Who wants a cheap, simple, Arduino-based LED controller?

[actarus]

Hi
great job but. I haven't realy understand,the resistor and the led for exemple are not conected to the ground on the eagle file.
And how do you communicate with the pc to send the code in the atmega. Do you need to plug something (a usb interface for example).
Thanx you to answer to my stupid questions.

[joncd]

I took a look at the code. I think that there are some optimizations that could be made to the logic that would allow it to be a bit more modular. I will PM you in the next couple of days when I get a chance.

[wld1783]

I need a bit of help with http://code.google.com/p/typhon-reef/

For some reasons I found the files but cannot open the .brd file and others.

What software do I need?

Sorry for the questions as I grew up with a Timex Sinclair and a no kidding cassette tape for a hard drive.

Bill

[actarus]

I open it with "eagle"

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Originally Posted by actarus

Hi
great job but. I haven't realy understand,the resistor and the led for exemple are not conected to the ground on the eagle file.

There is a ground plane on both sides of the PCB. You need to hit the "ratsnest" button in the toolbar to refresh the copper layers and get it to draw in the ground plane. This is purely related to appearance in the editor - I can assure you that the ground connections are actually present on the board.

And how do you communicate with the pc to send the code in the atmega. Do you need to plug something (a usb interface for example).
Thanx you to answer to my stupid questions.

No such thing as stupid questions! Communication for uploading firmware is via the built-in serial port on the AVR chip. The "FTDI" header broken out near the top right corner of the board is for this purpose. Since it's TTL-level serial, you need to convert it to something your PC can work with. You can use a simple serial level converter if you have an old fashioned serial port on your PC, but the more common approach is a USB-Serial breakout board or cable. Here are some options based on the FTDI232 chip:

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/pro...oducts_id=9718
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/pro...oducts_id=9115
http://www.moderndevice.com/products/usb-bub (this is the one I use)

Or if you are adventurous, you can use any generic ($2 on eBay) USB-serial cellphone cable, hack the wiring to a pin header, and dig for the correct drivers.

Originally Posted by joncd

I took a look at the code. I think that there are some optimizations that could be made to the logic that would allow it to be a bit more modular. I will PM you in the next couple of days when I get a chance.

There are absolutely possible improvements to the code structure! Not to mention obvious additional functionality that could be added. I would appreciate any contributions people have. The sketch I put up was basically an on-a-whim "lets see if this thing works" effort to get the basic functionality described in this thread.

Originally Posted by wld1783

I need a bit of help with http://code.google.com/p/typhon-reef/

For some reasons I found the files but cannot open the .brd file and others.

What software do I need?

Originally Posted by actarus

I open it with "eagle"

Yep, you need Eagle or an Eagle-compatible design tool. CadSoft makes a free version of Eagle for hobbyists:

http://www.cadsoftusa.com/freeware.htm

People not familiar with Eagle can get started by working through the tutorials on basic Eagle functionality hosted by Sparkfun as part of their "Beginning Embedded Electronics" series:

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/tut...torials_id=108

[actarus]

Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht

There is a ground plane on both sides of the PCB. You need to hit the "ratsnest" button in the toolbar to refresh the copper layers and get it to draw in the ground plane. This is purely related to appearance in the editor - I can assure you that the ground connections are actually present on the board.

No such thing as stupid questions! Communication for uploading firmware is via the built-in serial port on the AVR chip. The "FTDI" header broken out near the top right corner of the board is for this purpose. Since it's TTL-level serial, you need to convert it to something your PC can work with. You can use a simple serial level converter if you have an old fashioned serial port on your PC, but the more common approach is a USB-Serial breakout board or cable. Here are some options based on the FTDI232 chip:

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/pro...oducts_id=9718
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/pro...oducts_id=9115
http://www.moderndevice.com/products/usb-bub (this is the one I use)

Or if you are adventurous, you can use any generic ($2 on eBay) USB-serial cellphone cable, hack the wiring to a pin header, and dig for the correct drivers.

Thank you very much I do not really understand where the ground was connected. By pressing "rastnest" it became much clearer.

I'll take the same as yours

Can you give me address of manufacturer pcb (maybe by PM).

Thank you again

[der_wille_zur_macht]

actarus, I used seeedstudio to make the prototype PCBs. They have a fixed-price package where boards under 10cm * 10cm are $40 for 10 pieces. If you don't mind the fact that you're getting 10 pieces, this is by far the best price you'll find unless you get up near mass production quantities.

If you only want to order one or two, you might be better off looking at:
batchpcb.com
http://dorkbotpdx.org/wiki/dorkbotpdx_group_ordering

Both of these places basically take one-off hobbyist designs, panelize them, and order in batches. You pay more per square inch than seeedstudio, but you can order one or two boards without worrying about outrageous pricing - most "real" board houses don't even want to make one or two pieces, and they'll charge you an insane amount if they will.

