At each location where power is supplied to a string, a capacitor is used to clean up the power. I used 1000 uF electrolyte capacitors as recommended by this Adafruit tutorial for a similar LED strip. My benchtop tests showed that this is necessary for the communication to the LEDs to work.
11. Pull Box A
12. 221 LEDs total
13. 7 panels
14. 3x 12V power cables split to two power cable sets each
15. LED strip length was 70-80ish LEDs for each of the 3x cable sets
16. All power cables to Pull Boxes B, C, & D pass through Pull Box A
17. Cables for interactive North Wall Buttons & their LEDs pass through Pull Box A
18. Pull Box B
19. 188 LEDs total
20. 7 panels
21. 3x 12V power cable used for B-Panels
22. Panel B7 is backfed from panel B8
23. 2x power cables split to two power cable sets
24. Longest LED strip length was 90 LEDs for B8 to B7 strip combo
25. All power cables to Pull Boxes C, & D pass through Pull Box B
26. Cables for interactive North Wall Buttons & their LEDs pass through Pull Box B
27. Pull Box C
28. 184 LEDs total
29. 9 panels
30. 3x 12V power cables used for C-Panels
31. 2x power cables split to two power cable sets
32. Longest LED strip length was 116 LEDs with power supplied from In & Out
33. All power cables to Pull Boxes D pass through Pull Box C
34. Cables for interactive North Wall Buttons & their LEDs pass through Pull Box C
35. Pull Box D
36. 214 LEDs total
37. 4 panels
38. 3x 12V power cables used for D-Panels
39. 2x power cables split to two power cable sets
40. Longest LED strip length was 72 LEDs with power supplied from In & Out
41. Cables for interactive North Wall Buttons & their LEDs pass through Pull Box D

LED Related Thoughts

1. The order to install the LEDs was as follows:
2. Test LEDs on wall
3. Fasten LEDs to finished panel
4. Bring panel close to wall / ceiling
5. Connect LEDs to power and data cable in & out
6. Test LEDs again
7. Fasten panel with screws
8. Test LEDs again
9. Other strategies I used:
10. Fasten LEDs into holes with some silicone so that they can't be pushed in hole. (Yeah I was majorly worried about that random little 3-year old visitor pushing LEDs into holes with some little tiny fingers. Better to prevent that right from the start.)
11. Fasten LED wires with tape to back side of panel to avoid any movement and unexpected pinch points during panel and hold installs

Resulting LED Related Design Rules

1. All these thoughts resulted in a number of "rules" with regards to routing the LEDs:
2. Whenever possible keep a single LED string on each panel
3. Keep inlet and outlet as close to a Pull Box as possible.
4. Power cables:
5. Keep short
6. Keep away from the climbing holds whose bolts could cause shorts
7. Where LED cables cross the wood structure, a recessed channel needs to be cut into 2x4 / 2x6 to avoid pinching the cable:
8. Minimize crossing the wood structure.
9. Provide connection points through the wood structure for passing the data cable from one panel to the next.
10. The 12" cable length that I selected caused other rules
11. Distance from LED to LED needs to be within 10"
12. The extra 2" are needed to ensure we can fasten the LED cable to the panel back to avoid it shifting around and to allow it to run in channels when crossing the support skeleton without getting squeezed

It was an interesting puzzle to solve. The results that I came up with can be viewed in the pictures. The routing of the LED string required some creativity, but once I had a rhythm it all went down smoothly.

Make sure you keep records of the LED routing. You'll need that information during the building phase.

And again label everything. My build took 6 years and the labeling on the plans, on the cables and on the connectors helped me tremendously.

In this step we start the building process. Since we started with a finished basement, starting meant to take the drywall down, which implied that we were committed and there was no turning back. Think this through and be sure you want to do this. I didn't know what I was getting into. (Last warning.)

Tools & Materials

Personal Protection Equipment

1. Noise protection
2. Eye protection
3. Dust protection
4. Construction Foam

Tools

1. Voltmeter or outlet tester
2. Carpet knife
3. Carpenter hammer
4. Grinder
5. Extension cord
6. Foot switch
7. Tarps & drop cloth
8. Tape
9. Plastic bags
10. Vacuum

Deconstruction Phase

1. Remove everything that limits access to the wall section.
2. Mark the position of the climbing wall on the drywall.
3. Move in about 1-1.5 feet (30-50cm) and mark the lines for a rough cut.
4. Remove the ceiling panels to see top of the dry wall.
5. Lay out drop cloth or tarp to protect the carpet.
6. Identify all outlets in the climbing wall area.
7. Check that outlets are powered with a voltmeter or an outlet tester.
8. Cut power to the outlets using the breaker panel of your house.
9. Confirm that outlets are not powered any more
10. Cut into the dry wall to prevent any cracks from spreading into areas that won't be torn down.
11. Rip out the dry wall and the dry wall supports.
12. Pay attention to all areas that have or are above outlets. Don't use cutting tools in these areas. Be very careful not to injure any wires that run behind the dry wall.
13. Throw away all the debris and clean up. I don't know anymore how often I vacuumed that room because of this project. Get used to it and use a good vacuum.
14. There were plenty of framing nails / wires sticking out of the wall that could interfere with the wooden support structure for the wall, as well as any cables for the LEDs or the outlets. These needed to be grinded flush.
15. Package the outlets in plastic bags to protect them from debris
16. Layout tarps and hang drop cloth to minimize debris flying all over the room.
17. Run an extension cord from an outlet outside the area
18. Find a shallow card board box that can be used to catch debris.
19. PPE up and cut the nails off with a grinder flush at the wall.
20. Ensure you didn't miss any.
21. Fill all the gaps with construction foam
22. Any holes where gas lines were taken down
23. Gaps between floor and walls
24. Gaps between top of wall and ceiling section

In this step we start building the wooden support structure. I started with my North Wall, the shorter wall section that doesn't have an overhang. The idea was to start easy, develop some methods and get some routine going before moving to the hard parts. Plenty of things to figure out.

Tools & Materials

Materials

1. Lots of 2x4 long and really long
2. Conduit
3. Nail gun nails 2" & 2.5" long
4. Anchor and fastening screws for concrete
5. T-nuts for 3/8-16 screws
6. Angle brackets
7. Fastening Screws & fitting washers

Tools

1. Nail gun
2. Compressor
3. Chop saw (ideally one that allows bevel cuts)
4. Wood clamps of various sizes
5. Straight edge with and without 90 degree angle
6. Combination square
7. Measuring tape
8. Hammer & Mallet
9. Tube cutter
10. Deburring tool
11. Carpet Knife
12. Chisel
13. Circular Saw
14. Hammer drill
15. Forstner drill bits
16. Sharpie and pencils
17. Router + routing bits
18. Drill bits

Building the Support Frame

1. Make a list of wood materials & lengths needed
2. Get all the wood materials from a home department store (Home Depot, Lowes) or a specialist like Front Range Lumber. Make sure you have only straight pieces.
3. Cut them to size as needed using a chop saw
4. Drill holes for the conduit where needed
5. Lay the materials out on the floor
6. Make sure it all fits according to the plan
7. Make sure you can actually assembly them in the way this was planned (studs need to be offset from each other to allow putting the nails in.)
8. Mark all the parts with part numbers and where they need to be attached
9. Using a wooden board and some 2x4 leftover make a 90 degree nailing jig
10. The jig (check the pictures) helped a lot to get the studs attached in 90 degree angles
11. Note that I also used my carpenter squares to ensure that long pieces ran in a 90 degree angle
12. I assemble each vertical stud with a set of horizontal studs first. Then I elevated (on leftover 3/4 scrap boards) and aligned one part assembly at a time and attached it to create the frame.
13. Note that you need to remember to slide in the conduit if you have any running through the frame. Otherwise you won't be able to do so anymore.
14. Due to my crooked wall I needed to saw off an inch or so off the end to make the frame fit into its assigned space. I elevated the entire frame to be able to do this with my circular saw. Lifting the outlet out of the way with a wood working clamp helped to move the frame into place.
15. The frame fit, but it was sitting partially on the carpet and partially not. Using the carpet knife I first trimmed the carpet, then used the chisel to trim the carpet nail board in the few sections where that was needed. The frame had no conflict with the carpet anymore afterwards.
16. Once it was in it's final position I clamped it into place. Then I marked the locations of 90 degree angle brackets with a sharpie on the wall and the wood. The idea was to attach the bracket first at the wall, then attach it to the frame.
17. I almost forgot to drill the holes and attach the T-nuts needed for the extra crawl space "door". Phew. Close call. For these T-Nuts I made myself a primitive drill jig, to be able to drill long orthogonal holes. Any angles may prevent a good alignment with the "crawl space panel door" that needed to be made at a later time.
18. Knowing the location of the frame at the wall allowed me to identify where I needed to cut channels into the back of the support frame that allowed the outlet power cables to run from the ceiling down to the outlet location. I marked these locations and cut the channels with a router bit into the back of the frame.
19. I also added a short 90 degree wooden frame section that created the connection between the North Wall and the East Wall, i.e. across the corner of the wall.
20. Prior to attaching the frame to the wall, I attached the fasteners to the wall.
21. Drill hole of correct depth. Have somebody support you with a vacuum while you are drilling.
22. Remove all dust from hole, and confirm the depth is correct.
23. With the mallet and or a piece of wood, move the anchor into the hole.
24. Use a hammer and the setting tool, to drive the core into the fastener. This spreads the end of the fastener and attaches it for good to the wall.
25. With some help move the frame structure into the right location as the clearance to the ceiling was rather small.
26. Attach the brackets to the wall and the frame.
27. Slide the bracket along the long hole so that it is flush with both wood and concrete.
28. Use a wrench to tighten it to the concrete first.
29. Mark the screw locations in the wood and predrill with a bit that matches to core diameter of the fastening screws.
30. Attach the screws.
31. The frame is now properly fastened to the concrete wall. Note that it shouldn't be fastened to the floor. According to code the frame is supposed to be floating with regards to the floor.
32. Test the stability of the frame with the whole family.
33. This is the first milestone. Congratulations.

