Neopixels

Question

I was wondering that it was possible to connect an neopixel ring(16) directly to the ez b4? If so, where do i connect the com port to ? tnx

DJ Sures · Answer

No - use an arduino or other small memory little micro to act as a neo pixel controller. Found this using search: https://synthiam.com/Community/Questions/7172&page=2 The EZ-B is not a micro controller, such as arduino. It is a robot controller which extends your PC or mobile device to control hardware. The neo pixel is not a complete component, as it requires signals to make it do anything. This means throwing a low memory cheap micro in the middle between the ez-b and the neo. So the gist is to add Serial communication to the arduino, which connects to the ez-b. And the arduino controls the neo. That way you don't have to use up valuable ez-b processing capability simply to make a neo pixel do something. Just have the ez-b connect to the arduino over a serial line and have the ez-b tell it what to do.

DigiEddy · Answer

Tnx DJ, thank you for the super fast respons. But i 'm not used to work with arduino. How do i connect them together to make use of the plug in from ARC?

CochranRobotics · Answer

https://synthiam.com/Community/Questions/6767 this one has a lot of instructions and the sketch you would load onto the arduino mini.

bhouston · Answer

Check out this tutorial, it will also help you out. https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/UserTutorials/150/1

DigiEddy · Answer

Tnx to all for the info. For the connection between the arduino and the ezB4, the pins 18 and 19 from the uart are used? (RX and TX) or... am i mistaking big time here? or is it D18 and D19 according the script?

CochranRobotics · Answer

For the neopixel, there is no reason to receive data back to the EZ-B from it. Really all that is needed is for the send from the EZ-B to be connected to the receive from the arduino. The arduino is connected to the neopixel. The ez-b sends the command to the arduino, which then determines what needs to happen on the neopixel, and sends the information to the neopixel. If you use the tutorial, this page has the wiring for the script on the first page https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/UserTutorials/150/2 [edit] The wiring in the tutorial shows that you connect the send from the arduino to the receive on the EZ-B but the script provided has nothing in it that would send information back to the EZ-B so it is not necessary. [/edit]

Nomad 6R · Answer

it does not say wihts color to use on the ezbv. pin 18 black or red or white for the rx ? pin 19 black or white or red for tx ? anyone has a pic from arduino tx rx thank you

CochranRobotics · Answer

The color of the wire doesnt matter. RX and TX are not power. There will need to be a ground wire to the EZ-B from the arduino but really it could be connected connected to any black port on the EZ-B. The power for the arduino could be supplied by the EZ-B but I would suggest another power source as depending on the size of the Neopixel, you could need up to 1.5A or so to get full bright white.

Nomad 6R · Answer

so if i understand you david pin 18 and 19 are bolt connected to the black pin on ezbv

CochranRobotics · Answer

not at all. the black from the ezb goes to the ground pin on the arduino The white pin goes to the receive on the arduino. It all depends on which port you you use, but if you want to use the sketch that Luis provided, the documentation is available in the tutorial.

Nomad 6R · Answer

i didn find the sketch

CochranRobotics · Answer

https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/UserTutorials/150/1 This is a sketch. This is what arduino programs are called "sketch". Also, my bad. It was Bob that put this tutorial together, not Luis.

CochranRobotics · Answer

When I get time, I will provide a step by step video on how to make a neopixel ring work with the EZ-B through an Arduino. I just don't have time until after this weekend at the earliest.

Nomad 6R · Answer

thats great thanks david

bhouston · Answer

@Nomad6R, I just updated the tutorial for connecting the Neo Pixel ring to clarify that the "Signal Pins" on the EZB are connected to the RX and TX on the Arduino. Did you get yours working?

Nomad 6R · Answer

hi bhouston i dont have one,my friend has one and was able to get it working. wiht your help.am going to see your tutorial now thanks

bhouston · Answer

It's fairly easy to hook up, let me know if you need anymore help.

Nomad 6R · Answer

maybe a few pics would be good.

Nomad 6R · Answer

BHOUSTON is this pic of use.

Zxen · Answer

Are Neopixels a brand new product? I'd love to use them too. Thanks for the great work so far, guys. Has anyone made an LED rope work yet? If so, a video zooming in on the wiring and some code would be awesome. Do we need to program the Arduino AND the EZB V4 to control the lights properly? Also, what are you guys doing about isolating power? I have a 12V servo, eighteen 7.5V servos, four 6V servos and now I need the lights and Arduino, which I guess are both 5V. My 12V46A power supply can have a voltage reducer attached to it, or I could use separate power supplies for everything.... Anyway, if you figure it out, a video with all the connections would be awesome

Dave Schulpius · Answer

Dont know about the Neopixels but... if your power supply has the capacity there is little reason why you can't use regulators to add more devices of different voltages. Just leave some overhead voltage when you're done adding. The only issue you may run into is electronic noise from devices effecting each other. You'll see this in twitching servos, weird noise in audio. Electronic noise travels on the neutralsite and ground. There's a few fixes for this issue. One would be to run the noise makers off a different power supply and don't have any grounds tied between the two.

