StrichLux

From Hackstrich
Revision as of 12:52, 14 March 2012 by SarahEmm (talk | contribs) (Current Project now.)

The Modular Lighting Controller will control various kinds of lighting via various protocols/interfaces, or convert between two of the supported protocols/interfaces without directly controlling any devices.

Project Log

  • 2012-03-13: Defined I/O Link connector pinout, started putting together BOM/schematic for DMX I/O module.
  • 2012-03-12: Chose connectors, laid out basic core board interface components/defined sizes.
  • 2012-03-06 - 2012-03-11: Defining specs, searching for appropriate parts.

Project Ideas

  • Core Board, lets you plug in up to 4 input modules and 4 output modules plus an optional Power Module
    • Each of the 4 would be up to one DMX universe worth of channels (512)
    • SPI slave to each I/O module, 8 SPI slave transceivers total
    • RS232 for troubleshooting and configuring the core board itself
    • Local framebuffer memory
      • Dual-port memory would be best so the output and input sections can both deal with it independently
      • 8 bits per frame * 512 channels per universe * 4 universes = 16kbit (2kbyte) of framebuffer memory required
        • Twice that for double-buffering would be awesome, so 32kbit/4kbyte of dual-port memory wanted
      • Split into 4 channels, so each block would be 8kbit/1kbyte
      • Reading/writing needs to happen in parallel for each block
    • CPLD/FPGA seems a great fit for this
      • Lattice LFXP2-5E-5TN144C or Xilinx XC3S50-4VQG100C both seem like good fits
    • Since this will likely be the most powerful chip in the whole system, we could do transforms here to to take the load off the I/O modules
      • HSV->RGB
      • Input splitting (one input channel goes to two or more output channels)
      • Input combining (two or more input channels get combined via some function and go to a single output channel)
      • Scaling/offsetting (0-255 in = 32-64 out or such)
  • Power Modules
    • Stack underneath the Core Board, provide high-power busses for directly powering lighting from the system.
    • Location makes sense because it doesn't block hot-swapping the I/O modules, but may be a thermal problem as it will get hot and heat up the Core Board
  • Input-Only Modules
    • Analog input channels (not 512 though, likely)
  • Output-Only Modules
    • LPD8806 LED strips
    • Other LED strips
    • Discrete power switches (relays/FETs/whatever)
  • I/O Modules
    • Art-Net over Ethernet
    • Art-Net over WiFi
    • DMX
  • Dimensions
    • Core board will be 3.95" x 6.25" (max limits of EAGLE Standard, will need to purchase)
    • Modules will be 1.525" x 1.925" (2x4 layout on the board for input/output x 4 channels)