[actarus]

Tanks for the links

[actarus]

Can i use this board to communicate vith the PC ?
http://www.geeetech.com/index.php?ma...4dkag8frhvgdn1


On your board,Dwzm,it's RTS line,here it's RST line.What is the difference between ?

I saw on the same website a cheap lcd display , can i use it ?
http://www.geeetech.com/index.php?ma...4dkag8frhvgdn1


Thanks

[actarus]

Originally Posted by actarus

On your board,Dwzm,it's RTS line,here it's RST line.What is the difference between ?

oups ! on your boars it's DTR line sorry

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Not sure about that LCD, at least not without modification. It says:

Utilizes the extremely common KS0066 parallel interface chipset. Interface code is freely available. You will need ~11 general I/O pins to interface to this LCD screen.
Features：
Model: JHD659 B/W
Display: 16×2 Characters
OUTLINE: 80.0ｘ36.0ｘ14.5
V.A.: 64.5ｘ14.5
Controller: SPLC780D

Most small character LCDs use a HD44780-compatible interface, which is what the hardware and software we're working on expects. I see that LCD's specs listing other chipsets/controllers and I'm not sure if they are HD44780-compatible or not - usually if they are, they say so in the description, so I'd be nervous about assuming that screen will work.

Regarding the USB-serial converter you posted - it SHOULD work, but you may have to fiddle to get the auto reset working, and you'll need to get a driver for that device for your OS. The FT232R driver is pretty much available for any OS (or already included in most OSs) and I'm not sure about drivers for that chip. I do know that people have posted about it on the Arduino forums so it is possible.

Also strikes me as a little funny that their website is a complete ripoff of Sparkfun!

[DustinB]

I have used the SPLC780D based LCDs in place of the HD44780 without issue.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Then I'm assuming SPLC780D is HD44780 compatible. Good to know. I am surprised they don't come out and say that, since the HD44780 seems to be the name people recognize.

[actarus]

ok thanks you

there is a problem on the code ?

Normaly for it's :

LCD RS pin to digital pin 12
LCD Enable pin to digital pin 11
LCD D4 pin to digital pin 5
LCD D5 pin to digital pin 4
LCD D6 pin to digital pin 3
LCD D7 pin to digital pin 2
----->
LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 5, 4, 3, 2), for the arduino duemillanove.

But in you code you put:
LiquidCrystal lcd(8, 7, 5, 4, 16, 2) ????

According to your connection to the U2 atmega,the number of pins have to be:
LCD RS pin to digital pin 14
LCD Enable pin to digital pin 13
LCD D4 pin to digital pin 11
LCD D5 pin to digital pin 6
LCD D6 pin to digital pin 25
LCD D7 pin to digital pin 4

----->
LiquidCrystal lcd(14, 13, 11, 6, 25, 4), for the atmega8.

Andyou put Bkl in 6 instead of 12.

[actarus]

Ok i correct myself !


and we have :LiquidCrystal lcd(8, 7, 5, 4, 16, 2)

I confused sorry.:-(

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I switched the pins for the standard LiquidCrystal around quite a bit, because I "needed" the default pins for other purposes. In a design where you need every single I/O pin, you need to choose carefully which pin you use for what based on the hardware capabilities (i.e. PWM pins, etc.)

[nullbreached]

So is the next step in pursuing this project on our own getting the PCB made? Can I assume that there will be others interested and that if fabrication involves a minimum of 10 units then there might be interest in a group buy/share? $40 per 10cm x 10cm PCB was mentioned in a previous post (I don't know how large the final board is) so if the reference is anywhere near that $40 is plenty reasonable but it seems silly to just keep the extras.

Or am I completely misunderstanding the whole process?

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Yes, I am releasing the design - you basically need to get your hands on a PCB. Besides ordering in batches, there are a few shops that will make just one or two pcbs (batchpcb.com, or dorkbotpdx).

It's still worth mentioning that while I've tested this myself, there may be changes over time, and as I (or others) implement those changes, there will likely be "leftover" PCBs, so if you're willing to wait, that might be the best way to get a pcb for cheap.

It's also worth mentioning that reefcentral has fairly strict "group buy" policies, so if folks want to go in that direction, it might be best to take the discussion offline or elsewhere.

[kbb0118]

I am VERY excited about this thread. I wasted so much time today trying to figure it out for myself! I was going to do a USB to RF then RF LED dimmer. I'd much prefer not leaving my computer on all the time! Thanks for your hard work! I'm looking forward to updates!

[wld1783]

Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht

Ok, I made a google code site to hold the project and uploaded the current prototype version. People who have the prototype PCBs can look here for documentation and to find the bill of materials:

http://code.google.com/p/typhon-reef/

OK

I got eagle but no files has something changed on the link?

A direct link to the files would help.

Here on this forum I'm used to Direcdt Links, Pics, and YouTube.

I have several ELN 60-48D but the control build is less than user friendly. AKA No Go

DWZM

To do your build you have road blocks...Please remove them.