Parallel to building the second support frame and prior to installing it, I needed to figure out where the electrical box would go that contained the brains and that powered the LEDs. This step describes the assembly, mounting and populating of the box with all the electronics, the electrical power supplies and the fuse assemblies.

Tools & Materials

Materials

1. Piece of Wood
2. Concrete anchors
3. Washers
4. Screws
5. Electrical Boxes
6. 9V Wallwart
7. 12V / 60W class 2 power supplies
8. Fuse board (built in step XX)
9. Arduino Due board
10. 12 AWG cables
11. Power Switch
12. Zip ties
13. Superglue

Tools

1. Voltmeter with cables
2. Electrical Pliers
3. Screw drivers
4. Hammer
5. Chisel
6. Drillpress
7. Hammer Drill
8. Centre punch
9. Pencil
10. Combination Square
11. Pipe Wrench
12. Scissors
13. Deburring tool
14. Dremel with cutting disk

Installing the Control & Power Supply Box

1. Identify and purchase electrical boxes that can hold all the power and the electronics for your climbing wall
2. I ended up buying 2 electrical boxes that I planned to combine lengthwise on top of each other.
3. Those boxes were somewhat cost efficient, had a good depth and fit all the electronics.
4. Measure out the end of the climbing wall. For me this was determined by the corner piece on the other end of the East Wall, the location of the last ceiling joist and some practical "How far do my 8'x4' panels reach" considerations.
5. Mark the end of the climbing wall from floor to ceiling.
6. Remove the wooden base board section up to the end of the climbing wall with chisels and/or other tools.
7. Cut the dry wall ceiling support to size.
8. Plan the layout within the electrical boxes
9. Lay the parts into the boxes and move them around until they fit.
10. Plan the cable routing.
11. Combine the two electrical boxes
12. Punch the opposing tabs out where you planned to run the cable from one box to the other.
13. Mark the locations for the screws to fasten the boxes to each other with a pencil or marker.
14. Punch dimples with the center punch at these locations and drill them out with a drill or drill press to match the screw size that you chose.
15. Deburr the holes.
16. Place the electrical boxes on top of each other and screw them together with screws, lock washers and nuts. If you have lips or protruding material, then use some washers to offset the boxes the required distance.
17. Place a material in the holes between the boxes to ensure no sharp edges can injure cables running from one box to the other
18. Populate the boxes with the equipment and initial cabling following best practice
19. Place the equipment in the box
20. 120V AC powered equipment in one box
21. Low Voltage DC powered parts in the other box
22. Separating the 120V AC power from the low voltage DC parts dramatically improves safety.
23. Mark the locations were the holes for fastening screws are required, first with a pencil, then with a center punch.
24. Measure out the ideal screw sizes, pick respective drill sizes and drill all the holes (for wall wart, power supplies, fuse boards, and Arduino Due
25. Prepare all the parts as needed and fasten them to the electrical box
26. The wall wart had a separate mounting hole drilled in the "top" of the housing so that it could be fastened
27. Dremel the wall wart open.
28. Slide out the electronics
29. Remove prongs and attach new cables to connect the device to the 120V AC fuse
30. Drill a hole and create a stand off for the housing part of the wall wart.
31. Fasten it with a screw and a thread locker to prevent it from coming lose.
32. Cover the screw with electrical tape to avoid shorts.
33. Put the electronics back in and route the cable
34. Fasten the three power supplies with screws and nuts
35. Fasten the home made fuse holders
36. Fasten the Arduino Due
37. Cable up the box between the power section and the low voltage section
38. Mark the location of the box on the dry wall
39. Cut out the dry wall with a carpet knife and rulers
40. Take your time for this, you like to create crisp edges
41. Place the double box on the wall and mark the locations on the wall.
42. Place the double box also on a piece of wood.
43. Mark the locations of the fastening holes of the boxes.
44. Using a drill bit of the exact size of the concrete anchor, drill through the wood with a drill press.
45. Carefully place the wood on the wall with the help of the doubled up electrical box on top.
46. Ask for a second pair of hands here to align the electrical box with the cutout and with the holes in the wood.
47. Remove the box without changing the position of the wood on the wall.
48. Drill the first hole and carefully prevent the drill to "walk" away from the intended location.
49. Install a fastener at this location and screw the board onto the wall.
50. Use the electrical boxes again if needed for alignment.
51. Now drill through the remaining three holes that are already in the wood into the concrete wall. The holes now should not be able to "walk" anymore because they are held in place by the wood.
52. Remove the wooden board.
53. Attach the remaining three fasteners in the wall.
54. Install strain relief on top of box for 120V AC cable entry.
55. Put paper into the box to cover all the electronics, then spray paint the box in the color of the wall.
56. Use superglue where needed to offset the box from the wall a little so that the screws holding the electrical parts do not touch the wall and create any wobbling.
57. Break out the tab where the power cables are supposed to exit the box and enter the conduit.
58. Drill a hole where the data cable is supposed to exit the low voltage box.
59. Drill a hole into the top box cover for the power switch.
60. Measure size of button switch.
61. Mark location first with pencil, then with center punch.
62. Drill the hole with for example a step drill to the right size.
63. Attach the box to the fasteners.
64. Bring 120V AC power to the electrical boxes
65. Only conduct this step yourself if you have proper electrical training and you know what you are doing. If in any doubt, consult a professional. You are responsible for your own actions.
66. I had a 120V AC power cable running along the ceiling. This cable powered the outlets that were positioned along the East Wall of my basement.
67. Measure that outlets are powered with Voltmeter.
68. Switch off power at breaker.
69. Confirm with Voltmeter that outlet is not powered any more.
70. Confirm that Voltmeter is still working properly at a different, still powered outlet in the house.
71. If all is proper, open outlet, remove cable and reroute it to the box.
72. Run new cable from outlet to box. You added one more daisy chain step to power the box.
73. Connect cable at outlet
74. Connect cables together in box and hook up power to 120V AC fuses in box.
75. Review all your connections.
76. Switch on power and measure if all the expected voltages are present. (If not troubleshoot and fix it.)

In this step we are building the wooden support structure that sits flat on the second wall. I used exactly the same methods than those described in step 6. Here I am pointing out some small differences that came up on this side of the wall.

Tools & Materials

Materials

1. Same than step 7

Tools

1. Same than step 7

Building the Support Frame

1. The flat wall part had two triangle sections where the transitions to the overhangs begin. The distances between frame pieces had to be spot on and the top of the frame had to be cut at an exact angle to make this work.
2. There were a total of three outlets whose wires required cutouts. By code you either need a metal puncture protection or a minimum distance from the front of any (dry-) wall to where any wire runs inside of the wall. Cutting a channel into the back of the 2x4 frame where needed put the wire more than 3" away from the outside surface of the wall, which satisfied the building code.
3. On the top of the frame of the sections touching the wall, I needed to drill holes to allow the conduit to run through the frame. Those had to be put in prior to assembly and they needed to line up with each other.
4. At several location there were concrete protrusions which prevented the frame to be flat on the wall. I chiseled those off with a concrete chisel and a hammer.
5. To install the outlets at the previous location using the original hardware, I attached 3/4" plywood strips to the vertical running 2x4 frame. The wood strips were sized so that they gave me the right offset and depth location for the outlet to be fastened behind the wall. I added removable covers which are described in a later step.
6. In one location, two floor 2x4's did not align well and I had to shave one in the front with a jig saw to make this work.
7. A hole was cut in the frame where the 12V power cables for the LEDs entered the wall space, so that a conduit could be installed to run the cables. I had to get a little inventive and drill a hole into the frame from the front to make the fastening screw work.
8. Things didn't always go perfect. In a couple of locations my holes for the anchors were "walking". I simply moved the location for the anchor a little bit and drilled again.
9. Don't get frustrated. Be patient and persistent. I worked in spurts. A few weeks with lots of effort, then a good pause for a few weeks. That helped me to have the endurance that I needed for the long haul. (I still had a day job and a family...)

In this step we are building the overhang section frame of the second wall. Measuring out all these angles and coming up with solution on how to measure and cut the transition areas was quite challenging. Here I am focusing on the type of steps and solutions that i haven't described before yet.

