LED-wiz alternative ?

[pixelmagic]

Ok, got the go-ahead from BBB, and made a blog posting about it on my blog (http://blog.pixelmagic.nl/2011/12/arduino-driver-board.html)

Basicly i can supply the PCB for € 15, with all parts for € 50 and ready made and checked for € 75.

More details on the blog posting.

[zebulon]

Ok, got the go-ahead from BBB, and made a blog posting about it on my blog (http://blog.pixelmagic.nl/2011/12/arduino-driver-board.html)

Basicly i can supply the PCB for € 15, with all parts for € 50 and ready made and checked for € 75.

More details on the blog posting.

Well worth the money, be sure to buy 1/4 watt resistors as the board won't support 1/2 watt. Unless you plan on running your washing machine with your arduino, chances are slim that you will need the 16A version, 3A should be more than enough, 5A if you're looking for headroom.

[Numiah]

Yup. There's always the possibility to use a relays if your switching something heavy, i.e. a knocker.

[shifters67]

Having put getting a led wiz on hold till i set how this all turns out - can i ask a newbie question as i am not smart in the electronics department!

I understood everything up until page 9 and then got lost!

I understand the Arduino board (do you use the Mega 1280 or 2560?), i understand your driver board, but what are the '595s' for and how do they relate to the driver board???

This is facinating!!

cheers

Shifters

PS whats are mudokan led - google turns up little but your vids!

Edited December 13, 2011 by shifters67

[pixelmagic]

Having put getting a led wiz on hold till i set how this all turns out - can i ask a newbie question as i am not smart in the electronics department!

I understood everything up until page 9 and then got lost!

Oops... You want to get familiar with a soldering iron then !

I understand the Arduino board (do you use the Mega 1280 or 2560?), i understand your driver board, but what are the '595s' for and how do they relate to the driver board???

I use a 1280 at the moment, hope i have enough memory. The 595 are 74HC595 ic's, and basicly you can extend the number of outputs you can use. 3 outputs of the Arduino can drive several 595's and those have 8 outputs each (!)

This is facinating!!

cheers

Shifters

PS whats are mudokan led - google turns up little but your vids!

Check here or even better here (mistyped it, must be Mudokon.

I have 28 of those heads around my backbox LCD and they all have 2 leds in the place where the eyes are.

And they can light up.

[zebulon]

Finished the assembly...this is more fun than a barrel of monkeys...(sorry chris)

Nothing fancy but it works.

[chriz99]

yeah, pixel's driver boards are the way to go. For a new build I would use 3 of them, like a tripple tower. small, fast and solid state - perfect!

[pixelmagic]

Finished the assembly...this is more fun than a barrel of monkeys...(sorry chris)

Nothing fancy but it works.

Nice work, good to see that it works

[zebulon]

Nice work, good to see that it works

It's a good design, and yeah, the leds need to be installed backwards to the layout.....

If you incorporated the opto circuit I sent you, ppl could hook it to the ledwiz and replace their mechanical relay boards for faster switching with no operational noise.

[reko19]

I must have missed it somehow in the thread, but I don't understand how Arduino board interacts with VP. It is clear that Arduino board drives Pixelmagic's board which is using transistors to turn thing on and off instead of mechanical relays. This is just high / low output in the Arduino that drives transistors, no software needed. But what about the interface from VP to Adruino. Is it part of the magic in the vbs file? Would we be able to use ini files that were previously used for the ledwiz?

[zebulon]

I'm pretty sure that's the part that is under development by Pixelmagic at the moment.

[shifters67]

Well i fought against but to no avail - all these cool toys - i had to go and buy an arduino mega to have a play with!

Good old C code lol!

Love the look of the network and SD shield that can go on the top of the Arduino. Could use the Sd card to hold patterns rather than memory.

cheers

Shifters

PS (between Chris and PixelMagic i don't know what to play with next )

[Spektre99]

Just a quick design review...

Is that PCB really laid out to handle 16A?

