Light Brigade IR Badge Board and Soldering Workshop - Revision history

Robotix at 20:33, 17 August 2011

Robotix — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:33:27 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:33, 17 August 2011
Line 29:		Line 29:


-	== What did we do right? ==	+	= What did we do right? =

	We finished it, with 5 minutes to spare!		We finished it, with 5 minutes to spare!
Line 37:		Line 37:
	We got 500 boards made, so we've got a usable platform for ATtiny* programming.		We got 500 boards made, so we've got a usable platform for ATtiny* programming.

-	== What did we do wrong? ==	+	= What did we do wrong? =

	Diverging from the Trippy RGB schematic was not really a sensible idea. We were lucky to find that our board, whilst having the IR LED on a different pin, still had a suitable PWM mode available on the ATtiny25. The timer was completely different though, so needed a bit of a recode. And now anything written for the TrippyRGB will need porting to work on our [[Badge Board]].		Diverging from the Trippy RGB schematic was not really a sensible idea. We were lucky to find that our board, whilst having the IR LED on a different pin, still had a suitable PWM mode available on the ATtiny25. The timer was completely different though, so needed a bit of a recode. And now anything written for the TrippyRGB will need porting to work on our [[Badge Board]].

Robotix at 19:01, 17 August 2011

Robotix — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 19:01:00 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:01, 17 August 2011
Line 45:		Line 45:

	Hindshite is a funny thing, but if we could do it again I think we should have gone for ATtiny45's at least. Double the memory, EEPROM, and Flash at that level is quite significant, and ultimately we needed to remove a chunk of functionality to fit the code on the ATtiny25. I have a feeling if we'd specd 45's though, we'd be saying the same thing about getting 85's next time ;)		Hindshite is a funny thing, but if we could do it again I think we should have gone for ATtiny45's at least. Double the memory, EEPROM, and Flash at that level is quite significant, and ultimately we needed to remove a chunk of functionality to fit the code on the ATtiny25. I have a feeling if we'd specd 45's though, we'd be saying the same thing about getting 85's next time ;)
		+	{{group}}

Robotix at 12:04, 12 August 2011

Robotix — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:04:46 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:04, 12 August 2011
Line 1:		Line 1:
-	~~[[Category:Projects]]~~	+	{{header}}
-		+
-		+
	We were approached by the organisers of the [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/ White Night 2010] celebrations to run a workshop for the event - [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/brighton/events/light-brigade/ Light Brigade]. The theme for 2010 is 'Illumination', so we figured some kind of light-displaying kit would be ideal. It would need to be a small and easy to put together kit, for any level of ability, and cost very little money to produce.		We were approached by the organisers of the [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/ White Night 2010] celebrations to run a workshop for the event - [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/brighton/events/light-brigade/ Light Brigade]. The theme for 2010 is 'Illumination', so we figured some kind of light-displaying kit would be ideal. It would need to be a small and easy to put together kit, for any level of ability, and cost very little money to produce.

Line 44:		Line 42:

	We left everything to the last minute, again. I guess this is just the best way to work for some projects, but jeez - finishing the code 5 mins before the first workshop was a bit of a stress. As having to order emergency parts two days before, because the Tayda order from China hadn't turned up. It did btw, on the Friday before the workshop.		We left everything to the last minute, again. I guess this is just the best way to work for some projects, but jeez - finishing the code 5 mins before the first workshop was a bit of a stress. As having to order emergency parts two days before, because the Tayda order from China hadn't turned up. It did btw, on the Friday before the workshop.
		+	[[Category:Projects]]

	Hindshite is a funny thing, but if we could do it again I think we should have gone for ATtiny45's at least. Double the memory, EEPROM, and Flash at that level is quite significant, and ultimately we needed to remove a chunk of functionality to fit the code on the ATtiny25. I have a feeling if we'd specd 45's though, we'd be saying the same thing about getting 85's next time ;)		Hindshite is a funny thing, but if we could do it again I think we should have gone for ATtiny45's at least. Double the memory, EEPROM, and Flash at that level is quite significant, and ultimately we needed to remove a chunk of functionality to fit the code on the ATtiny25. I have a feeling if we'd specd 45's though, we'd be saying the same thing about getting 85's next time ;)

Mike at 09:09, 26 May 2011

Mike — Thu, 26 May 2011 09:09:50 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:09, 26 May 2011
Line 17:		Line 17:

	[http://github.com/mikepea/white-night-kit/ The final version of the software for the workshop is available on Github]		[http://github.com/mikepea/white-night-kit/ The final version of the software for the workshop is available on Github]
		+
		+	Update: [http://github.com/mikepea/buildbrighton-ir-badge Here's the latest version of the badge code], for a Tiny45 - which we used for the follow-up Science Festival 2011 workshops. [[https://github.com/mikepea/buildbrighton-mcu-programming-workshop There's also an MCU programming workshop]] around the same code and badge platform.

