Propeller based LED controller
xanadu
Posts: 3,347
I don't know how large a market there is for something like this, but it would kind of bridge two demographics. I have been selling and showing off my RC planes with Propeller chips on them for around a year now. So far at each showing or sale the more I explained of the Prop based LED controller the more the RC pilot wanted to know about it. At least a few have purchased Prop Ed kits from Frys, but were a little overwhelmed with how do I get this into my RC airplane/copter/etc.
It's common place for microcontroller "hobbyists" like myself to fly RC, but it's not very often RC people cross the bridge into micros. The LED controller could potentially bridge that gap and get them programming simple LED blinking which we know anyone can do.
On the smallest board possible it would be really wild to have a DC input like the new Prop Project Board (5-17v). Then a bunch of outputs that could handle some current along with some "always on" outputs that would tie into the boards input. It could also have a PWM input from the controller that could switch routines, etc.
Having the ability to program interactive lighting has sparked a lot of interests with the groups I fly with. When I show them the blink rate changes based on how long I've been in the air they instantly want one, and want to customize the take off delay etc for their own setup.
Anyway I hope you'll take this into consideration othewise I'm going to have to keep chopping Project Boards in half
It's common place for microcontroller "hobbyists" like myself to fly RC, but it's not very often RC people cross the bridge into micros. The LED controller could potentially bridge that gap and get them programming simple LED blinking which we know anyone can do.
On the smallest board possible it would be really wild to have a DC input like the new Prop Project Board (5-17v). Then a bunch of outputs that could handle some current along with some "always on" outputs that would tie into the boards input. It could also have a PWM input from the controller that could switch routines, etc.
Having the ability to program interactive lighting has sparked a lot of interests with the groups I fly with. When I show them the blink rate changes based on how long I've been in the air they instantly want one, and want to customize the take off delay etc for their own setup.
Anyway I hope you'll take this into consideration othewise I'm going to have to keep chopping Project Boards in half
Comments
Well, you have come to the right place! In fact, I have a board under development right now that will do exactly what you are looking for. I'll send you a few of the prototypes when they come off the line, too. The board is designed and pretty much ready to go to fab. I'm wrapping up BOM and manufacturing details. Prototypes in about 3 weeks?
I am shooting for pretty high voltage and current capabilities. I'll have 8 individually switchable channels, each at up to 24 volts and hopefully > 10 amps. I don't know how much power I can push through the board yet, so naturally, I'll adjust those values as needed. However, the FETs that do the switching are rated plenty high.
I'll keep you posted.
To whet your appetite, I have already written a 32 channel PWM driver for the Propeller that uses a single cog and can PWM all 32 I/Os (if desired) very smoothly. You also get 32 bit control of each channel. The caveat is that the duty cycle of the channels are not settable. Is is very quick, though. Check it:
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/147131-New-32-Channel-PWM-Object-for-Propeller
Cheers!
I had a feeling you guys had something in the works. I'd love to test it out and initially what you listed sounds very good. A lot of people I fly with don't want to fly at night and want to use an RC channel to turn on/off LEDs plus switch modes with their schemes during the day. Some kind of support for a PWM input from the rx would really seal the the deal.
I will look at the code for your 32 channel 1 cog PWM driver, I had never thought about using one duty cycle across the board to use that many channels, very cool!
I just noticed this post and was wondering if you ever made an LED Prop for an RC Airplane?
I live near Parallax, and do a lot of night flying.
Thanks
https://facebook.com/RCWorldUSA/videos/299683756909396/
I have put Propeller microcontrollers into many RC aircraft to control LED lighting.
In response to my original post, now we have the Propeller Mini https://www.parallax.com/product/32150
Night flying is great, it has been awhile for me. Were you planning on building your own LED controller?