Just the jumper alone looks suspect...

[pixelmagic]

Just a quick design review...

Is that PCB really laid out to handle 16A?

Just the jumper alone looks suspect...

16 amp constant ? no, i think not. 16 amp impuls, yeah, it should do.

[zebulon]

Tried it with 10A, runs it but needs heatsinks (of which there is no space for) but it's happy at 5A all day long

[Spektre99]

Tried it with 10A, runs it but needs heatsinks (of which there is no space for) but it's happy at 5A all day long

What is heating up Zeb? The MOSFETs?

[zebulon]

At a prolonged burn-in, yeah, the Mosfets have enough heat that they could do with a heatsink, but that's at 10A continuous. Below that is fine. To his credit, Pixel has stated that his PCB design was not done with 16A continuous load in mind, just the ability to achieve it in pulses, and to that I would definitely agree.

I can't really test at 16A as my household circuit is rated for 15A and the power supply I use will trip the breaker long before it reaches a sustained 16A load on conversion.

I can attest to the fact that the circuit works awesomely, and that it can readily replace any relay board out there that you might want to use. PWM control of the circuit works seamlessly as well.

[pixelmagic]

Thanks for the comments and explanation zebulon, don't think i need to add anything at the moment.

That is, besides that the new multiplex 74hc595 pcb's have arrived today !

Here are the pictures:

And with some srew connectors loose fitted:

[shifters67]

Looks like your on a roll!!

Shifters

[pixelmagic]

Looks like your on a roll!!

Shifters

Even more:

1aLGzVcvjDE

Driving from 3 wires Arduino to the PCB with all 4 595's in a row, having 4x8 = 32 outputs. Connected a few outputs to the driver board to show it is working.

Conclusion: the board is functional ! Only small flaw is the printing on the top side has 2 small errors, input connections A and C are switched around on the 3rd and 4th input Thank God it is only the printing, not the circuit !

[shifters67]

Your a solder demon

Shifters

[zebulon]

Your a solder demon

Shifters

That he is....

[maxxsinner]

So I guess the question is.....

How many multiplex boards can be hooked up to the Arduino?

Have you tried attaching a second one?

Keep up the awesome work Pixel! Love where this is going.

[pixelmagic]

You guys calling me a demon ??

So I guess the question is.....

How many multiplex boards can be hooked up to the Arduino?

Have you tried attaching a second one?

Keep up the awesome work Pixel! Love where this is going.

How many 595's you can use depends on how you want to use them. The board has 4 x 595's and you can drive them separate or in-line. To drive 1 or a line of 595's you need 3 ports on the Arduino. If you have a lot of events connected then you could choose to just handle 1 595 from the 3 ports, if you use them for timed events (like i will be doing on some) you can drive more then 4 in a line, there are people having 20-30 of the 595 in line, or even more. It's all just in the timing.

Check this image to see what i have in mind at the moment for my own cab, i will have 72 outputs (9x 595) on just 12 pins of the Arduino. If i wanted i could drive those all with 3 pins, but it would make things more difficult in driving it (software) so i choose to separate functions.

BTW, the 595 pcb is designed to give you the option to connect 1,2,3 and 4 of the 595's in a row or separate, and also hase the option to connect a second board and drive 8 or 12 of the 595's if you like.

Then something else:

The driver board i made is for Arduino at the moment (switch with positive) and can in it's current state not be used for the LEDwiz. With some small additions (inverter) it could be used also for LEDwiz to replace relays and such.

If there would be enough demand i could design a new board and have that produced. I personaly have no use for it, but i would do it for you guys. Is there demand for this and would the options that i have chosen (switch between voltage, LED onboard, max power it can handle) be needed or can some me cut from the design ? Are there other things to be done, like larger tracks for high power, optional cooling for the MOSFETs ?

Let me know how you think of that.

Oh yes, and Happy Holidays to all !

Erwin

[maxxsinner]

Thanks heaps for the in depth reply Erwin.

The mind boggles where this could take our cabs!