Tools & Materials

Materials

1. Same than step 6 and...
2. Lots of 2x6 long

Tools

1. Same than step 6
2. Angle Measurement Tool 1
3. Angle Measurement Tool 2
4. Clamps of varies sizes
5. Long level
6. Some pieces of wood
7. Hex head screws 2.5 - 3" long + fitting drill bits
8. Counter sunk drill bit + wood screws
9. Vacuum

Building the Overhang Frame - Straight Sections

1. Always check the computer CAD drawings and required length and compare against reality
2. Fasten the lower section of the vertical frame 2x6s with two top wall supports and one bottom wall support straight to the wall. Two top wall supports were needed at different heights due to my design which had two different overhang angles. For each angle section you need one top wall support at a specific height.
3. Cut the length of these three support beams & drill the holes to fasten them to the wall into them. Make sure the hole sizes are clearance hole sizes required for the anchors
4. Also take a scrap piece of wood and put the same clearance hole in it
5. Fastening the top wall support
6. Level the support on the wall and mark the drill locations on the wall with a pencil through the holes
7. Mark the circumference of the support on the wall
8. Get rid off all wall protrusions using the chisel and the hammer so that the support can lay flat on the wall
9. Get some helpers
10. Align the scrap piece with the hole aligned to one of the drill holds
11. Ask your helpers to press the wood to the wall and hold steady and hold the vacuum
12. Set your drill to the depth for anchor + wood thickness
13. Drill through the hole in the wood into the wall
14. Install the anchor (see step 6) and fasten the top support with the single screw after making it level
15. Ask your helpers to hold the support so that it can't turn
16. Ask them also to hold the vacuum
17. Drill through the holes into the wall, same depth as before
18. If you have cables running to any outlet mark them and cut a groove in the backside of the support. Make sure the location doesn't interfere with any nails used for fastening the vertical beams of the frame
19. Install the anchors and fasten the top wall support to the wall
20. Repeat with the second top wall support which was slightly lower due to the increased incline of the overhang
21. I used a wooden board as a stand off for this one during the drilling step. This made it easier to hold it.
22. Fastening the bottom wall support
23. Cut the bottom support to size using the actual bottom frame as guide. This required to angle the right and left ends to fit to the slanted transition sections.
24. Router the channels required for any power cables
25. Repeat the procedure above
26. Fastening the vertical 2x6 frame pieces
27. Measure out the bottom angle, set & transfer it with an angle tool, and cut it with a chop saw
28. Measure out the back angle, set & transfer it with an angle tool
29. Mark it with a pencil, clamp a cutting guide at the right location and cut with a circular saw.
30. Test install it with a few of wood working clamps.
31. Bring it to level and the correct overhead angle and clamp down
32. Select drill bit matching to core size of hex screws
33. Drill "pilot holes" through frame wood into joists.
34. Fasten 2x6 to joist on top with ratchet and bit
35. Ensure 2x6 is level, secure it if needed, then use a nail gun to fasten it to the top and bottom wall support beams. Be careful not to penetrate any electrical wires.
36. Repeat with next vertical beam. Ensure prior to install that all vertical beam front faces are:
37. In a single plane
38. Are 14.5" inches apart (, i.e. repeat distance of 16" - 1.5" thickness of 2x6)
39. Repeat with next overhang section until complete
40. Adding horizontal support
41. Cut 2x4 pieces to repeat length of joists (16" in my house)
42. Clamp pieces in to the right height with large wood working clamps. Ensure all angles are 90 degrees and front surface is in plane with 2x6 vertical boards
43. Nail in place with nail gun

Building the Overhang Frame - Transition Sections

1. Tip: Start with the smallest section to figure out the steps and create some routines
2. Adding angled frame parts for panel mounting in triangular transition area (my wall's left side)
3. Figure out the angle that is needed
4. Clamp a shorter piece of 2x4 to the existing frame
5. Make sure the 2x4 is paralell to the frame
6. Run a straight edge from the frame to the opposite side
7. Mark the angle on the 2x4 top
8. Cut the support piece
9. Transfer the angle from the 2x4 to the adjustable angle tool
10. Measure the angle and record it (always good to note things down)
11. Transfer the angle to the table saw and check it again
12. Determine and cut the length of 2x4 needed
13. Cut the edge of the 2x4
14. Mount the now angled 2x4 on the frame
15. Repeat on other side
16. Ensure that the new pieces are level on top, so that they don't interfere with any top cross pieces
17. Measure angle and cut pieces for top frame parts
18. Move along the wall and repeat section by section
19. Additional tips for transition sections that need vertical supports
20. The vertical supports on the right transition side needed 3 angles measured and cut
21. Go one angle at a time. My order was
22. Leaning angle of overhang
23. Rising angle of bottom section
24. Front facing angle
25. For measuring remember that angles at top equal angles at bottom
26. Stay focused on aligning the front panel plane. Small gaps and misalignments don't matter, in the end the front panels need to stay flat and in contact to frame for full support
27. At this point you have all the methods needed to do the transition from one overhang to the other. This requires to split that open area into two triangles. The angle measuring and cutting work does not differ to the steps described for the first transition earlier.

In this step we are building the support structure for the ceiling. In the regular ceiling section, 2x4s were added in 12" distances to the joists to support the panels. In one specific section, an air return duct was placed between two joists. This duct prevented the standard approach. In this section I build a wood support structure that allowed to lower the ceiling climbing panels a few inches. This created space for LEDs, cables and fastening bolts for the holds.

Tools & Materials

Materials

1. Nail gun nails 2" & 2.5" long
2. Some long 2x8
3. Some long 2x3
4. Lots of short 2x4
5. Hex head screws 2.5 - 3" long + fitting drill bits

Tools

1. Chop saw (ideally one that allows bevel cuts)
2. Magic shape tool
3. Table saw
4. Dado blade
5. Clamps of varies sizes
6. Long level
7. Counter sunk drill bit + wood screws
8. Vacuum
9. Nail gun
10. Compressor
11. Straight edge with and without 90 degree angle
12. Combination square
13. Measuring tape
14. Mallet
15. Sharpie and pencils

Adding Cross-directional Ceiling Support

The regular ceiling sections of my climbing wall required additional structural support between the ceiling joists to support the climbing wall panels. Those were already included in my CAD model. According to the model I added them to the ceiling using the following approach.

1. Identify and mark locations where the 2x4 were supposed to be placed
2. Inspect location for irregular angles of the ceiling joist
3. regular
4. Carefully measure length
5. Cut 2x4 to length
6. Place 2x4 in final location and squeeze surrounding ceiling beams with clamps to hold in place
7. Fasten with nail gun
8. irregular shape
9. Use shape / profile tool to determine angle
10. Transfer to 2x4
11. Cut 2x4 to shape and length
12. Place 2x4 in final location and squeeze surrounding ceiling beams with clamps to hold in place
13. Fasten with nail gun
14. Specific attention was paid to edge of the climbing wall so that proper support was provided at the circumference of each panel

Building the Ceiling Frame Section

A section of my ceiling needed to be hung lower for the climbing wall build, because a return air duct was in the way. This section here describes the steps I took to make this work.

1. Carefully measure and determine
2. The xy size of the area
3. The depth the ceiling is lowered. I chose 3" which was enough to accommodate the LEDs
4. Design a ceiling frame that provides a flush xy grid support for the climbing panels
5. I used the following strategy
6. 2x8 to be fastened along the ceiling joists
7. 2x3 that connect the 2x8 at 90 degree angles. Center to center distance between them was 12" (same than rest of ceiling supports).
8. Cut the 2x8 boards to length with a chop saw
9. Mark locations for inserting the 2x3 into the 2x8 boards to create the flush grid
10. Cut notches into 2x8 at the determined distances and depth with the dado blade
11. Shave 2x3 as needed to exactly fit into the notches and grid structure
12. Mount 2x8s
13. Temporarily mount first 2x8 on ceiling aligning the bottom of the notch with the ceiling joist
14. Use clamps
15. Add one 2x8 at a time and ensure they are aligned to each other
16. Test insert a few 2x3s
17. When you are sure it works, attach 2x8s to ceiling joists with Hex screws
18. Complete frame
19. Test placement, length and fit of 2x3s
20. Correct width, depth and length as needed,
21. Ensure they sit tight and flush when fully inserted
22. I pulled the 2x3 pieces into the 2x8 using wood working clamps (see pictures)
23. Fasten them with nails from various directions
24. Test strength
25. Hang off of ceiling frame to ensure the strength is sufficient

Note

As shown in a couple of the pictures I moved an electrical box to the outside of the climbing wall ceiling panel area. While this move did not make it easier to access the box, it removed the possibility to hit the box with climbing hold bolts that are too long and thus improved safety.

The corner between North Wall and East Wall was designed as a slim 45 degree transition section. The required front support pieces for the panel could not slide into place. I had to cut some material away at one end at an angle to allow the pieces to be placed. The pictures describe the situation in detail.

In this step we are installing conduit and pull the cable that brings 12V DC to various locations along the wall to power the LED string. I used conduit although it is not required by code. My reasoning was that the cables are protected that way and not floating around in the space behind the wall, where long hand hold bolts may injure the cable bundle.

Tools & Materials

Materials

• Wood screws
• 1/4" threaded rod
• 1/4" washers
• 1/4" nuts
• Conduit of various sizes
• Conduit hangers
• brackets
• Pull boxes
• Strain reliefs for pull boxes
• AWG 14 red & black wire
• Signal wire for button switches
• Pull wire
• Electrical tape

Tools

• Dremel with cutting tool
• Deburring tool
• Drill & drill bits
• Tube cutter
• Screw drivers
• Label machine
• Wire Cutter

In the vertical wall sections (my North Wall and the south end of the East Wall), the conduit was mounted together with the 2x4 wooden frame. It runs along the top through holes that were drilled into the 2x4. Otherwise there would not have been any space for the conduit. Behind the overhangs there is plenty of space. I hung the conduit just below the ceiling and very close to the wall, so that it is out of the way.

Hanging the Conduit

• Determine the locations for the brackets that hold the conduit and install them. I hung them off of the ceiling joists, by drilling pilot holes and fastening them with woodscrews.
• Determine at what height the conduit should hang. In my case the height was predetermined by the hole locations I had decided on for the vertical wall fraction.
• Put four 1/4" nuts on the threaded rod and tighten 2 each together. Then clamp it into a vice and use a Dremel to cut the rod to length.
• Deburr the rod as good as possible, then take it ouf of the vice and screw the first nut out of the cut end. This should lift up any remaining burrs. Deburr again and remove the second nut. ensure that you can put nuts on and off the threaded bar. If not, deburr some more.
• Repeat until you have all the rods you need.
• Attach the hanger for the conduit to the threaded rod on one end with two nuts and a couple of washers.
• Set the height by locating a nut/washer at the right position, then insert rod into bracket and fasten with another washer and nut.
• Cut the conduit to length as required by planned locations of your pull boxes.
• Deburr the conduit carefully.
• Install the conduit and pull boxes according to plan.
• Put your AWG 12 and your data cable wheels on a stand for easier handling
• Unwind and cut the amount of required cable lengths that you need. All the cables that only passed through a pull box I left uncut.
• Push your pull cable from the target pull box back to the source pull box.
• Bend you pull cable, i.e. a solid single strand cable, back on itself and intertwine it with the cable bundle you need to pull. Wrap electrical tape around it in such a way that you do not have any protruding edges.
• Pull the cable bundle through to the target pull box. Note that for large cable bundles you may need either two people (one person pulls, the other feeds) or you need to walk back and forth to feed/pull until the cable bundle comes through.
• Once you have all the cables pulled, run the exiting cables through the respective pull box strain reliefs and tighten them.
• Neatly attach and organize the cables in the power distribution box.
• Test the functionality of each cable with a voltmeter.
• Switch power on
• Measure power output at cable end.
• Properly label cable so that you don't have to do that again.

