The DHL Fairy…
Posted by JEC on October 30th, 2009
… dropped off a well-worn package Thursday morning. 14 Kg of halfway-around-the-world happiness are now spread out on the workshop floor.
I’m now the proud owner of 1000 pieces of waterproof addressable RGB node:
A while back, I scanned blueprints of the house into the computer, and then imported them into the CAD program. It appears that we need ~ 960 nodes to cover the rooflines, raingutters, windows and main entrance arch.
The controllers are coming along nicely as well. I’ve currently got a single data output which can drive 300 nodes at a 25.5 Hz refresh rate. With some optimizing, those numbers should reach 340 nodes (2 universes of DMX) and 44 Hz frame rate.
Then, it’s a simple matter of cloning the output drive code as many times as are needed, up to the limit of my firmware and the ethernet processor. Supporting 2048 nodes (13 universes!) in a single string would be wonderful.
Monday afternoon I’m expecting a batch of controller circuit boards as well. These boards will contain the ethernet controller. We now have sample code which pulls data from the ethernet interface at 7+ megabits / second.
So the jump from ‘barely stable system at 10 Hz and 1 universe of Art-Net’ to ‘screaming fast’ should be significant. Switching from serial SPI mode (3 pins) to parallel data transfer mode (14 pins) makes a huge difference.
Onward!
October 30th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
hi, I want the your price list. I do very glad if you send me.
thanks
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:13 am
Any more information on these suckas?!!
November 4th, 2009 at 1:29 am
Folks i’ve had the pleasure of working with John this year on this.
As far as more information.. Each ‘node’ is three 0.1W LEDS, red, green and blue.. They will run in strings of up to 50 nodes as you see them, or many more with power injection.. Every node is individually controllable.. ( if you look carefully you’ll see a controller chip in the back of those leds ). The four wires interconnecting them, carry power ( 5V ) and a proprietary digital data stream. The leds are approximately spaced at 100mm apart, but custom spacing is a possibility if need be. They are nicely sealed and weather tight.. The possiblitys are endless.
A couple of control interfaces will soon be available, the art-net one that john is talking about, and also a dmx-512 interface. This will allow you to connect the led strings to ‘standard’ lighting controls. Each color channel in each led is dimable, so you can ‘blend’ the colors to make an almost endless pallet of colors.
The possibility are endless. There are some other form factors available as well. Theres still some work to do on finishing the prototype, producing documentation and the likes, but keep in touch and you’ll see it here shortly.
Regards
Mrpackethead ( from the other half of the planet)