awesome, I'm starting to learn something. One of those things I learned is a redesign on the master console. I am switching to groups of 4 RJ45 jacks instead of the 12 port. I will still have the 12 ports, but I will add the traces and connectors for another 3 jacks. I found an old 12 port switch laying around and pirated the jacks off it.
Any suggestions on the new board after seeing the last one. I also have to down size it to under 11x8 instead of 12x8 because the traces do not transfer between two separate sheets of photo paper very well. 90% of the traces were perfect on the sheet that was whole and over half of the traces on the add-on sheet were messed up after etching.
I will be basing it on the original master I posted, but will be spacing things out a little more and using both sides a bit more.
I thought about trying to use the CNC to have it do the traces, but I couldn't find a good way to export the actual traces into my CNC software. I can get it to export the drill points perfectly, but getting it to etch the other parts is a challenge. I know there is software out there to do it, and the CNC is capable of it if I get a fine enough bit, but I dont' see a way to save my files as a high resolution picture or better yet a vector document.
It won't take long to draw up the new one since I only have to deal with one row of RJ45's instead of top and bottom, Much more room and should have gone that way the first time.
I thought about trying to use the CNC to have it do the traces, but I couldn't find a good way to export the actual traces into my CNC software. I can get it to export the drill points perfectly, but getting it to etch the other parts is a challenge. I know there is software out there to do it, and the CNC is capable of it if I get a fine enough bit, but I dont' see a way to save my files as a high resolution picture or better yet a vector document.
It won't take long to draw up the new one since I only have to deal with one row of RJ45's instead of top and bottom, Much more room and should have gone that way the first time.
most software can export to gerber format which is what pcb manufacturers use to make the files. i know nothing of the format but I am sure it could be used to run the cnc.
As for an image that is not hard to do. Eagle has a nice feature to export to an image of a specific DPI. If the software does not do it print screen and capture will work you just need to play around with the DPI setting while printing to get actual size.
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propmod_us are now in stock. propmod_1x1 arrive on 26th. Only $30
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
Can you hold off on doing another master board until Sunday? With all the add ons I think we will need to add some address decoding to free up some prop lines. I need a day or so to look into that, and tomorrow I will be working late. Friday, so of course a customer wants to do a lengthy upgrade after lunch. Argh.
Not sure what you mean by daisy chaining the slaves, but if that means shifting out 56 x 15 bits of data that is not practical. The slaves will be in separate boxes with a cat 5 cable to each one.
I was thinking of a 4 to 16 line decoder like the 74HC154, but the outputs are active low and we need active high.
My current thinking is to use 3 74HC595's. Two for the slave select lines, and one for any front panel leds. That would free up 13 of the 15 lines used for slave selects and give us status leds for the software.
We have the time, but the extra connectors and line drivers would be more expensive than 3 74HC595's, addressing individual slaves and relays would be more difficult, and the software more complex. With the '595's I can shift out a bit to select an individual slave, shift out the data to that slave, and then select the next slave. Physically and logically a simpler setup.
Yes, I can wait till Sunday to finish the board. I will keep working at getting the basics into it for things like the pull downs and that type of stuff. Let me know what chips I need to order and where exactly they need to go in the system, what pins go where, that kind of thing. I have plenty of other stuff to do on this so waiting a couple days is fine.
Is there a reason we are going with 1/10 second resolution on how it reads.
My buddy wrote the program, but it is writing out in ms, not ds (deciseconds) so for 2 seconds it is 2000, not 20.· I'm sure I can have excel drop the extra two zeros if needed.
If I recall correctly we were talking about using seconds initially, and you thought we needed better resolution and suggested 1/10 seconds.
The software is using 24 bits to represent the elapsed time so the largest time count would be 16,777,215 which would be 16,777.215 seconds,
279.62025 minutes, or 4.6603375 hours if we use milliseconds. If a show does not last more than that, milliseconds are fine. Overkill precision wise, but fine.
In addition to the other parts on the schematic can you order 3 74HC595's. We need to free up some of the prop pins and add some status leds. The status leds would be:
"Power On" (connected directly to the 3.3V)
"Ready" (lit when the program has been downloaded and is waiting for start to be pressed)
"Running" (lit when the program is executing commands)
"Paused" (lit when pause has been pressed)
I will update the schematic and forward it by Sunday morning at the latest.
That will work. I think I will be doing most of the mapping in excel for what items go to what relays. In the timing software, it is in 1/10th of a second, but it records it in ms format. I can easily have excel take out the last two 00's so we stay with the current format. I'll get the the chips on order, I am going to get 5 so I have some spares if we decide to change anything else as well.
Since we are looking at using a SD card for the music, can we have it store the programming information too and eliminate the laptop in the field or do we still want it to see what is going on? it doesn't matter to me, there will be power out there anyway.
2- Add in the status leds and free up the prop pins.
3- Get the software working without the sd card and music. You may have to use the laptop or a CD player for the music and cue it manually for a while.
4- Add the sd card and music output to the software and hardware.
