Dot Matrix Disorder

Finally got a good workflow in designing DMD-animations now.

The original plan was to use Flash to create sequences as I've seen a couple of people do on the internet, but the user interface is horrible. Downright awful.

So now I'm back to using proper video editing programs instead which is a much nicer experience!
Maybe it's because I'm used to it - but basically it took me a couple of hours to generate a simple video using Flash compared to just a couple of minutes using video editing. Not to mention the horror of altering something...

I've also got more or less a 100% preview possibility with a DMD-emulation "filter" than I've created, including properly pixelating the image and bit-crunching it. Can't argue with realtime feedback!
Now I'll just have to find a decent VFX library for smoke, explosions and lightning...

Oh, the irony of using high end video editing software, plugins and HD movie material to generate a 128x32 pixel sized 3-bit image sequence...

Moving out, moving in!

We'll be moving to a new apartment in a couple of days - can't wait!

That of course means less updates for a while, but I hope that's all right since the coming updates will be worth the wait!

Connecting connections!

Just posting a quick update today. 

I've started to finalize cabling and replacing too long wires, color coding wires etc. That should help tremendously while debugging and/or servicing the board. Besides this I've started to wire up the servo and motor connections with their custom cables.

I'm also doing an updated version of the I/O layout of the board since the old layout got its walking stick rather quickly. The great thing is that this step is crucial when designing a PCB, so when the time comes it should basically just be a matter of placing the components in the drawing since the pin mapping is already made. 

1) Near completed motherboard. The tape retaining the lightboard is not the final version. I'll probably use red tape instead...

Just a few more hours work and the motherboard should be complete!
Unless I've misplaced a wire. Or worse.

The power of Jalapeños!

I'm finally finished with the lightboard! <insert fanfare here>

And guess what?
ALL ports are fully functional! <insert epic rock music here>

Let me repeat that -
All ports work, each and every one of them.
That's nothing short of a miracle!

It took me a while but now I've finally recreated the "blink" tutorial...

1) The finished lightboard up and running! Around 940 solder points later...
The MOSFET's are n-channel so I can apply any voltage needed (0-60V @ 30A) for that particular port without affecting the others. 

As you can see, there's no Chipkit in the image. I usually prototype new classes and boards on the Arduino first, since the Arduino is actually a lot faster during upload and is also separate from the motherboard, which should be handy in case something goes wrong.

Now I'll just have to finish writing the lighting routine so I can hook this guy up to the motherboard!
Awesome!

Another bank bites the dust!

The lightboard is now at 75% completion.
Another solder session and I'll be ready to test it out!

1) Solder mess. Should be very interesting to test this.
I will most likely need some sort of compartment for this
since the cables are pretty fragile and might break when inserting
or removing the 50 pin cables from each socket! 

2) My session companion. This or Blair's Death Rain chips... *drool*

I'm thinking about designing a PCB to replace the motherboard, or simply purchasing either a P-ROC or Ben Heck's custom board. Personally I like Ben's version better, but the P-ROC is verified and used by numerous projects. But my "I can do it"-spirit says that a custom made PCB would indeed be very cool.

It will have to wait for a while - until the current setup breaks that is.

Techvolution

It's no surprise that the computer industry is moving forward at lightning speed - but it's astonishing just how much things change over a few years.

I've decided to build a new computer and was happily surfing the net for parts. I decided to see how my old computer's graphics card would measure up to a modern one. Turns out... it doesn't.
It's almost ridiculous...

1) David and Goliath. 

To be fair -
My current computer wasn't bought to do intense gaming, since I had my Xbox for that. But now the old box is obsolete and the next gen is around the corner (still "next-gen"?!). But I figure I'll return to computer gaming for a while as it also benefits in other ways, such as music production and game creation.

But it's always fun to see how far technology has come!

I'm back!

Got the new USB-port today and soldered it in place. 

And it works! 

1) USB-port is good to go! 

2) The tiny USB-port. The specs say "reflow procedure only". Phuh!

 Kind of hard to see in this picture, but there are five small prongs that needed to be soldered in place. Well, four - one isn't used on the Chipkit. And they all fit inside a 4mm area (roughly 1/6th of an inch) so it was barely possible to solder by hand!

3) Powered up and ready to go!