	At the moment the code reflects the rules in the [[Media:BB Badge rules.png \|rules diagram]]		At the moment the code reflects the rules in the [[Media:BB Badge rules.png \|rules diagram]]

Mike at 20:10, 2 November 2010

Mike — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 20:10:12 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:10, 2 November 2010
Line 2:		Line 2:


-	We were approached by the organisers of the [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/ White Night 2010] celebrations to run a workshop for the event - [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/brighton/events/light-brigade/ Light Brigade]. The theme ~~this year~~ is 'Illumination', so we figured some kind of light-displaying kit would be ideal. It would need to be a small and easy to put together kit, for any level of ability, and cost very little money to produce.	+	We were approached by the organisers of the [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/ White Night 2010] celebrations to run a workshop for the event - [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/brighton/events/light-brigade/ Light Brigade]. The theme for 2010 is 'Illumination', so we figured some kind of light-displaying kit would be ideal. It would need to be a small and easy to put together kit, for any level of ability, and cost very little money to produce.

	We've all previously seen and played with the Trippy RGB kit from Mitch Altman's Cornfield Electronics, which uses a combination of an IR sensor and IR LED to reset a pattern of colours sent on an RGB LED, and thought that would make an excellent base to start the project with.		We've all previously seen and played with the Trippy RGB kit from Mitch Altman's Cornfield Electronics, which uses a combination of an IR sensor and IR LED to reset a pattern of colours sent on an RGB LED, and thought that would make an excellent base to start the project with.

-	We wanted to take it a step further though, and have actual data sent over IR from device.	+	We wanted to take it a step further though, and have actual data sent over IR from device to devie, and see what kind of game could be made if that were possible.

	Matt created a board design for the project pretty early on, and got that shipped to PCBcart for production. Previous workshops have taught us that whilst its possible to etch custom boards for these events, the quality of them makes it difficult for folk to solder, and there's a much higher risk of shorts and track lifting.		Matt created a board design for the project pretty early on, and got that shipped to PCBcart for production. Previous workshops have taught us that whilst its possible to etch custom boards for these events, the quality of them makes it difficult for folk to solder, and there's a much higher risk of shorts and track lifting.
Line 16:		Line 16:
	Soldering instructions for the kit are here: [[Media:BuildBrighton badge instructions-web.pdf]]		Soldering instructions for the kit are here: [[Media:BuildBrighton badge instructions-web.pdf]]

-		+	[http://github.com/mikepea/white-night-kit/ The final version of the software for the workshop is available on Github]
-	~~The software side is still evolving as we get closer to the workshop, but the~~ [http://github.com/mikepea/white-night-kit/~~blob/master/white_night_code.c current~~ version of the ~~code~~ is up on Github]	+

	At the moment the code reflects the rules in the [[Media:BB Badge rules.png \|rules diagram]]		At the moment the code reflects the rules in the [[Media:BB Badge rules.png \|rules diagram]]

-	Software-wise, most of the effort ~~has been spend~~ porting the NECrcv and IRremote Arduino libraries to the ATtiny25. This was quite a learning experience, getting to grips with how Timers and Interrupts work, plus the register-based programming of the ATtiny25, in avr-gcc. Joy.	+	Software-wise, most of the effort was spent porting the NECrcv and IRremote Arduino libraries to the ATtiny25. This was quite a learning experience, getting to grips with how Timers and Interrupts work, plus the register-based programming of the ATtiny25, in avr-gcc. Joy.

	IRremote was originally chosen so that we could potentially support more than one protocol (though we had selected NEC-IR early on, as it has error checking built into the protocol). However, we realised a little late in the day that the ATtiny25 has significantly less memory than a ATmega168, and the decoding routines of the IRremote lib were not going to work. 128 bytes of RAM is not a lot to play with.		IRremote was originally chosen so that we could potentially support more than one protocol (though we had selected NEC-IR early on, as it has error checking built into the protocol). However, we realised a little late in the day that the ATtiny25 has significantly less memory than a ATmega168, and the decoding routines of the IRremote lib were not going to work. 128 bytes of RAM is not a lot to play with.

