New Video - F16v2 Pixel Controller - Soon to be among the most powerful.

dpitts

Apprentice elf
Joined
Aug 18, 2011
Messages
68
Location
Falcon, CO
Video of board in action.
F16v2 Pixel Controller


Board Details
1 - PIC32MZ
1 - Spartan 6 FPGA


FPGA/Processor Ethernet PHY boards are four layer surface mount
Main board is all through-hole for easy kitting.


Three Ways to input data.
1) E131 Unicast/Multicast 64-universes
2) From Falcon Pi Player(FPP) mounted on back.
Complete integration with Falcon PI Player all setup is done via FPP.
3) Pixelnet input (4 universes 16,384 channels)


Strings
16 onboard fused SPI pixels connectors
16 more strings can be added with 16 port fused/power injection board (think bottom half of this board only)
Total of 32 strings possible.
680 pixels per string when in 16 string mode.
340 pixels per string when in 32 string mode.
3 and 4 wire strings supported.
Each string can be a different string type.
(I have one complete (2811) and two more 90% done 2801,3001
I will continue to complete more. They are all so very similar should be easy.)


All strings can use the full 32K range no boundaries.
Null nodes, zig zag and grouping are supported.


Power
Two independant sides
2 - 30 amp connectors for a total of 60A.
Input to pixels can be 5 to 24V
Electronics can be powered from pixels or an external power supply (5 to 24V).


Setup
Setup will be done through web interface and possible a desktop program coded in wxWidgets so it can run of the three main platforms (Linux,Mac and Windows).

DMX/Pixelnet Output4 - Dedicated DMX/Pixelnet Outputs with RS-485 drivers/connectorsPixelnet Input OptionReads 4 Pixelnet universes (16,384 channels)
USB Port
I have finish the USB boot loader to program board without programmer.
I will soon support Ethernet bootloader too.


How to get one.
I am in middle to final stages of testing and then I will go into beta. During beta I be looking for some to help test.
 

AAH

I love blinky lights :)
Community project designer
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
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4,188
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Eaglehawk
Board looks great Dave. I really don't know where you find the time to work on that, XL4, your BBB boards, work and do family stuff.
 

richardd

Full time elf
Joined
Jan 3, 2011
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347
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Geraldton
I will be happy to be a beta tester, What do you think the price point for the board will be?
 

mararunr

Here to learn! (and share)
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Messages
238
Location
3505 NW Edgewood Ave, Bentonville Arkansas, USA
richardd said:
I will be happy to be a beta tester, What do you think the price point for the board will be?

On the Blinky Lab Facebook page he said about $200 +- a few bucks assembled or about $170 if you assemble. Join the Blinky Lab Facebook page and you can see more of an exchange that occurred there when he posted the video.
 

dpitts

Apprentice elf
Joined
Aug 18, 2011
Messages
68
Location
Falcon, CO
I finished all the null nodes, grouping, forward and reverse features. I am going to start work on zig-zag now. It should be trivial with the new structure of the code.
 

dpitts

Apprentice elf
Joined
Aug 18, 2011
Messages
68
Location
Falcon, CO
I have finished saving settings to flash with webpage interface. I have also completed the routine that loads FPGA on start, need to place it in main app. Then moving on to USB/Ethernet bootloader to upload firmware. USB portion is 95% complete.
 

dpitts

Apprentice elf
Joined
Aug 18, 2011
Messages
68
Location
Falcon, CO
Just finished the USB bootloader. It now can receive both FPGA bit file and firmware hex file and update the respective flash memories. I will at a later date during beta implement the "webpage update" feature which is trivial now the backend stuff is done. For now I have created a small app to update through USB. The bootloader was top priority because as we enter the beta stages of this project we needed an easy way to update firmware.


I am now adding a status page to show E131 reception statistics. After that I will go back to implementing more pixel types. All this seems to be coming together quite nicely.
 

dpitts

Apprentice elf
Joined
Aug 18, 2011
Messages
68
Location
Falcon, CO


The TLS3001, TLS3002 and CY3005 pixels are now supported. I big thanks to Alan Dahl for loaning me the pixels. Thanks Alan.

After spinning my wheels for an hour I decided to take a nap. It is funny how a nice siesta can help. :)

Video of 3001's running from F16v2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUxInsn2reM
 
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