At this point it was time to test the LEDs. In my wall I am using a total of 768 individually addressable WD2812 LEDs. I started out with a regular Arduino Uno R3. I apologize that I don't have very nice pictures of those first tests.

Testing the LEDs

1. I programmed a script that would cycle through 50 LEDs and made sure that it worked. 50 LEDs was the quantity of one LED bundle as received. To hook it up you need to:
2. Attach a 1000uF capacitor at the 12V supply cables. Ensure that the polarity is correct.
3. Attach a 470 Ohm resistor between the arduino pin and data line. Note that with the Arduino Due you need the level shifter in between the Arduino (3.3V) and the LED chain (5V data).
4. I added a second bundle including its own 1000uF capacitor, changed the program to match the amount of LEDs and repeated it. I ensured that I tied into the 12V power for each bundle individually. The bundles could be attached to each other with the connectors they had at their inlet and outlet. I repeated this method step by step until it suddenly stopped working.
5. With this method and some reading I figured out that the arduino has to assign a little bit of memory for each LED. After 600 LEDs the Arduino Uno was at its memory limit of 32 kB and couldn't handle any additional LEDs. I had a little panic attack, but after some research figured out that other Arduino types have more memory and should be able to handle the task just fine. I purchased an Arduino Due, who has with 512 kB a significant larger memory and also more inputs/outputs.

Fixing the Due Start-Up Issue

1. The Due board that I have had an automatic start issue. For my Due I needed to press the reset button of the board to get the sketch started. This behavior is described in the forums as a design issue. The Due is supposed to start automatically. The issue has been solved: https://forum.arduino.cc/t/due-wont-start-after-power-off-on-have-to-reset/247763/43
2. Shout out to the awesome folks that put these fixes out there. You rock.
3. In the thread the following is stated by [dancombine]: “The fix is to solder a surface mount resistor (0603 size) onto the board: solder a 10k resistor between the ERASE line and +3.3V, close to FET T3. In practice, solder it across the 2 upper pins of T3.”
4. I did just that, but used a regular 10kOhm resistor that I had lying around. See pictures. It was a little bit tricky, but worked flawlessly.

Level Shifter for Arduino Due

1. The Arduino Due works with 3.3 V logic. The LEDs I bought work with a 5 V data signal. The 3.3 V signals from the Arduino Due need to be converted to 5 V for the LEDs to work.
2. I used a level shifter board for the conversion. You can use this Spark Fun level shifter hook up guide to figure out the install. Spark Fun sells those level shifters as well, but at a higher price.
3. The connection to the board is straight forward. It requires GND/3.3V on the low Voltage (HV) side, and GND/5V on the high voltage (HV) side. The LV# signal is converted to a HV# signal. For example, in my case, LV2 is converted to HV2.

Testing the level shifter board:

1. Load the "Blink" sketch
2. The onboard LED which is connected to Pin 13 of the Arduino Due blinks
3. Connect the Level shifter board to 3.3V & GND on LV side and 5V & GND on HV side
4. Connect Pin 13 to LV2
5. Connect HV2 & GND to Voltmeter
6. Run Arduino Due
7. Watch the Voltmeter cycle between 0V & 5V as LED blinks
8. Voltage conversion works

Mounting the level shifter board and other

1. Make a board to mount the level shifter, the data cable connection point and the resistor in the data line on the Arduino Due
2. Design the PCB out of a strip board using strip trace interruptions, and connections on top and bottom. Please take a look at the images for reference.
3. I also made connectors for the button switches
4. Connector 1: 4 button switches are used as inputs from the climbing wall buttons
5. Connector 2: 4 buttons will be used for selecting the climbing wall program
6. The strip board further enabled to attach a 433 MHz receiver. The incoming 5V signal was routed through the level shifter to 3.3V and then to the Due board Pin 6
7. The strip board also connects the 5V arduino nano board (D2 = Rx, D3 = Tx) through the level shifter to the arduino due Tx3 (pin 14) and Rx3 (pin 15). The arduino nano board has a library of melodies storied which are sent out on command from the due to the "audio system", i.e. an amplifier and speaker combination.

In this step the setup tested on the bench is moved to the climbing wall. The LED data and power connections are hooked up. Note that the amounts of LEDs that are on each panel was already planned out and determined. In this step everything is carefully labelled to avoid mix ups and extra work. Also, every connection needs to be removable. At a later time the LEDs are attached to the wood panels prior to the panel install. When the panels are attached, the electrical connections are made first and then the panel are screwed to the frame to hopefully never been taken down again.

Tools & Materials

Materials

1. Wire Connectors, 2 splices
2. Wire Connectors, 3 splices
3. Wire Connectors, 2 in, 4 out
4. Capacitors, 1000 uF, 25V
5. Extra Connectors for LEDs, 3 pin
6. Shrink Tubing
7. Solder
8. Zip ties

Tools

1. Wire cutter
2. Wire stripping tool
3. Heat gun
4. Solder iron
5. Labeling machine
6. Voltmeter

Testing the LEDs

1. Run the data cable from the output of the level shifter board to LED 1. As a first try just making a connection to test functionality of the first LED string is sufficient.
2. You can use the attached IDE "TestLEDStrip.ino" for the testing. This IDE blinks through the red/green/blue LEDs of the entire string.
3. Make sure that your string number is equal to or larger than the actual LED string.
4. Make sure the output pin is correct.
5. For the software to work, I think you need to enter an LED number that is a multiple of 3x because every third LED is lit up with the same color, then switched to another color.
6. Note that the LED strip has a direction. The signal goes into the strip on one side, and gets passed out at the other. The LED strip won't work in the other direction.
7. After the test of the panel is completed successfully you can start making proper connections for the data line and the power lines.
8. Count out the number of LEDs that are going to be attached to the panel.
9. Cut the LED strip when you reach the desired number.
10. Attach data and power connectors as needed. I used two prong and three prong connectors.
11. Note that the data line is running continuously from LED to LED. Keep the data line between LEDs to less than 12" to avoid hiccups with the data signal.
12. At each power connection solder a 1000 uF capacitor into the connection. Ensure you strain relief the soldered and shrink tubed wire with zip ties.
13. Once the connections for the panel are properly made, test the LED strip again. When you have the "TestLEDStrip.ino" loaded this means you just have to switch on the Arduino, check if all the LEDs cycle through the three colors and none of them is missing out.
14. Label the cables at connections on each side. Label the connectors as well. This is really important. I don't know how often I took these LED strings off and put them back on over the course of the build. The labels will avoid confusion. Here is my syntax. See pictures for reference:
15. Position1.Position2.Position3.Position4
16. Position1 Options => Types of wires attached:
17. D = Data => 1 wire attached
18. P = Power => 2 wires attached
19. P+D = Power + Data => 3 wires attached
20. Position2 Options => Powered by what pull box:
21. A = Powered from Pull Box A
22. B = Powered from Pull Box B
23. C = Powered from Pull Box C
24. D = Powered from Pull Box D
25. Position3 Options=> LED strip of what panel:
26. # => Panel Number => I had a total of 24 panels in my wall, so # ranged from 1 - 24
27. Position4 Options => Location of connection with regards to strip position:
28. I = Inlet
29. M = Middle (rarely the strip was powered in middle due to length of strip inlet to outlet).
30. O = Outlet
31. Count out the LEDs for the next panel and repeat the procedure with all panel sections until finished.

In this step I describe electronic details of the buttons that allow the climbing wall user to interact with the climbing wall. The wall features four of these interactive buttons, one wall button and one ceiling button at each end of the climbing wall.

1. The buttons used were arcade style buttons that had LEDs with resistors build in. For reasons previously described, I removed the resistors and connected all four LEDs to a single 20 mA LED driver.
2. The driver was mounted on a little strip board which featured screw connectors for the wires. The board was powered with 12V DC.
3. The wires for the LEDs were color coded and numbered.
4. Black rings = LED cable
5. 1 - 4 rings identified to which button the cable was going.
6. The button signal wires were also color coded and numbered.
7. Green rings = button signal
8. 1-4 rings identified to which button the cable was going.
9. The button signals (green shrink tube markings) were soldered to a custom connector so that they could all be plugged together into the Arduino Due. One side of the connector combined the four black wires of the cable and connected them to ground. The red cables of the wires were connected individually to the arduino due pins.