-	Fortunately for us, ~~NECrcv~~ (that IRremote was based on), does not use as much memory, since it decodes the IR on the fly. Phew.	+	Fortunately for us, [http://wikiputer.org/arduino/NECIRrcv.zip NECIRrcv] (that IRremote was based on), does not use as much memory, since it decodes the IR on the fly. Phew.
		+
		+	[http://www.arcfn.com/2009/08/multi-protocol-infrared-remote-library.html Ken's pages on IR protocols] and [http://www.arcfn.com/2009/07/secrets-of-arduino-pwm.html Arduino PWM] proved invaluable in the porting effort too. Thanks Ken!
		+
		+
		+	== What did we do right? ==
		+
		+	We finished it, with 5 minutes to spare!
		+
		+	Printed instructions for the kit, made by [[User:Toby Toby]] on the day, were absolutely essential - we'd have been spread way too thinly to manage 20 folk without these.
		+
		+	We got 500 boards made, so we've got a usable platform for ATtiny* programming.
		+
		+	== What did we do wrong? ==
		+
		+	Diverging from the Trippy RGB schematic was not really a sensible idea. We were lucky to find that our board, whilst having the IR LED on a different pin, still had a suitable PWM mode available on the ATtiny25. The timer was completely different though, so needed a bit of a recode. And now anything written for the TrippyRGB will need porting to work on our [[Badge Board]].
		+
		+	We left everything to the last minute, again. I guess this is just the best way to work for some projects, but jeez - finishing the code 5 mins before the first workshop was a bit of a stress. As having to order emergency parts two days before, because the Tayda order from China hadn't turned up. It did btw, on the Friday before the workshop.

-	~~Anyhoo~~, ~~more later as the project evolves~~. ~~Next step~~ is ~~getting~~ the ~~colour exchanging logic down~~, ~~then getting ready for~~ the ~~day!~~	+	Hindshite is a funny thing, but if we could do it again I think we should have gone for ATtiny45's at least. Double the memory, EEPROM, and Flash at that level is quite significant, and ultimately we needed to remove a chunk of functionality to fit the code on the ATtiny25. I have a feeling if we'd specd 45's though, we'd be saying the same thing about getting 85's next time ;)

Mike: moved Light Brigade IR Badge and Workshop to Light Brigade IR Badge Board and Soldering Workshop

Mike — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:52:13 GMT

moved Light Brigade IR Badge and Workshop to Light Brigade IR Badge Board and Soldering Workshop

← Older revision

Revision as of 19:52, 2 November 2010

Tub at 12:47, 31 October 2010

Tub — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 12:47:10 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:47, 31 October 2010
Line 13:		Line 13:

	Thankfully, our board works too! (And are available for purchase from [[The Shop]] :)		Thankfully, our board works too! (And are available for purchase from [[The Shop]] :)
		+
		+	Soldering instructions for the kit are here: [[Media:BuildBrighton badge instructions-web.pdf]]


	The software side is still evolving as we get closer to the workshop, but the [http://github.com/mikepea/white-night-kit/blob/master/white_night_code.c current version of the code is up on Github]		The software side is still evolving as we get closer to the workshop, but the [http://github.com/mikepea/white-night-kit/blob/master/white_night_code.c current version of the code is up on Github]
		+
		+	At the moment the code reflects the rules in the [[Media:BB Badge rules.png \|rules diagram]]

	Software-wise, most of the effort has been spend porting the NECrcv and IRremote Arduino libraries to the ATtiny25. This was quite a learning experience, getting to grips with how Timers and Interrupts work, plus the register-based programming of the ATtiny25, in avr-gcc. Joy.		Software-wise, most of the effort has been spend porting the NECrcv and IRremote Arduino libraries to the ATtiny25. This was quite a learning experience, getting to grips with how Timers and Interrupts work, plus the register-based programming of the ATtiny25, in avr-gcc. Joy.
Line 22:		Line 26:

	Fortunately for us, NECrcv (that IRremote was based on), does not use as much memory, since it decodes the IR on the fly. Phew.		Fortunately for us, NECrcv (that IRremote was based on), does not use as much memory, since it decodes the IR on the fly. Phew.
-

	Anyhoo, more later as the project evolves. Next step is getting the colour exchanging logic down, then getting ready for the day!		Anyhoo, more later as the project evolves. Next step is getting the colour exchanging logic down, then getting ready for the day!

