After several inquires from those wanting to buy my spare TLC5940 driver boards I decided to fabricate more·PCBs and make them available to those interested. If you would like to purchase bare PCBs, please send me a PM with how boards you are interested in and your e-mail address. I will respond with an e-mail containing the details and addditional information about the design.
Thank you!
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Timothy D. Swieter tdswieter.com
One little spark of imagination is all it takes for an idea to explode
I wanted to let the forum know, for those who are interested, that the LED driver PCBs are for sale at www.brilldea.com if you want to purchase a board for making your own displays or for some other project. I am only selling the PCBs, you will have to supply the components and solder them up. Further documentation can be found on the website. I hope to get a tutorial up in two to three weeks as well.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Timothy D. Swieter
www.brilldea.com·- check out the uOLED-IOC, an I/O expansion for the uOLED-96-PROP www.tdswieter.com
One little spark of imagination is all it takes for an idea to explode
You could try Digikey, Mouser or Farnel/Newark. Also check out Texas Instruments website, sometimes you can order samples (free or minimum charge).
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Timothy D. Swieter
www.brilldea.com·- check out the uOLED-IOC, an I/O expansion for the uOLED-96-PROP www.tdswieter.com
One little spark of imagination is all it takes for an idea to explode
I get my TLC5940s from Farnell in the UK. They offer free next day delivery in the UK for orders over 20 Pounds, so it may be worth asking them if they can ship to Germany. They use Royal Mail, or UPS if you ask them when you order, so I don't think that shipping to Germany should be a problem for them.
Edit : Just noticed in their FAQ that they normally only ship to a UK address. They can export, but they ask that you phone them on +44 8701 200 208 first. Hopefully because you are in the EU there shouldn't be too many problems.
That is a bummber about minimum orders and shipping.
Next time I am at the markets in Shenzhen I will see if I can pick up some of the TI chips to sell on the website for those that are having trouble sourcing them.· It will probably be two to three weeks before I make another visit.
As a side note, I agree that Google doesn't always see into the various catalogs of electronic components on-line.· I use two different search engines to find electronic parts and datasheets.· I don't know how well these will work from Europe, but give it a try:
www.brilldea.com·- check out the uOLED-IOC, an I/O expansion for the uOLED-96-PROP www.tdswieter.com
One little spark of imagination is all it takes for an idea to explode
Thanks tpw_man. If I was left to my own I would probably make the whole room throb with LED lighting. My wife on the other hand has her ideas, so we compromise. The room is so much more fun to sit in and chill out with a little mood music and a little LED lighting.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Timothy D. Swieter
www.brilldea.com·- check out the uOLED-IOC, an I/O expansion for the uOLED-96-PROP www.tdswieter.com
One little spark of imagination is all it takes for an idea to explode
Just a quick note to let you know that I finally created an application note and video that provides further details about my living room LED system.· You can find furhter information at http://www.brilldea.com/resources.html.
The application note contains more details about the other components in the system and how they were connected together.
Also at Brilldea is the PCB that was used·for controlling the LEDs.· At the moment they are out of stock, but should be back in stock by the 21st of April.· If you are interested in purchasing a PCB or two, let me know via e-mail or PM and·I will inform you when they are in and we can complete a PayPal order at that time.
Enjoy.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Timothy D. Swieter
www.brilldea.com·- check out the uOLED-IOC, an I/O expansion for the uOLED-96-PROP www.tdswieter.com
One little spark of imagination is all it takes for an idea to explode
You can find more information about the system, components and potential costs at both the Brilldea site and the Instructables I published a month or so ago.
A similar living room system could be built for between US$200 and US$300 - maybe a little cheaper if you have some items already or get creative with materials and don't mind putting in the sweat labor.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Timothy D. Swieter, E.I. www.brilldea.com - Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, uOLED-IOC, eProto for SunSPOT, BitScope www.tdswieter.com
Great project Timothy. I had a quick question though. I noticed that you are using vixen to talk to a dmx sequencer which you then translate from rs485 to ttl levels into the propeller. The propeller then controls the sequencing of the lights (I'm assuming that's the case here). Could you not just have vixen talk directly out a com port to the propeller, bypassing the dmx sequencer? I might be missing something here but everything I can find regarding vixen assumes that you will talk to a dmx type device. I want to be able to read the sequencing data directly into the chip (HINT: I'm not planning on controlling lights - think animatronics) without worrying about a dmx sequencing device in between the computer and the propeller.
Niiiiiice project.... It's so cool to see stuff like this come to life.
On the diffuser question, one can get white and grey opaque glass in 3/8" thickness which would make a great table top.
A cheaper way out would be spray painting clear glass white on the side towards the lights.
Again, really cool project Timothy.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Signature space for rent, only $1.
Send cash and signature to CannibalRobotics.
The corrugated plastic Timothy used or something very similar is available in most craft stores in Canada and the US, and is a good choice. An alternative is the 24x48 inch plastic diffuser used on flourescent light fixtures.
Well, I think I figured out the answer to my question. The solution is to write my own plugin and implement my own protocol with the chip. Rather than try to unravel another protocol to fit my needs I will start from the bottom up and write the driver that allows vixen to talk to the propeller directly (and the associated firmware on the propeller that the driver will talk to).