5- Add the ability to load the software from the sd card. ***** This may not be required if we load the program to eeprom
Does it have to be p0-p3? those are going to be used for other stuff aren't they or is that getting switched now with the additinal chips.
I have a working version of the timing program now too.
It's very basic, but should work well enough for what we need.·
Here is the app.· once started, hit ss, enter. then hit the keys you want to use at the end, hit z.
It outputs to outfile.txt
Kwinn, did you look at the firetick program I uploaded, is that what we are looking for?
I think I will use a spreadsheet of all the RY #'s and the slaves. As I pick the the relays, I will copy the slave number to the first column, then move a high Relay # (33-56) in the next columns. On the line below it I will drag in the corresponding Low relays for that slave, if any. I can easily insert more lines to pick more slaves. I should also be able to coordinate what each relay is based on a color to keep everything straight.
I should also be able to make a line graph that shows the timeline and the relays that will turn on at the times and I think I can also convert the times to show me the time into the track.
Ok, another new question on the timing. Some of the pyros are instant, some are delayed. Example. A mine is an instant ignition display. As soon as the lift charge takes fire, the display is ignited and shot from the tube. Aerial shells are different in two ways. They can have a tail attached to them, in which case it would be an instant ignition. The tailless shells will have a delay from ignition to burst, ie. 3-7 seconds depending on the effect and size/height of the shell.
What is the best way to compensate for this in my timing. I will know the delay ahead of time and be able to subtract the delay from the time I have listed, How will the propeller treat this time if I don't resort the time list?
For example, the program will output.
A= Mine, no delay
B=3" no tail, 3 second delay
C=4" with tail, no delay
Firetick output:
at + 380 A
at + 400 B
at + 420 C
I can manually change the output to this to compensate for the delay
at + 380 A
at + 370 B (-30 for a 3 second time delay)
at + 420 C
What will the effect be on the software if it sees a time code that has already passed or is this all presorted in the prop before it is sent to the slaves and the order doesn't matter?
New issue, can you guys run a test on that firetick program. I ran it on mine and the time is off. it loses about 5.5 seconds over a minute based on the time codes and my computer clock and a the time display on a MP3 I was playing.
That doesn't make sense. I'm not sure if it's my computer or the program.
I tried FireTick and it seems to be ok. Can't say if the time is exactly what it should be since I do not have a stopwatch handy. The output looks fine except for the comma before the letter. I wanted a single quote character so the prop tool would see it as a comment. Not a big deal, easy to fix with a search/replace.
RE: What will the effect be on the software if it sees a time code that has already passed or is this all presorted in the prop before it is sent to the slaves and the order doesn't matter?
In the case you have shown it will wait until 380, fire 380, and immediately fire 370. The program compares the actual time to the firing time and fires the relays if the actual time is greater than or equal to the firing time. This ensures a shell is not left unfired because something took 1/10th of a second longer and the timer passed the firing time. The times must be in ascending order.
I will find a clock with a second hand/display and try the program to answer your last question.
I think the problem may be with the program. I pressed a key with the second hand at 12 to start, and once every minute for the next 5 minutes and it looks like the program counts about 55 seconds of time.
i have not tested the code or optimized the stack size because i lent my spinstudio to a friend. bad excuse because i could wire up the audio circuit with a propmod but i am a little busy at the moment.
It compiles though and i made almost no changes so I am sure it will work.
2 changes you may need to make.
PlayWav_16bitStereo_delay on lines 191 and 193 define the pin used for left and right channel
the file to be played needs to be called music.wav
the file must be a 16bit stereo wav file.
you can delete the example function. it is there to allow you to test the file just by compiling and running this file.
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propmod_us are now in stock. propmod_1x1 arrive on 26th. Only $30
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
Comments
Any suggestions on the new board after seeing the last one. I also have to down size it to under 11x8 instead of 12x8 because the traces do not transfer between two separate sheets of photo paper very well. 90% of the traces were perfect on the sheet that was whole and over half of the traces on the add-on sheet were messed up after etching.
I will be basing it on the original master I posted, but will be spacing things out a little more and using both sides a bit more.
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propmod_us are now in stock. propmod_1x1 arrive on 26th. Only $30
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
It won't take long to draw up the new one since I only have to deal with one row of RJ45's instead of top and bottom, Much more room and should have gone that way the first time.
It won't take long to draw up the new one since I only have to deal with one row of RJ45's instead of top and bottom, Much more room and should have gone that way the first time.
As for an image that is not hard to do. Eagle has a nice feature to export to an image of a specific DPI. If the software does not do it print screen and capture will work you just need to play around with the DPI setting while printing to get actual size.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
propmod_us are now in stock. propmod_1x1 arrive on 26th. Only $30
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
propmod_us are now in stock. propmod_1x1 arrive on 26th. Only $30
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
I was thinking of a 4 to 16 line decoder like the 74HC154, but the outputs are active low and we need active high.
