Learning Python w RGB Strip Controller

Hey everyone, been busy with work lately but had a long weekend, kind of vacation with all the storm stuff happening. Ive taken that time to pickup Python which is a funky language to be honest but a needed tool to learn especially if i want to start a career in programming. I know im a bit old to be changing careers but its my life and i want to do what makes me happy. Programming makes me happy, building and designing are the sprinkles on my life which is ice cream lol

While i dont know much i learned enough about list, tuples and variable stuff along with my current knowledge of how most of these things work. I was able to create a simple serial program to communicate with a PCB im currently designing.

The program itself is nothing crazy. As of now its a simple program where you enter the color and the amount on you want for the PWM. Just to control color. I dont even know what led strips i will be using yet but the main program will do for now. It doesnt even have a GUI and is all command line driven.

The PCB ive designed is for a simple RGB strip with no controller IC. Non addressable i think they call them. The PCB itself can be easily modified for Addressable RGB Strips though, so i’m not worried.

Here is a quick video of the program so far and a picture of the PCB design.

AtomICs

So ive been busy designing some new boards I call AtomICs. The main reason for them will be to allow people to create more using breadboards. Testing designs and having fun. There will be more to come but here is a peek at what’s currently made.

These are my 2 level shifters. 2 Channel and 4 Channel Level Shifters. These are great for those projects where you need to interface I2C or SPI from 5v to 3.3v systems.

NEW! 6 layer PCB service now from OSH Park

We are very excited to announce our new 6 layer PCB service! 6 Layer Prototype Service $15 per square inch, which includes three copies of your design. Pricing For example, a 2 square inch board would cost $30 and you’d get three copies of your board. You can order as many copies as you want, […]

NEW! 6 layer PCB service now from OSH Park

New Stuff

Hey guys, this post will just be an update. I have a couple of new PCBs being made by OSHPark . They are awesome as usual and have kept up during this pandemic. Which is a tuff thing to do.

The first PCB is my IOBuddy shrunk down to smaller size. Its called the AtomIO

As you can see from the render it has 3 Outputs (LED) and 2 Inputs (BTN). It’s tiny as heck and will help keep breadboards less full. The LEDs are tied to GND with a Resistor so all you have to do is supply 2v to 6v to turn them on. The buttons are pulled low via 10k – 22k ohm. So when pressed they output a HIGH signal. What ever is on the power rail it is connected to.

The colors for the LEDs will most likely be customizable on tindie shop. I will offer White, Red, Blue, Green and Yellow as the choices.

The next board I have on the way is more of an internal use PCB but may sell it if wanted enough. its a simple breakout for those memory LCDs from sharp. The LS027B7DH01 to be exact. I call it the AtomSharp.

Its a basic breakout. Contains the caps needed and 0 Ohm resistor to share VDD with VDDA. Also has a 0 Ohm resistor jumper to allow different EXTMODEs. You can check page 21 of the datasheet for its use. Most use it tied to VSS which I will also do but its nice to have the option to test the other way.

I wanted to make this so i can also 3d print a nice case for the LCD. They are fragile and it’ll be nice to have a enclosure to protect it during testing and development.

I also obtained myself a ESP32-C3 and Raspberry Pi Pico which i havent had time to play with yet. Ill try to get time for those and post up some stuff.

I’ve been a bit sick lately. Don’t want to get into it much but i have some time off from work ill be using to relax and get into this stuff again.

DipDuino v1.7 (3v3, 5v)

Ok so far both of these are stable. They are the same pcb with the same parts except for the jumper on top and resonator on bottom. 5v version is 16mhz and 3v3 version is 8mhz.

I’ve even created a little Test / Programming rig for them. It’s nice and simple and best of all it works!

These new version will be for crowd supply most likely. I’m trying to get price down which is possible only by wholesale aka bulk pricing.

I’ll be posting a link soon for them so keep checking back or subscribe to my blog for updates.

Updates… I

I’ve noticed I’ve been on twitter instead of also blogging stuff here.. ugh.. it seems like a lot at times. Perhaps I should always start here and just link to it in twitter.

For instance here are a couple of 3D prints I’ve done .. I’ll post STL in a minute. This update is done from my phone as many are so sorry for lack of information and quickness.

Standoff STL
Solder Holder STL

The little standoffs are pretty useful and cheap to make. Also can be customized easily.

DipDuino-SAMD21

Hey everyone. Ive been busy working a new job and been kind of sick lately. So i havent had much time to do any physical work but i do have a new board. Its based on my DipDuino but using the SAMD21 instead. This is a beautiful little PCB with tons of power in a nice small form factor.

The MCU of choice here is the ATSAMD21G18 which is a 32-Bit ARM Cortex M0+. The PCB operates on 3.3v and can be powered and programmed via USB Cable. You can also power with USB pin on the header but please dont do both at the same time as there is no real protection for your USB port.

The SAMD21G18 runs at 48MHz and has 256KB of FLASH and 32KB of SRAM. Its a great part. The Arduino Zero uses the same MCU and this means that i will also preprogram this to run as an Arduino Zero for out of the box programming. No need for a debugger.

Here is a render. The PCB is 71.63mm x 12.06mm [2.82in x 0.47in] … No actual PCB made or tested but maybe soon.