Bill

[XSiVE]

Originally Posted by wld1783

OK

I got eagle but no files has something changed on the link?

A direct link to the files would help.

Here on this forum I'm used to Direcdt Links, Pics, and YouTube.

I have several ELN 60-48D but the control build is less than user friendly. AKA No Go

DWZM

To do your build you have road blocks...Please remove them.


Bill

Ive got typhon.pde under the software section, typhon.brd and typhon.sch under the hardware. (under source, browse, trunk)

I dont have eagle so Im not sure if Im looking at what you need, or if you need more than what's there..

[wld1783]

Originally Posted by XSiVE

Ive got typhon.pde under the software section, typhon.brd and typhon.sch under the hardware. (under source, browse, trunk)

I dont have eagle so Im not sure if Im looking at what you need, or if you need more than what's there..

I linked the typhon.brd and typhon.sch and got a bunch of health care stuff.

This is seriously un-user friendly

I have eagle but dont know what to do with it...DWZM

Please make this easy.


Bill

[XSiVE]

health care stuff??? here's a link to the raw pde firmware file.

http://typhon-reef.googlecode.com/sv...hon/typhon.pde

you're going to also need to download and include the libraries listed in the comments section shown below:

the raw pde file should contain something starting with:
/*
// Typhon firmware
// v0.1 alpha 2010-08-06
// N. Enders
//
// This sketch provides firmware for the Typhon LED controller.
// It provides a structure to fade 4 independent channels of LED lighting
// on and off each day, to simulate sunrise and sunset.
//
// Current work in progress:
// - store all LED variables in EEPROM so they are not reset by a loss of power
//
// Future developments may include:
// - moon phase simulation
// - storm simulation
//
// Sketch developed in Arduino-18
// Requires LiquidCrystal, Wire, EEPROM, EEPROMVar, and Button libraries.
// Button is available here: http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Code/Button
// EEPROMVar is available here: http://www.arduino.cc/playground/upl...PROMVar_01.zip
*/

even with this and the arduino software it's not totally intuitive but hey, DIY is about learning isnt it?


edit: oh wait if you're playing in eagle, that's for the hardware only.. my bad.

[wld1783]

Thanks

Will give it a try tomorrow as its late.

Bill

[der_wille_zur_macht]

The files are in an svn repository, which is a tool developers use to version software and other electronic files while they are under development (again, I'll remind people that this is currently very much a development effort, and won't be presented in an "easy to swallow" format until it's stable and I feel it's ready for that. While it is a working, functioning device at this point that will dim your LEDs, the project isn't at a stage where I've put any effort into making it easy to swallow yet, since it still may change over the next few weeks/months). It's not really standard practice to direct-link files in svn repositories, because it kind of defeats half the purpose of versioning the files in the first place. I'm sorry if this is awkward or difficult for people, but this is the method I've chosen to develop this project (in my spare time, as an open source effort, with no hopes or plans to be compensated).

Once the project reaches a "finished" major-version state, I'll post the final, stable documents in the "downloads" section of the google code site, and they'll be easier to find, and directly-linkable. I'm also planning on posting a quick FAQ and a user manual once we reach that point. This is essentially the intended use of the google code framework - develop in the repo tab, release stable versions in the download tab.

In the meantime, this is the best I can do. Click on this link:

http://code.google.com/p/typhon-reef/source/browse/

You'll get the directory structure for the svn repository, in "browse" mode. It works like Windows Explorer. There's a tree structure of folders on the left, and lists of files are displayed on the right. The files you need are in svn/trunk/hardware/typhon and svn/trunk/software/typhon. To get to the files, first click on the word "trunk" in the tree on the left:



Then, click on the other folders to drill down to the directory you're looking for, for instance, trunk/hardware/typhon to get the hardware files:



The expanded tree is on the left. The list of files is on the right. There are three hardware files:

typhon.sch is the schematic; use Eagle to open it
typhon.brd is the board file; use Eagle to open it
typhon_bom.xls is the bill of materials; use Excel to open it

When you click on the name of one of the files, you'll get to the change log page for that file. Click on the "view raw file" link on the right:



Your browser will download the file and/or attempt to open it, depending on your browser's configuration and which file you clicked on. Can't really help you there as it'll be dependent on your configuration.

The current firmware (software) is an Arduino "sketch" (Arduino's name for a program file) located in the path specified above. It's a plain text file with a .pde extension. You can edit it with any text editor but the best practice is to get the Arduino IDE and open it with that, since you'll need that to upload it to your hardware (unless you want to build your own toolchain from scratch, in which case you probably aren't reading this post! )

You'll also need a piece of hardware to convert the I/O capabilities of your computer to something the Typhon controller can understand, as detailed above:

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/pro...oducts_id=9718
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/pro...oducts_id=9115
http://www.moderndevice.com/products/usb-bub (this is the one I use)

Or if you are adventurous, you can use any generic ($2 on eBay) USB-serial cellphone cable, hack the wiring to a pin header, and dig for the correct drivers.