The following steps describe the approach that we took to plan out all things related to the wall panels. This was a complex process. We decided to make paper templates that can be used to transfer dimensions for cutting and placement to the wood panels. The following things had to be determined and/or considered:

1. Exact size of Panel
2. Exact locations of mounting holes of panels
3. Final placement of holds
4. Final placement of LEDs and available length of LED cables
5. Location of 2xX support structure
6. Location of LED cables crossing support structure
7. Transfer of Mural

Tools & Materials

Materials

1. Roll of paper 4 feet wide (same than wood panels)
2. Push pins

Tools

1. Scissors
2. Carpet knife
3. Carpenter square
4. Rulers
5. 3D printed center finder for 2x4s
6. Pencil
7. Carpenter pencil
8. Markers
9. Projector

Creating Paper Templates

1. Pre-cut approximate size of paper
2. Mark center lines of 2x4s that support 2 panels
3. Align paper on frame and attach with push pins
4. Use a lot of push pins
5. Avoid folds and waves by stretching paper as much as possible
6. Mark with carpenter pencil
7. the panel identifier on the paper, see "A1" in one of the pictures
8. all the studs and stud junctions with the carpenter pencil
9. the exact outline of the panel dimensions
10. important because the CAD model and the reality won't agree
11. very helpful for the triangular and irregular shaped panels
12. where possible I cut the paper at triangular overhang sections exactly using the frame as a guide for the blade
13. note all required adjustments on template (larger here, leave extra material for angle here)
14. the exact location of the power outlets
15. Mark with colored markers
16. the screw locations for fastening panels to the frame with green marker
17. green X = FP-hole = regular fastener screw hole to fasten panel = hole at 90 degree angle
18. green X with green box around = HP-hole = fastener screw hole for hanging panel when test fitting panel size (~4 needed per panel)
19. choose the location of HP-holes at the edges of the panels so that they can be seen and aligned when the panel if fitted to the frame
20. green line with A = angled hole required at edge of panel due to 2 panels sharing 2x4 for edge support = hole at 60 degree angle
21. climbing hold locations with black X = T-Nut hole locations
22. LED locations with blue X with circle around it
23. LED cable locations with
24. orange arrow for regular cable with arrow indicating data flow direction
25. blue arrow for location where cable crosses 2x4 (=> recessed channel needed in wood at crossing to avoid squeezing cable)
26. ensure that the length of the cable from LED to LED fit to
27. your layout
28. the cable length of your LED string
29. Mark the locations of the frame where LED cables cross
30. Find each of the blue arrows
31. Place a ruler from the center of the LED X where the arrow starts to the center of the LED X where the arrow ends
32. Cut through the paper along the ruler section where the 2x4 frame is crossed
33. Through the slit mark the frame with black sharpie or similar
34. These are the locations where channels have to be cut so that the LED cables are not squeezed between panel and frame
35. To prevent the template from tearing at the cut location, repair the cuts with scotch tape when the marking is done
36. Drill HP-holes through the template 1 1/4" deep into the 2xX skeleton (mark drill depth and measure test screw diameter to determine best pilot hole size)
37. Cross check everything. The templates are super important. Make sure they are correct.
38. Transfer your mural onto the paper template
39. If possible project an image of your mural onto the wall
40. With colored markers trace the specific areas of your mural

The climbing wall ceiling panels were mounted directly on the ceiling joists. They were therefore at a higher level than the rest of the basement ceiling, which consisted of drop-in ceiling panels that rest on a metal frame. In this step I describe how I created a skirt to close the gap between the climbing wall panels at the ceiling and the regular ceiling panels. Closing this gap improved the looks and prevented that a climber got caught and/or tears down the ceiling by holding on to the regular ceiling panels.

Materials

1. 3/4 plywood
2. paint
3. screws

Tools

1. Measuring tape
2. pencils
3. Chop saw or table saw
4. Dado blade
5. Screw driver
6. Drill / drill bits

Creating and Installing Ceiling Skirts

1. Measure the height and width of the gap
2. Develop a solution how you can add and attach the skirts.
3. For the gap running along with the ceiling joists, I decided to attach the skirt directly to the joist. I further had to double up the thickness of the board to match the gap.
4. For the gap running 90 degree across the ceiling joists I attached the joist to the 2x4 that I installed as climbing wall ceiling supports. Those ran along the circumference of the climbing wall ceiling for edge support.
5. Cut the boards and join them to the correct thickness
6. For the cross boards I cut notches with my dado saw blade similar to the process shown in step 11.
7. Lift the adjacent ceiling panels out of their frames and move them out of the way
8. Place the board temporarily in their location and check if any additional adjustments have to be made
9. Select length of mounting screws such that screws do not penetrate into climbing wall area
10. Drill pilot holes for mounting using the core diameter of the screws as the drill diameter
11. Take boards out again and make required adjustments
12. Paint boards in ceiling color and let dry
13. Install board permanently
14. Move ceiling panels back into place

Before I put a lot of work into each panel, I cut them to size and hung them in place using the HP-holes to ensure that they were all fitting together as intended. The fitting and temporary attachment process is described in this step.

Order

1. Hang the wall panels working from one end of the climbing wall to the other.
2. Cut a panel
3. Hang it
4. Move to the next panel
5. Start with all regular non-overhanging panels
6. Move to all overhanging panels

Hanging the regular non-overhanging wall panels

1. Take the template and the LED string down. Ensure they are marked and can be identified.
2. Align the template with a 3/4" ACX plywood board, such that sanded plywood side will be facing outward. ACX plywood has one sanded and one rougher side. The sanded side should always be the side the climber will be on, so that the danger of catching splinters is avoided.
3. Transfer the panel outside dimensions from the template to the boards. Work exactly.
4. Transfer HP-holes
5. Choose drill bit with diameter of outside screw diameter
6. For drilling I used a portable drill guide after removing the spring.
7. Lubricate the guide frequently with sewing machine oil for example.
8. Drill all the way through the panel
9. Hold panel against frame and check if it seems to fit
10. Screw fastener screws through the HP holes of the panel such that they protrude a little bit
11. Align the protruding screws with the HP holes of the climbing wall frame
12. Check for the fit of the panel in the desired location
13. Check how the panel runs along the markings on the frame
14. Check for gaps with previously installed panels
15. When everything looks good, fasten the panel flush onto the frame
16. Preserve the template
17. Roll up the template and use rubber bands to keep it together
18. Also attach the LED string of that particular panel to the template roll. Those are all needed later
19. Repeat with all the regular wall panels

Hanging the overhanging wall panels

1. The paper template represents the back side of the 3/4" plywood panel. Because of the overhang angle, the overhanging wall panels need extra material added to the panel. The angle determines how much extra material.
2. Measure the angles exactly using the angle measurement tool.
3. Where the angle tool can not fit (at the regular wall panel to overhang panel transition), use different methods to measure the angles.
4. Cut cardboard with scissors at an angle.
5. Test how it fits.
6. Repeat until it fits.
7. Transfer the angle to your circular saw and cut test pieces of wood to ensure you have the correct angle and test them at the wall.
8. Think carefully when transferring the template to the plywood panel.

Seems of overhanging wall panels

1. At the transition between overhanging wall panels the angles created protruding edges. These edges needed to be removed for a smooth transition.
2. Ensure that the panels are sitting flush on the frame before you start working on the edge. Add additional screws to pull the panel against the frame if needed.
3. With a hand planer shave the protruding edge away until you get close to a smooth transition. Take your time and be patient.
4. When close, switch to an orbital sander and sand the edge until you have a smooth transition.

Once the wall panels are hanging, the templates for the ceiling can be created following the descriptions of step 17 and the ceiling panels can be hung following step 19. Special care is required for the angles at the overhangs. And extra hands are very helpful for hanging the panels on the ceiling.

In this step the frame is prepared for the final panel install. The panels will have the cables attached to them on the backside. Channels need to be cut in to the frame so that these cables are not squeezed. In the long run, squeezed cables may break and they will be very difficult to access for repair. This is a painful step, but better safe than sorry.

Materials

1. Painting tarp or drop cloth
2. Painters tape
3. Pencil or pen

Tools

1. PPE for dust
2. goggles
3. dust mask
4. dust collector (I used my 2-bucket-dust-collection-system)
5. vacuum
6. router
7. straight router bit
8. sanding sponge

Cutting the Channels

1. Remove all the panels and store them somewhere
2. Protect the rest of the room from the wood dust that is created in this step by
3. laying out plastic tarp on floor
4. hanging plastic from ceiling with tape
5. Cover the outlets with painter's tape
6. Find each marking on the frame walls and ceiling.
7. Widen the marking by a reasonable amount that enables the width of the three wire LED cable to comfortably fit
8. I used my angle measuring tool for this. It had a great width and a nice slit in the middle which made the marking process straight forward
9. Set the depth of your router bit to about 1/8" or whatever depth can comfortably accommodate your LED cable
10. Router a channel within the markings
11. Sand the edges to prevent any sharp corners

This step was in preparation for drilling the angled holes into the climbing panel. The angled holes sit at the edge of the wood and need to allow a screw to fasten the panel to half the width of a 2x4 or similar frame piece. I won't go into any details here, but by trial and error I determined to use

1. a 60 degree angle
2. a distance of 19 mm from the edge of the wood to the drill hole. That is equal to the 3/4" of the plywood I was using and allowed for quick marking of the panel templates

Materials

1. scrap pieces of wood

Tools

1. drill (= outside diameter of screws)
2. portable drill guide
3. measurement tools

My panels had a total of 4 interactive buttons. In this step I figured out how to install these buttons.

Materials

1. Arcade Buttons

Tools

1. 1" Forstner drill bit
2. 1/8" drill bit
3. drill guide
4. drill
5. ruler
6. center punch

Mounting the interactive buttons

1. Determine the location of the button
2. Measure out the placement of the center hole and the two no-twist-holes
3. 0.75" from center in each direction in my case
4. Mark the location and use center punch to make divot for accurate drilling
5. Drill center hole with drill guide and test if button fits
6. Measure out diameter of alignment pins => 5/32" drill needed to 1/4" depth
7. Mark the location and use center punch to make divot for accurate drilling
8. Drill two alignment blind holes
9. Test everything
10. Repeat on the most outwards panel when needed for the panel drilling / preparation

The climbing wall area covered several outlets that I liked to keep functional, so that the bedroom status of our basement was maintained. I created a design for a removable cover. When climbing the cover is attached and perfectly flush with the wall. When access to the outlet is needed, the cover can be easily removed by pulling on a couple of strings. Because the cover is attached to a string as well, it can't get lost and is always available. Here are the steps to add the cover to a panel.