Mike at 14:47, 28 October 2010

Mike — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:47:12 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:47, 28 October 2010
Line 1:		Line 1:
		+	[[Category:Projects]]
		+
		+
	We were approached by the organisers of the [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/ White Night 2010] celebrations to run a workshop for the event - [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/brighton/events/light-brigade/ Light Brigade]. The theme this year is 'Illumination', so we figured some kind of light-displaying kit would be ideal. It would need to be a small and easy to put together kit, for any level of ability, and cost very little money to produce.		We were approached by the organisers of the [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/ White Night 2010] celebrations to run a workshop for the event - [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/brighton/events/light-brigade/ Light Brigade]. The theme this year is 'Illumination', so we figured some kind of light-displaying kit would be ideal. It would need to be a small and easy to put together kit, for any level of ability, and cost very little money to produce.

Mike at 14:21, 28 October 2010

Mike — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:21:11 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:21, 28 October 2010
Line 1:		Line 1:
-	We were approached by the organisers of the [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/ White Night 2010] celebrations to run a workshop for the event. The theme this year is 'Illumination', so we figured some kind of light-displaying kit would be ideal. It would need to be a small and easy to put together kit, for any level of ability, and cost very little money to produce.	+	We were approached by the organisers of the [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/ White Night 2010] celebrations to run a workshop for the event - [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/brighton/events/light-brigade/ Light Brigade]. The theme this year is 'Illumination', so we figured some kind of light-displaying kit would be ideal. It would need to be a small and easy to put together kit, for any level of ability, and cost very little money to produce.

	We've all previously seen and played with the Trippy RGB kit from Mitch Altman's Cornfield Electronics, which uses a combination of an IR sensor and IR LED to reset a pattern of colours sent on an RGB LED, and thought that would make an excellent base to start the project with.		We've all previously seen and played with the Trippy RGB kit from Mitch Altman's Cornfield Electronics, which uses a combination of an IR sensor and IR LED to reset a pattern of colours sent on an RGB LED, and thought that would make an excellent base to start the project with.
Line 19:		Line 19:

	Fortunately for us, NECrcv (that IRremote was based on), does not use as much memory, since it decodes the IR on the fly. Phew.		Fortunately for us, NECrcv (that IRremote was based on), does not use as much memory, since it decodes the IR on the fly. Phew.
		+
		+
		+	Anyhoo, more later as the project evolves. Next step is getting the colour exchanging logic down, then getting ready for the day!

Mike at 14:19, 28 October 2010

Mike — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:19:41 GMT

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:19, 28 October 2010
Line 1:		Line 1:
-
	We were approached by the organisers of the [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/ White Night 2010] celebrations to run a workshop for the event. The theme this year is 'Illumination', so we figured some kind of light-displaying kit would be ideal. It would need to be a small and easy to put together kit, for any level of ability, and cost very little money to produce.		We were approached by the organisers of the [http://www.whitenightnuitblanche.com/ White Night 2010] celebrations to run a workshop for the event. The theme this year is 'Illumination', so we figured some kind of light-displaying kit would be ideal. It would need to be a small and easy to put together kit, for any level of ability, and cost very little money to produce.

Line 13:		Line 12:


-	The software side is still evolving as we get closer to the workshop, but the ~~current version of the code is up on Github:~~ [http://github.com/mikepea/white-night-kit/blob/master/white_night_code.c]	+	The software side is still evolving as we get closer to the workshop, but the [http://github.com/mikepea/white-night-kit/blob/master/white_night_code.c current version of the code is up on Github]

	Software-wise, most of the effort has been spend porting the NECrcv and IRremote Arduino libraries to the ATtiny25. This was quite a learning experience, getting to grips with how Timers and Interrupts work, plus the register-based programming of the ATtiny25, in avr-gcc. Joy.		Software-wise, most of the effort has been spend porting the NECrcv and IRremote Arduino libraries to the ATtiny25. This was quite a learning experience, getting to grips with how Timers and Interrupts work, plus the register-based programming of the ATtiny25, in avr-gcc. Joy.