Right - I think you got it figured out. Vixen Lights has many protocols or plug-ins available. I studied a couple of them but decided that I like DMX-512A the best. I already had the USB to DMX device and I had already written the Propeller DMX code (it is in the object exchange). Overall I was also considering adding more lights to the display of which they would be controlled by DMX. So
DMX was my choice.
Certainly, other protocols would work on the Propeller. You either have to dissect the protocol in one of the Plug-ins and write the receiving and parsing routine on the Propeller or create your Protocol and write botht he plug-in and receiving. At some point I would love to seee a DMX like protocol but where I could use the Prop Plug. This would eliminate an expense for those that want to create such a system.
Vixen lights would be great for Animatronic control. DMX is still a possiblility for it because if at some point you do an installation, but don't want a computer sitting there, then you can use a DMX playback device.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Timothy D. Swieter, E.I. www.brilldea.com - Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, uOLED-IOC, eProto for SunSPOT, BitScope www.tdswieter.com
Comments
Thank you!
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Timothy D. Swieter
tdswieter.com
One little spark of imagination is all it takes for an idea to explode
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Timothy D. Swieter
www.brilldea.com·- check out the uOLED-IOC, an I/O expansion for the uOLED-96-PROP
www.tdswieter.com
One little spark of imagination is all it takes for an idea to explode
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Timothy D. Swieter
www.brilldea.com·- check out the uOLED-IOC, an I/O expansion for the uOLED-96-PROP
www.tdswieter.com
One little spark of imagination is all it takes for an idea to explode
Thanks.
Edit : Just noticed in their FAQ that they normally only ship to a UK address. They can export, but they ask that you phone them on +44 8701 200 208 first. Hopefully because you are in the EU there shouldn't be too many problems.
Post Edited (big_mark) : 3/3/2008 2:57:23 PM GMT
They sell the TLC5940NT, but at a minimum of 1,170 pieces, that's a total of 2,901.60 €...
They sell the TLC5940NTG4 but it is smd...
http://de.farnell.com/jsp/search/browse.jsp;jsessionid=KJI4NQA25J4F3QFIAEWZKBQ?N=0&Ntk=gensearch_002&Ntt=TLC+5940&Ntx=&_requestid=338575
Next time I am at the markets in Shenzhen I will see if I can pick up some of the TI chips to sell on the website for those that are having trouble sourcing them.· It will probably be two to three weeks before I make another visit.
As a side note, I agree that Google doesn't always see into the various catalogs of electronic components on-line.· I use two different search engines to find electronic parts and datasheets.· I don't know how well these will work from Europe, but give it a try:
http://octopart.com/
http://www.findchips.com/
Have a great day!
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Timothy D. Swieter
www.brilldea.com·- check out the uOLED-IOC, an I/O expansion for the uOLED-96-PROP
www.tdswieter.com
One little spark of imagination is all it takes for an idea to explode
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
I am 1010, so be surprised!
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Timothy D. Swieter
www.brilldea.com·- check out the uOLED-IOC, an I/O expansion for the uOLED-96-PROP
www.tdswieter.com
One little spark of imagination is all it takes for an idea to explode
The application note contains more details about the other components in the system and how they were connected together.
Also at Brilldea is the PCB that was used·for controlling the LEDs.· At the moment they are out of stock, but should be back in stock by the 21st of April.· If you are interested in purchasing a PCB or two, let me know via e-mail or PM and·I will inform you when they are in and we can complete a PayPal order at that time.
Enjoy.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Timothy D. Swieter
www.brilldea.com·- check out the uOLED-IOC, an I/O expansion for the uOLED-96-PROP
www.tdswieter.com
One little spark of imagination is all it takes for an idea to explode
You can find more information about the system, components and potential costs at both the Brilldea site and the Instructables I published a month or so ago.
www.brilldea.com
www.instructables.com/id/Controllable_RGB_LED_system_for_your_home_or_offic/
A similar living room system could be built for between US$200 and US$300 - maybe a little cheaper if you have some items already or get creative with materials and don't mind putting in the sweat labor.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Timothy D. Swieter, E.I.
www.brilldea.com - Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, uOLED-IOC, eProto for SunSPOT, BitScope
www.tdswieter.com
On the diffuser question, one can get white and grey opaque glass in 3/8" thickness which would make a great table top.
A cheaper way out would be spray painting clear glass white on the side towards the lights.
Again, really cool project Timothy.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Signature space for rent, only $1.
Send cash and signature to CannibalRobotics.
Right - I think you got it figured out. Vixen Lights has many protocols or plug-ins available. I studied a couple of them but decided that I like DMX-512A the best. I already had the USB to DMX device and I had already written the Propeller DMX code (it is in the object exchange). Overall I was also considering adding more lights to the display of which they would be controlled by DMX. So
DMX was my choice.
Certainly, other protocols would work on the Propeller. You either have to dissect the protocol in one of the Plug-ins and write the receiving and parsing routine on the Propeller or create your Protocol and write botht he plug-in and receiving. At some point I would love to seee a DMX like protocol but where I could use the Prop Plug. This would eliminate an expense for those that want to create such a system.
Vixen lights would be great for Animatronic control. DMX is still a possiblility for it because if at some point you do an installation, but don't want a computer sitting there, then you can use a DMX playback device.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Timothy D. Swieter, E.I.
www.brilldea.com - Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, uOLED-IOC, eProto for SunSPOT, BitScope
www.tdswieter.com