Note: This step is best carried out during the panel drilling step 25, when the paper template is aligned with the panel. The strings are best attached after the painting step 26.

Materials

1. Metal strip pieces
2. Leftover plywood pieces
3. Mini-magnets (K&J Magnets, Ring, 1/4"x1/8", C-sunk)
4. Screws for magnets (#2-3/8", counter sink head)
5. 1/2" screws with regular head
6. Very thin rope or string. Needs to be durable.

Tools

1. Snips
2. Vice
3. Jig saw
4. 1/4" brad point drill bit
5. Philips screw driver
6. Center punch
7. Hammer
8. Drill
9. Drill bits
10. carpet knife

Preparing an Outlet Cover

1. Cut the outlet covers on a table saw from leftover 3/4" plywood
2. my two-outlet cover dimensions were 4.5" x 2.5"
3. Mark the location of the magnets in all four corners 6 mm from the top and 10 mm from the side
4. In the four corners drill to the depth of the magnet using either a brad point drill bit or a forstner drill bit that has the diameter of the magnet.
5. my magnet had a diameter of 1/4" and a height of 1/8" (see materials)
6. make sure you are not drilling too deep. The magnet needs to end up flush with the plywood surface.
7. Push the magnets into the holes by pushing it against a table top
8. Fasten the 4x magnets with a fitting counter sink screw (#2-3/8" in my case)

Preparing the Outlet Cover Hole

1. Prepare the cut out
2. Ensure the paper template is aligned with the panel. .
3. Place the 4.5" x 2.5" prepped outlet cover on the outlet location on the template
4. With a carpet knife cut the paper where the outlet cover needs to be
5. Mark the panel wood in the corners
6. Cut away another 15 mm around the markings
7. Place the outlet cover on your marking and trace the surroundings exactly
8. Remove the cover and now expand the markings by 1mm in each direction
9. Cut the outlet cover hole
10. Drill a starting hole for the jigsaw where the cover hole needs to go
11. Cut out the marked expanded cover hole dimensions
12. Check if the outlet cover fits into the hole with about 2mm of slack
13. Prepare the metal/magnetic fastening method
14. Cut metal strips to size with metal snips
15. 1" wide
16. 3.5" long
17. I flattened leftover metal strips from my house's heating air duct system in a vice
18. Add holes for screws to the metal strips such that the screw locations are wider apart than the width of the cover hole
19. 1/4" from end inward length-wise
20. 1/2" from side width-wise
21. mark location with center punch
22. drill hole that fits to #10 diameter screws
23. Prior to placement of metal strips, ensure that magnets of outlet cover will be able to connect with the metal strip
24. Fasten strips on back side of panel with small #10 flat head screws
25. Prepare safety rope that prevents loosing the cover
26. Identify diameter of rope
27. Conduct a test drill and fit rope through it. Needs to be very tight.
28. Drill 4x holes into outlet cover (2 in top region of outlet cover, 2 in bottom region) of diameter just large enough for rope to be fed through
29. Note that the last step is completed after panel is painted.

Attaching the Outlet Cover After the Painting of the Panel is Complete

1. If needed redrill holes that are filled with paint from the panel painting process
2. Feed thin rope from front through two top holes. Tie knots at the back, allowing a small amount of slack rope in front that can be grabbed. This allows that the rope can be grabbed and the plate pulled out to get access to the outlets, but a climber can't get hung up on the rope.
3. Repeat with bottom holes, but leave a decent amount of rope extra for fastening outlet cover to panel.
4. Screw a small eye bolt into the back of the panel where it doesn't interfere with the frame
5. Tie the extra amount of rope onto it. This prevents the outlet cover from getting lost.

In this step we drill the holes for climbing holds, LEDs, and mounting screws into the plywood panel and we also transfer alignment markings for the mural. After this step the panels are ready for painting.

Note 1: You spent a lot of time changing drill bits and arranging drill angles. If possible drill as many panels in parallel to avoid as many setup changes as possible. This will save a good amount of time.

Note 2: Put some oil on the runs of your drill guide from time to time. Motor oil works, sewing machine oil works, whatever you have, it will make your life much more pleasant. Bad enough that you drill some thousand holes in this step.

Materials

1. T-Nuts
2. Test LED

Tools

1. drill 11/64"
2. drill diameter of fastening screws
3. drill
4. pencils
5. ruler
6. drill guide
7. clamps
8. markers of different colors
9. hammer
10. saw horse
11. screw driver

Abbreviations

1. Climbing Holds / Hand Holds = H-holes
2. Regular panel fastener holes = FP-holes
3. Panel edge fastener holes: Edge Angle holes = EA-holes
4. LED base holes: from Back = B-holes
5. LED tip holes: from front = T-holes

Work the front side of the panel

Aligning the paper template

1. Place the panel on saw horses with the sanded side, i.e. the climber facing side, up
2. Align the paper template for the specific panels
3. Align the holes that were used in step 19 and step 20 to mount and check the fit of the panels with the respective markings (green X with green box around) of the paper template
4. I stuck pencils through the template into the already drilled out somewhat countersunk holes, which allowed for easy perfect alignment
5. Fasten paper template to plywood panel with clamps
6. Double check alignment

Drilling regular fastener holes (FP-holes)

1. pick drill bit that matches outside diameter of screw shaft
2. For my selfcutting torx screws I used a 11/64" bit
3. mount drill in drill guide
4. mount drill bit
5. drill through holes through the paper template and through the plywood
6. I tested to ensure that for my screws and plywood I did not need a countersunk hole
7. When fastening the panels my screws would pull themselves into the panel until they were flush with the surface
8. Double check that you got all the FP-holes

Drilling edge angled fastener holes (EA-holes)

1. Mark the 20 mm point from the edge of panel at the location where an EA-hole was placed (green line marked with an A)
2. The 20 mm distance was determined on test piece in Step 22
3. I used a small 3/4" plywood leftover piece which is 19 mm thick for rapid marking
4. Set drill guide to a drill depth of 3 mm and keep it at 90 degrees
5. Use 11/64" drill bit from previous drill process
6. Drill 3 mm deep divot at 90 degree at each EA-hole to prevent drill from walking
7. Change drill guide angle to 60 degree
8. Remove drill depth limitation
9. Drill all 60 deg angle EA-holes through the panel from front of board towards the edge of the panel
10. Double check that you got all the EA-holes

Drilling climbing hold holes (H-holes)

1. Change drill guide back to 90 degree
2. Install 7/16" bradpoint bit
3. Remove drill depth limitation
4. Drill at the marked H-hole locations (black X) straight through the paper and the panel from the climbing side
5. this gives the cleanest hole in front but may tear out a little in the back
6. Double check that you got all the H-holes

Drilling LED Pilot holes

The LED holes require three individual drill processes. This is required so that the front edge is clean, and so that the recessed hole which holds the LED body is well centered with the through hole part.

1. Install 3/32" drill bit in drill guide
2. Drill all the marked LED holes (blueX with circle around) through the panel at 90 degree
3. Double check that you got all the LED-holes

Marking the Mural for alignment when painting

1. Mark the Location of the Mural lines on the side of the panel
2. This allows the template to be easily put back later to draw the mural lines
3. Black was used for brown
4. Red for red
5. Orange for Orange
6. Blue for blue

Outlet cover prep (see Step 24)

At this point the hole cutout for the outlet cover should be prepared. Please see Step 23 first step of "Preparing the Outlet Cover Hole": Prepare the cut out. Don't cut the hole yet, for this the paper template is better removed.

Interactive button install prep (see Step 23)

At this point the install of the interactive buttons should be prepared. I only had 4 interactive buttons, so this step doesn't apply to each panel.

1. Install a small hole for a pilot hole in the drill guide.
2. Drill a pilot through hole at the marked location of the button (red X)
3. Mark the hole red from the top through the hole in the template as good as possible. This allows to find this hole later when the paper is removed and you can follow the instructions described in Step 23.

Removing paper template

1. Triple check that all holes were drilled
2. Remove the drill template, but keep handy for next steps

Getting ready to turn the panel around

1. Sand the top side of the panel clean with a sandpaper sponge or similar to remove all burrs
2. If interactive buttons are supposed to be present on the panel you are working on, follow the install instructions of the interactive push buttons (see step 23)
3. Using the paper template as a guide, mark all the LED pilot holes in the front of the panel with a blue cross
4. Placing the paper template over the panel
5. Work from one side to the other
6. Mark one row of LED holes
7. Roll up the paper template a little
8. Mark the next row
9. ...
10. If applicable, finish to cut out the Outlet Cover hole following instructions from step 24

Work the back side of the panel

Marking of LED holes

1. Turn the panel around and sand back side so big breakout chunks fall off
2. Mark the LED holes from the back => blue cross
3. Tip: Use the same strategy with the paper template, but make sure that the paper template is oriented correctly
4. Double-check hole locations
5. Using the template, mark where the LED cables run
6. Identify between which LEDs the LED cables cross 2xXs.
7. Mark those sections with a straight line using a ruler from center of LED hole to center of LED hole. Here the cable has to be in an exact location to not get squeezed between panel and support frame.
8. Identify the center location of the 2xX crossing with a line and a T for transition. This will help with knowing where to be exact with the taping process.
9. Mark the order from Inlet LED to Outlet LED of panel with free hand lines or arrows, where no crossing is
10. This will help with the LED install as the template will be gone at that time
11. We'll tape the cable onto the panel backside later.