My current thinking is to use 3 74HC595's. Two for the slave select lines, and one for any front panel leds. That would free up 13 of the 15 lines used for slave selects and give us status leds for the software.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
propmod_us are now in stock. propmod_1x1 arrive on 26th. Only $30
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
Is there a reason we are going with 1/10 second resolution on how it reads.
My buddy wrote the program, but it is writing out in ms, not ds (deciseconds) so for 2 seconds it is 2000, not 20.· I'm sure I can have excel drop the extra two zeros if needed.
Post Edited (chaosgk) : 5/22/2009 1:44:30 PM GMT
The software is using 24 bits to represent the elapsed time so the largest time count would be 16,777,215 which would be 16,777.215 seconds,
279.62025 minutes, or 4.6603375 hours if we use milliseconds. If a show does not last more than that, milliseconds are fine. Overkill precision wise, but fine.
In addition to the other parts on the schematic can you order 3 74HC595's. We need to free up some of the prop pins and add some status leds. The status leds would be:
"Power On" (connected directly to the 3.3V)
"Ready" (lit when the program has been downloaded and is waiting for start to be pressed)
"Running" (lit when the program is executing commands)
"Paused" (lit when pause has been pressed)
I will update the schematic and forward it by Sunday morning at the latest.
Since we are looking at using a SD card for the music, can we have it store the programming information too and eliminate the laptop in the field or do we still want it to see what is going on? it doesn't matter to me, there will be power out there anyway.
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propmod_us are now in stock. propmod_1x1 arrive on 26th. Only $30
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
1- Leave the time in 1/10th second increments.
2- Add in the status leds and free up the prop pins.
3- Get the software working without the sd card and music. You may have to use the laptop or a CD player for the music and cue it manually for a while.
4- Add the sd card and music output to the software and hardware.
5- Add the ability to load the software from the sd card. ***** This may not be required if we load the program to eeprom
Open a separate cog and give me a value for waitcnt so we can sincronize
Use p0-p3 and I will provide a propmod with sd gratis
Has 512k eeprom so you can store code in there
Just pm me your address
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propmod_us are now in stock. propmod_1x1 arrive on 26th. Only $30
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
I have a working version of the timing program now too.
It's very basic, but should work well enough for what we need.·
Here is the app.· once started, hit ss, enter. then hit the keys you want to use at the end, hit z.
It outputs to outfile.txt
I will provide you a footprint in diptrace tonight
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propmod_us are now in stock. propmod_1x1 arrive on 26th. Only $30
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
mctrivia, can you send me a schematic for the propmod so I know what pins are available and which are used?
The propmod thread has schematic layout and I think schematic. On phone now but can upload later tonight if not there
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propmod_us are now in stock. propmod_1x1 arrive on 26th. Only $30
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
I think I will use a spreadsheet of all the RY #'s and the slaves. As I pick the the relays, I will copy the slave number to the first column, then move a high Relay # (33-56) in the next columns. On the line below it I will drag in the corresponding Low relays for that slave, if any. I can easily insert more lines to pick more slaves. I should also be able to coordinate what each relay is based on a color to keep everything straight.
I should also be able to make a line graph that shows the timeline and the relays that will turn on at the times and I think I can also convert the times to show me the time into the track.
What is the best way to compensate for this in my timing. I will know the delay ahead of time and be able to subtract the delay from the time I have listed, How will the propeller treat this time if I don't resort the time list?
For example, the program will output.
A= Mine, no delay
B=3" no tail, 3 second delay
C=4" with tail, no delay
Firetick output:
at + 380 A
at + 400 B
at + 420 C
I can manually change the output to this to compensate for the delay
at + 380 A
at + 370 B (-30 for a 3 second time delay)
at + 420 C
What will the effect be on the software if it sees a time code that has already passed or is this all presorted in the prop before it is sent to the slaves and the order doesn't matter?
That doesn't make sense. I'm not sure if it's my computer or the program.
RE: What will the effect be on the software if it sees a time code that has already passed or is this all presorted in the prop before it is sent to the slaves and the order doesn't matter?
In the case you have shown it will wait until 380, fire 380, and immediately fire 370. The program compares the actual time to the firing time and fires the relays if the actual time is greater than or equal to the firing time. This ensures a shell is not left unfired because something took 1/10th of a second longer and the timer passed the firing time. The times must be in ascending order.
I will find a clock with a second hand/display and try the program to answer your last question.
It compiles though and i made almost no changes so I am sure it will work.
2 changes you may need to make.
PlayWav_16bitStereo_delay on lines 191 and 193 define the pin used for left and right channel
the file to be played needs to be called music.wav
the file must be a 16bit stereo wav file.
you can delete the example function. it is there to allow you to test the file just by compiling and running this file.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
propmod_us are now in stock. propmod_1x1 arrive on 26th. Only $30
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
propmod_us are now in stock. propmod_1x1 arrive on 26th. Only $30
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
changed it so it starts up and initialized while paused. when you are ready to start run unpause
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propmod_us are now in stock. propmod_1x1 arrive on 26th. Only $30
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
Post Edited (mctrivia) : 5/23/2009 3:15:14 AM GMT