Signature Electronic Signs - convert to Arduino

I have removed three of the Cadaces modules and have written some new code to make them work.  Next is to hard wire the interface circuitry instead of using jumper wires.

Once the controller is wired up and the sign is put back together here is what it looks like.  The picture does not tell the whole story, the display blinks, and the more lines that are enabled the more it blinks.  I will have to work on improving the software to fix that problem.

Here is the new Arduino controller on the left compared to the old sign controller on the right:

Here is the Arduino Controller installed into the Signature Electronic Sign.  I goofed a little bit in the layout so that the ribbon cables must be flipped around backwards so that the stripe is to the right.

Here is the schematic diagram.  I wired it with point to point wiring, however a circuit board or wire wrap would have been easier to do.

Last of all here is the code for the sign.  It was written without scrolling and set up for up to four lines of text.  It still needs some work, like the ability to convert a line of text into an array of characters automatically.  I did that manually.

//****************************************************//
//  Name    : Cadaces Driver                          //
//  Author  : Bob Davis                               //
//  Date    : 4 January, 2013                         //
//  Version : 1.0                                     //
//****************************************************//
// Pins for the row drivers
int row1Pin = 1;
int row2Pin = 2;
int row3Pin = 3;
int rowEnable = 4;

// Pins for column shift registers
int rclockPin = 5;
int clockPin = 6;
int dataPin = 7;
int clockPin1 = 8;
int dataPin1 = 9;
int clockPin2 = 10;
int dataPin2 = 11;
int clockPin3 = 12;
int dataPin3 = 13;

// Set the pins to output to the sign
void setup() {
  pinMode(row1Pin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(row2Pin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(row3Pin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(rowEnable, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(rclockPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(clockPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(dataPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(clockPin1, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(dataPin1, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(clockPin2, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(dataPin2, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(clockPin3, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(dataPin3, OUTPUT);
}

//=== Character Array ===
// Characters are A, B, C, etc.  Only upper case, no symbols. 
byte alphabets[][8] = {
  {0, 04, 10, 17, 17, 31, 17, 17}, //A
  {0, 30, 17, 17, 30, 17, 17, 30}, //B
  {0, 14, 17, 16, 16, 16, 17, 14}, //C
  {0, 28, 18, 17, 17, 17, 18, 28}, //D
  {0, 31, 16, 16, 31, 16, 16, 31}, //E
  {0, 31, 16, 16, 31, 16, 16, 16}, //F
  {0, 14, 17, 16, 16, 19, 17, 14}, //G
  {0, 17, 17, 17, 31, 17, 17, 17}, //H
  {0, 14, 04, 04, 04, 04, 04, 14}, //I
  {0, 07, 02, 02, 02, 02, 10, 14}, //J
  {0, 17, 18, 20, 24, 20, 18, 17}, //K
  {0, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 31}, //L
  {0, 10, 21, 21, 21, 17, 17, 17}, //M
  {0, 17, 25, 25, 21, 19, 19, 17}, //N
  {0, 14, 17, 17, 17, 17, 17, 14}, //O
  {0, 30, 17, 17, 30, 16, 16, 16}, //P
  {0, 14, 17, 17, 17, 17, 19, 15}, //Q
  {0, 30, 17, 17, 30, 20, 18, 17}, //R
  {0, 14, 17, 16, 14, 01, 17, 14}, //S
  {0, 31, 04, 04, 04, 04, 04, 04}, //T
  {0, 17, 17, 17, 17, 17, 17, 14}, //U
  {0, 17, 17, 17, 10, 10, 10, 04}, //V
  {0, 17, 17, 17, 21, 21, 21, 10}, //W
  {0, 17, 17, 10, 04, 10, 17, 17}, //X
  {0, 17, 10, 10, 04, 04, 04, 04}, //Y
  {0, 31, 8, 04, 02, 04, 8, 31}, //Z
};
byte bitmap[][8] = {
  {0, 30, 17, 17, 30, 17, 17, 30}, //B
  {0, 14, 04, 04, 04, 04, 04, 14}, //I
  {0, 14, 17, 16, 16, 19, 17, 14}, //G
  {0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
  {0,  4, 10, 17, 17, 31, 17, 17}, //A
  {0, 30, 17, 17, 30, 20, 18, 17}, //R
  {0, 28, 18, 17, 17, 17, 18, 28}, //D
  {0, 17, 17, 17, 17, 17, 17, 14}, //U
  {0, 14, 04, 04, 04, 04, 04, 14}, //I
  {0, 17, 25, 25, 21, 19, 19, 17}, //N
  {0, 14, 17, 17, 17, 17, 17, 14}, //O
  {0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
  {0, 14, 17, 16, 14, 01, 17, 14}, //S
  {0, 14, 04, 04, 04, 04, 04, 14}, //I
  {0, 14, 17, 16, 16, 19, 17, 14}, //G
  {0, 17, 25, 25, 21, 19, 19, 17}, //N
  {0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0},
};

void RunSign()
{
  for (int row = 7; row > 0; row--)
  {
    // turn off display
    digitalWrite(rowEnable, HIGH);
    // send serial data to display 15 = number of led arrays
    for (int character = 0; character < 16; character++)
    {
    shiftOut(dataPin, clockPin, MSBFIRST, bitmap[character][row]);
//    shiftOut(dataPin1, clockPin1, MSBFIRST, bitmap[character][row]);
//    shiftOut(dataPin2, clockPin2, MSBFIRST, bitmap[character][row]);
    shiftOut(dataPin3, clockPin3, MSBFIRST, bitmap[character][row]);
    }
    //latch the data
    digitalWrite(rclockPin, LOW); digitalWrite(rclockPin, HIGH);
    // set up 74138 row sesection and turn display back on
    digitalWrite(row1Pin, LOW); 
    digitalWrite(row2Pin, LOW); 
    digitalWrite(row3Pin, LOW); 
    if (row==1 or row==3 or row==5 or row==7) digitalWrite (row1Pin, HIGH); 
    if (row==2 or row==3 or row==6 or row==7) digitalWrite (row2Pin, HIGH); 
    if (row >= 4) digitalWrite (row3Pin, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(rowEnable, LOW);
    // Wait to see what we sent to the display ;
    delayMicroseconds(500);
  }
} 

//=== L O O P ===
void loop() {
  RunSign();
}