Climbing hold nuts

1. Clean floor from all debris
2. Place panel on clean floor with backside up
3. Hammer T-nuts into the locations of the Climbing hold holes
4. To reduce vibration I kneeled on the panel during the hammering step
5. Double check if you got them all

Finalize LED holes

1. Place the panel with the backside up on saw horses
2. Prepare the drill guide
3. 90 degree angle
4. 1/2" drill bit
5. drill stop set to 11mm depth exactly
6. this was the height needed for my LED
7. It was set such that the LED didn't stick out the front, but that it was very close to it
8. double check depth with calipers and/or drill test piece
9. drill all LED holes to depth of 11 mm
10. check from time to time that depth is not changing accidentally which can happen with the hand set screw of the drill guide when you are drilling that many holes
11. turn panel around
12. change drill bit to 21/64" drill bit (diameter for my LEDs)
13. Drill LED through holes from front
14. check that LED fits well in the 2-step hole and is not protruding
15. sand top surface to clear burrs
16. Remove any burrs from inside the LED holes\
17. Burrs interfere with the placement of the LED and thus need to be removed
18. I used a screw driver for this step

In this step we paint the panels with home made climbing wall paint. Because we had a very hard time to find information about how climbing gyms do this, and because the commercially available climbing wall paint was very expensive and had questionable reviews, we decided to make our own. My wife is an artist and she came up with a very straight forward method to get this done. The method requires to paint 4 different layers. Before we did this on our real panels we practiced on a little board and checked that the holes for bolts and LEDs would not get clogged. The practice helped to get us some confidence and develop a routine.

Materials

1. Base paint - we used Valspar Primer
2. Sand - you want it to be somewhat fine
3. Paint for the mural - same than the base paint just with color added, minimum one can for each mural paint color
4. Polyurethane top coat - we used Behr water based, matte

Tools

1. Painting utensils
2. rollers
3. paint pan
4. mixing sticks
5. Kitchen strainer, fine enough for powdered sugar for example
6. Saw horses
7. Paint can opener
8. Hammer
9. Scissors
10. Pencils

Friction Paint Layer

1. Place as many panels as possible on sawhorses or similar support with the climber facing side up
2. Open can of base paint
3. Mix it until it is homogeneous
4. Put some sand in the strainer and place it above a container in handy reach
5. Base layer
6. Roll on a thick coat of base paint
7. Immediately afterwords (or parallel if you have two people) strain a gracious layer of sand onto the wet paint
8. Hold strainer as high as possible, that distributes the sand better.
9. don't worry if you have a few very dense patches of sand
10. When done, just a few minutes later, add a second layer of base paint
11. this layer encloses the sand and distributes it evenly across the layer
12. Ensure the texture is good. If not, repeat.
13. Keep an eye on the holes and open clogged holes with pencil tip whenever necessary
14. Let dry for 2-3 hours according to manufacturer instructions.

Mural Paint Layer

1. Align paper drill & mural template using the mural marks at the panel sides
2. Cut along the lowest line of the mural
3. Trace with a pencil along the cut line
4. This is the line where the first color ends
5. Repeat with next line until all mural lines are transferred onto the base paint of the panel
6. Paint the first color and let dry for 2-3 hours according to manufacturer instructions.
7. Keep an eye on the holes and open clogged holes with pencil tip whenever necessary
8. Move to the next color and repeat until all color are completed
9. Note that for our color and paint choices we had to paint up to 3-4 coats of the least covering mural color to achieve opaque coverage of the paint. Painful, but well worth it.
10. After all colors are complete and good coverage is accomplished, let the panel dry for at least 3 days

Sealant Coat

1. Top off the paint job with a hard drying Polyurethane translucent layer
2. Open can and mix paint thoroughly
3. Pour paint into painting tray
4. With a fresh paint roll apply a thick layer of the polyurethane paint onto the panel
5. Ensure you have good lighting so you can see where you have painted and where not
6. Ensure you keep holes for climbing hold
7. Let dry according to manufacturer instructions (1 hour in our case)
8. Repeat with second layer
9. Let second final layer dry according to manufacturer instructions (1 week in our case)

In this step we are attaching the LEDs to their respective panels. The LED strips are already cut to length and have connectors attached, but note again that the LED strips have an "inlet" end and an "outlet" end. We need to ensure the orientation of the LED strip is correct and start with the LED string closest to the microprocessor, i.e. the string holding LED zero. We then will move along the entire LED strip in consecutive order of the LED numbers. The second important detail is to ensure that the cables do not get squeezed by the 2xX skeleton structure. The cables need to line up with the grooves that were cut into the 2xXs in step 21. This is done by running the cable in a straight line between LED holes and taping it flat onto the panel backside.

Materials

1. Silicone - All Purpose
2. Tape

Tools

1. Silicone Gun
2. Scissors
3. Rags

LED install

1. Start with the Panel that has the first LED in its string, i.e. LED 0.
2. Find the LED string for that panel, Panel 1, in my case.
3. Plug only that LED strip in, and test if it is working. See step 15 for details. We'll be double and triple testing that everything is working, as we won't be able to access the panel back anymore once they are installed for good.
4. Not working => trouble shoot
5. Working => proceed
6. Put the panel on saw horses with the back side upwards.
7. In step 25 we should have marked the locations where the cable crosses the 2x4 skeleton on the backside of the panel. In my pictures this mark is a "T" and the line was drawn with a ruler.
8. I also marked the first LED for this panel with a circle and "In" note, and the last with a circle and an "Out" note.
9. Push the first LED of this panel strip into the "In" hole until it is well seated.
10. Turn it such that the LED cable can run easily towards the next hole.
11. Push the second LED into the second hole after ensuring that the cable is not twisted or turning. This is somewhat tedious to do, but necessary, as we need the cable to be taped flat to the panel backside later in this step.
12. Repeat until all LED are well seated in their holes.
13. Cut strips of tape and tape the LED cables to the back of the panel. For areas that are marked to be crossing a 2xX, ensure the cable is exactly following the line. For the other areas, you can be somewhat lenient, but you still want to ensure the LEDs stay in position and the cable can't get hung up on anything during install and when installing hand holds.
14. With the caulk gun and your fingers, work a good amount of silicone into the gaps between the LED and the hole. The silicone will reliably hold the LED positioned during the install and during use. My nightmare vision was a little unsupervised 2 year old with tiny fingers pushing all LEDs into the climbing wall back and a complete take apart is needed to fix it. Don't risk it. Remember, the probabilities for that 2-year old are higher than winning in the lottery.
15. Let the silicone dry according to instructions.

Panel install

1. Two people or more can be helpful for this step, specifically when you are installing any overhang or ceiling sections.
2. Bring the panel close to the wall section, but leave about 12" or so distance.
3. Screw some screws into the designated alignment holes of the panel. Let these screws poke out by 5 mm or so. I had marked these particular holes with green rectangles on the paper templates (see in picture of step 24) and at their location should be already a hole in the 2xX frame that was used during the panel fitting steps 19 and 20.
4. Ensure you are using the correct holes to exactly recreate the fit that was accomplished during the panel fitting process.
5. Now connect all the wires, i.e. the button wires (if applicable), the "In" wire of the LED strip, and the "Out wire of the LED strip.
6. Have your buddy hold the panel.
7. Switch on controller and test if the LED strip is working.
8. No => trouble shoot
9. Yes => proceed
10. Switch off controller again.
11. Align the panel so the alignment screws are perfectly aligned with their respective holes in the 2xX skeleton.
12. Attach the alignment screws.
13. Switch on controller and test if the LED strip is working.
14. No => remove the panel and trouble shoot
15. Yes => proceed
16. Switch off controller again.
17. Attach the panel to the 2xX frame using all the previously determined screw locations.
18. Switch on controller and test if the LED strip is working.
19. No => remove the panel and trouble shoot
20. Yes => proceed
21. Switch off controller again.
22. Repeat procedure with the next panel until all panels are installed.

Climbing holds are very expensive and my wall is pretty large. Tough to cough up the funds for all the holds that were needed. I was lucky enough to inherit some holds from friends (big shout out to Amber & Jason, Leah, and Colby), I bought a few new ones, and also found some on craigslist. But most importantly, I made a whole bunch myself from various parts of my tree branches and leftover plywood from the panels. In this step I am describing the cleaning and preparation of any previously used resin based holds, and the fabrication of my own wooden hold designs.

Materials

1. Holds
2. Wood pieces
3. Branches
4. Plywood
5. Wood glue
6. Sand paper for various tool

Tools

1. Table Saw
2. Band sander
3. Chop saw
4. Grinder with shaping tool (Arbortech Turboplane)
5. Drill press
6. Forstner drill bits
7. Countersink drill bits
8. Wood working clamps
9. Orbital Sander
10. Dust mask
11. Safety Glasses
12. Chisel

Reviving resin Climbing holds

1. Inspect the climbing holds carefully for cracks or other imperfections that may make a reuse questionable
2. A good amount of the used climbing holds still had material such as wood or plaster on the backside, i.e. the side that touched the wall
3. Remove as much material as possible with a chisel
4. Then place it on the band sander and remove anything that is left on the back side to create a nice flat surface
5. Make sure you are wearing a properly sealed masked with a HEPA filter
6. Rinse the holds under the sink to wash down the dust
7. Then, using dish soap, fill the sink with hot soapy water and scrub them with short bristles brushes
8. This step will unclog all the little surface pores and depending on how old they were, will bring back a lot of the grippiness of the holds
9. Release the water when done.
10. Rinse the holds.
11. Repeat the procedure to get them as clean as possible.
12. When done place them onto a towel and let them dry for a few days. I am not sure to what extent resin can take up water, but it is prudent to ensure they are really dry.
13. The holds are ready to use.

