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

[XSiVE]

DWZM;

Am I reading this right that you will only be releasing the design, specs, etc so that we, if we choose to utilize this design will need to find our own method of acquiring a board with the specified layout and components?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Effectively yes, I am releasing the design and firmware under an open source license. I'm not in this commercially.

That said, since I have to buy the prototype for each version of the board in bulk, I will likely have a pile of them sitting around at any point in time. So if people want to play with one I can probably help out some way or another, but we should take that to PM.

 

[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/

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

For those not familiar with google code, click the "source" tab at the top of that web site, then click the "Browse" link near the top. This will give you a tree view of the svn repo used to store the files for this project. Expand the trunk directory, then either hardware or software, and you'll see folders containing the actual guts of the project. In hardware there's a folder called typhon which contains the Eagle files for the hardware. In software, there's a folder called typhon which contains the Arduino sketch for the example firmware I've been discussing so far. It relies on a few libraries, the URLs you can get the libraries from are in the comments at the top of the sketch. Lemme know if there are any questions.

Again, this is still very much a prototype stage for this project, but at this point, people can look at or use the docs to create their own if they wish.

 

[inky]

DWZM, you put a lot of effort (and time) in to this, it is appreciated by those of us who don't have much time to design the stuff.

Ian

Oh, got the driver boards made that I PM'd you about Thanks

 

[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]

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/product_info.php?products_id=9718
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_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.

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.

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?

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/tutorial_info.php?tutorials_id=108

 

[actarus]

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/product_info.php?products_id=9718
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_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?main_page=product_info&cPath=19_39&products_id=123&zenid=920bj19gk9r74dkag8frhvgdn1

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?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_20&products_id=125&zenid=920bj19gk9r74dkag8frhvgdn1

Thanks

 

[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 <LiquidCrystal.h> 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.:-(