Making holds from tree slices

1. Find a whole bunch of non-cracked well dried tree pieces with diameters of all sizes.
2. Size them up and come up with ideas on how to use them. You can find my ideas in the pictures.
3. Go crazy and experiment. It is amazing how many variations you can come up with.
4. Large diameter pinches
5. Cut large pieces about the diameter of your hand into slices with 10 mm - 30 mm thickness or more with a chop saw
6. If needed remove the bark with a low grid sand paper on belt sander.
7. Clean them up with low grit orbital sander
8. Ensure there are no rough edges or splinter hazards left
9. Drill a hole for the 9/16 bolt
10. Countersink it for the countersink climbing hold bolt
11. Install on wall
12. Try it
13. Be proud
14. Full hand crimps
15. Cut large pieces from same diameter about with 10 - 14 cm length with chop saw
16. Cut them in half with a saw so that they look like half circles. Be very careful when cutting thick pieces of wood with power tools. If in doubt, don't do it.
17. Remove bark and clean them up with low grid belt sander
18. Clean up more with low grit orbital sander
19. Ensure there are no rough edges or splinter hazards left
20. Place on flat side onto belt sander and sand it until all wobble is removed
21. Lay on drill press and measure how deep you have to drill for 9/16" bolt head such that bolt still protrudes at least 3/4" when fully immersed. This length is needed for full engagement of the hand hold bolt with the T-nut. Also confirm when adjusting the drill depth that washer and bolt head would fit into hole without protruding in front.
22. Drill hole for bolt head and washer
23. Drill hole for 9/16" fastening bolt
24. Ensure again that there are no rough edges or splinter hazards left
25. Install on wall
26. Try it
27. Be proud
28. Orthogonal oriented branch pieces for feet or awkward difficult hands
29. Cut completely dried out branches of various diameters into various length.
30. Longer pieces can be hands or feet sticking out of the wall.
31. Shorter pieces can be feet sticking out of the wall.
32. Cutting both sides at an angle can deliver challenging angles for the feet. See pictures for reference.
33. Place flat on drill press table.
34. Measure how deep you have to drill for 9/16" bolt head such that bolt still protrudes at least 3/4" when fully immersed. Also ensure that washer and bolt head fit into hole without protruding in front.
35. Drill hole for bolt head and washer
36. Drill hole for 9/16" fastening bolt
37. Install on wall
38. Try it
39. Be even prouder
40. Parallel oriented branch pieces for feet or awkward difficult hands
41. Cut completely dried out branches of various diameters into various length.
42. Note that these cuts can be angled. When mounted in various orientations the angles may make those feet more interesting.
43. Pick a side that should touch the wall panel.
44. Lay that side onto the belt sander and sand it flat.
45. Place flat side down on drill press table.
46. Measure how deep you have to drill for either 9/16" bolt head or for counter sunk bolt head.
47. Drill as described above.
48. Install on wall. Note that countersink bolts can split these branches if too much torque is applied.
49. Try it
50. Be megaproud
51. Angled branches between wall section and ceiling
52. These are super jugs. Very big, but difficult to make. (Yeah, they look easy, but the angles will drive you crazy.)
53. Find a branch you like to use. You can get very adventurous as you can see in the pictures.
54. Decide on an orientation and angle you want to use.
55. Pick a T-nut location on the wall for the bottom part of this particular hold.
56. Rough cut the branch, but make sure you leave it too long. You'll lose length when working out the angles.
57. Mark the wall angle on the branch as well as possible.
58. Secure the branch on the table saw or on the chop saw and cut it at that angle. Make sure that the branch doesn't move while cutting. The cutting surface has to be flat.
59. Place the branch on the wall and check if that angle works. Ensure it is not yet too short. (Should be at least 5 cm (2") too long to fit against ceiling
60. Place branch on drill press drill holes for the bolt head and bolt. Consider the bolt has material beneath it and around it after drilling to give it enough strength.
61. Place branch on wall and estimate how much you have to cut at what angle. Figure out a way to mark the branch accordingly.
62. Go back to chop saw / table saw and cut a slice. Don't take off too much.
63. Place back on wall to test.
64. Repeat until it fits exactly with cut surface on wall and on ceiling being perfectly flush.
65. Fasten branch with washer and bolt in position.
66. Drill pilot hole into branch and ceiling for countersunk screw.
67. Ensure drill won't penetrate the ceiling panel and cut the cables that may be behind it.
68. Also ensure drill depth in branch fits to screw such that screw has enough material to grip panel, but also does not penetrate and cut cables.
69. Fasten top part of branch to ceiling with screw.
70. Plywood holds
71. Find or cut similar sized pieces of plywood from the plywood leftover pile of the panels
72. Glue plywood pieces together to make blocks
73. use plenty of wood glue
74. use plenty of wood working clamps
75. wait for at least 24 hours to cure the wood glue
76. Imagine the holds inside of the block and draw the shapes on the outside
77. Clamp down block and using a wood shaping tool start shaping the inside grip part of the hold until satisfied.
78. Cut outside part with a chop saw to approach the envisioned shapes
79. Using the band sander with a low grid sanding belt, shape the rest of the hold
80. Place hold on drill press
81. Measure how deep you have to drill for 9/16" bolt head such that bolt still protrudes at least 3/4" on back side when fully immersed. Also ensure that washer and bolt head fit into hole without protruding in front.
82. Drill hole for bolt head and washer
83. Drill hole for 9/16" fastening bolt
84. Note that 50 grit paper worked well. It provided a grippy surface without creating splinters
85. Sand the inside areas with a low grit sand paper
86. Plywood / Branch ladder holds
87. I put a good number of ladder looking holds on the ceiling which I made from two plywood blocks and a connecting branch piece
88. The hardest part was to get the exact distance measured for the bolt holes and transferred onto the hold.
89. Glue plywood sections together as described above
90. Identify two bolt locations for the hold.
91. Measure and record the distance between the two bolts exactly. Measure inside edge to outside edge rather than center to center. Much easier and therefore more accurate.
92. Find a branch to your liking
93. Identify what size plywood should go with the branch.
94. Cut two pieces and sand the edges and sides.
95. Cut the branch to length considering the width and length of the plywood pieces.
96. With a router table, carefully router a section of branch flat that has the same length than the plywood pieces.
97. Repeat on the other side, but ensure that everything is flush when put together.
98. Glue plywood and branch together with wood glue. I clamped them onto a table to ensure both sides dry flat and flush.
99. Mark the recorded distance of the bolt locations onto the branch with a pencil. The bolt should go through the branch, then through the plywood into the T-nut on both sides of the hold.
100. With a center punch make divots on each end of the hold to prevent drill run away.
101. Drill the larger hole for the bolt head first to the right depth for bolt head and washer, such that bolt penetrates enough for secure fastening.
102. Repeat on other end of hold
103. Change drill to bolt hole diameter.
104. Recenter the drill carefully for the bolt hole and drill through the branch and plywood standoff.
105. Repeat on other end of hold
106. Check out fit on the hold. Those holds will fit only if all the measurements were done with very high accuracy.

In this step I am showing more details of the microprocessor setup. I designed and fabricated a custom shield from strip board. You can find a similar strip board development process described in one of my previous instructables. If you have the parts and the strip board material, you can make such a board within a few hours. Anyway, the home made shield connects the arduino nano, which controls the music output, to the main arduino due controller. The shield also holds the level shifter board to send signals to the LED strip via screw connector, and the RF receiver which takes in signals from the remote control. On top of the shield sits a 5W amplifier board for the sound. The amplifier is a 30+ year old solder kit that I still had in my treasure box. All these boards on top of each other created a very nice packaging that just so fitting into the height of my control box.

Note that the additional nano was required because the arduino due is not capable to run the audio signal directly. The standard library doesn't work on the arduino due. It has something to do with the processor architecture. Once I found out that the arduino due couldn't create the sounds, I changed strategy and ran the audio through the arduino nano, which was very straight forward.

Due to the length of this instructable, I only touch on the details of programming. You can find all the scripts and programs attached to this step.

Excel Climbing Wall Map

All the hold positions, LED positions, and actual holds are mapped out in a massive excel sheet with x,y, and z coordinates. For installed holds, meta data such as color, material, size, difficulty are also listed. The list further identifies which LEDs are to be lit up when the hold is on route. As I mentioned earlier, between 1 -4 LEDs were lit to indicate if a hold is on route. The amount of LEDs depended on the LEDs surrounding the holds.

Python script for route making

On my regular computer I used a python script to randomly create many different routes for a particular game. I can make routes based on many criteria from my big master hold list, including by color, material, difficulty rating, hand hold, foot hold, hanger, size, wood type, ... For example for the 25% Holds only game, I made 100 routes of randomly selected 25% handholds. Those routes were stored on the SD card of the microprocessor setup.

Arduino Due State Machine

I used a state machine on the arduino due to select and execute the individual games. As discussed, due to the processing time that was required on the arduino due, I create the routes on a regular computer using a python script. When asked by a climbing wall button click, or the game start up, the arduino due script picks one route and displays it. That is much faster than the arduino creating the routes on the fly.

Arduino Nano Sound Creation

Sound commands are sent by the arduino due to the arduino nano. The nano has melodies and sounds stored on it and executes them depending on the game either randomly or as requested.

Arduino Nano Remote Control

The safety cushion on the floor turned out to be a bigger challenge than expected. I discussed many ideas and pondered how this could be done on a reasonable budget. We finally stumbled over a free "inflatable gymnast mat" and tested it out. That thing was perfect. You can find them here for example and all over the internet once you know what you are looking for. After testing it, we purchased a couple more that had the length we needed to cover most of our floor. We still added some extra mattress foam and mattresses on top and now have a dream land for safe landings and sleep overs.

Thanks for going through the entire instructable.

This was a large build with many time consuming complex details. It is super fun to use and if I am not turning into a stronger climber soon, then I don't know where to turn my blame.

I am already looking forward to the "I Made It" posts from all of you. Hopefully this instructable helps you to get there a little faster.

Shout outs and many thanks for all the friends who helped out with house code information, electrical expertise, solicited and unsolicited advice, providing extra hands, climbing hold donations, and frustration management.

I love you all.

Tschöhö

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