Zxen · Answer

Thanks for the advice. What do other people use for various voltages?

Dave Schulpius · Answer

It totally depends on the device needing the voltage. Common voltags are 3.3, 5, 4.7, 6, 7, 12. You need to be equally conserned with how many amps your connected devices will draw. Add up all the amps all your connected deviced are rated for combined. That number can't be more than your regulators or power supply is rated for. Leave your self a little overhead just in case.

DJ Sures · Answer

This is what you want... More info: https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/Help.aspx?id=225

bhouston · Answer

Looks great! Can't wait to throw out the Uno I have running my Neo Pixel Ring.

DJ Sures · Answer

Thanks!

Zxen · Answer

Yes DJ, that looks exactly right. Thanks for the video The neopixels rope is sold at adafruit, right? The only problem is that they only seem to sell 1 metre lengths. I need at least 20 metres of LED rope for my project. Does anyone know if its available?

DJ Sures · Answer

Man you will need a lot of amperage for that. I would recommend splitting the strands across many 5 volt power supplies. Think about that each neopixel has 3 led's. And unlike the ez-robot RGB 8x8 or RGB Eyes, neo pixels are "always on". The ez-robot rgb 8x8 or rgb eyes uses a pulse width technique in which only 1 led is on at a time. Neopixels do not have that option. So if there are 3 led's per neo pixel...and you have 2,000 neo pixels. That's actually 6,000 led's! EAK I can tell you that the 8x8 display in my video has 64 neo pixels, which is 192 LEDs. At 150 brightness, it draws 1.6-1.7 amps!

Mickey666Maus · Answer

Is this a future piece of hardware to be the bridge between the EZ-B and Adafruit Neopixel products...this would be very much appreciated!

DJ Sures · Answer

You bet. More info here: https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/Help.aspx?id=225

DJ Sures · Answer

Here's a pic of the production version module

DigiEddy · Answer

Nice, pixel blaster ! can't wait...

Mickey666Maus · Answer

Same here!

DJ Sures · Answer

The shipped version is called NeoPixel blaster and will be ezrobot blue pcb as usual

Zxen · Answer

LED illusion video: Click To Watch Video

bborastero · Answer

brilliant piece of work, I would so like to remove the Arduino from my setup how long (estimate) will it be before the blaster is in the shop

DJ Sures · Answer

According to the current schedule, we should have some pretty good ideas of deadlines within the next month for all upcoming ezbits. Henry (the SCM) has most of the tasks in the schedule, so I get updated on our Monday meetings. Hopefully have some pretty good ideas within the next two weeks for the dates of all ezbits

EEGbiofeedback · Answer

WOW! Very cool. It seems DJ can cough these new boards up. It seems less than a week ago he was suggesting alternatives to someone wanting to use Neopixels with the EZB. Perhaps that NeoPixels PIC could be used for the inverted pendulum self-balancing controller? Bill

DJ Sures · Answer

What do you mean?

bborastero · Answer

ooh exiting I can't wait to see what's coming out

dbickert · Answer

Will this blaster also control the Neopixel Jewel? I'm want to use them in my R2D2's Holo Projectors. They have a very small footprint and it will be great to have them change colors with his mood. Any idea when they will be available to purchase? I have 3 Jewels to connect. I just got back from Droidcon4 and people were amazed at the speed of my dome servos. Apparently the EZB is much faster than their traditional setups. They were all gathering around my iPhone watching my "freak out wave" script for my 10 dome panels. Thanks DJ! Sincerely, Doug The Freak Out Wave.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-VcY6Z_IaY

DJ Sures · Answer

Hi Doug! Pretty sure it will work - all neo pixels should use the same protocol. The first article production samples should be in our hands in 3 weeks or so right off the press. On the website a few weeks after that

Dave Schulpius · Answer

Wow, that was wild. It freaked me out. Would you mind posting your code for that? Just wondering what type of motor you've using to open and close the doors. Servos? Are they directly connected to the EZB or do you a servo control board or other control device?

dbickert · Answer

Awesome! Thank you DJ. Dave, I uploaded the code to the EZ cloud. Look for 'R2 Dome Panel Controls' if this link doesn't work. I'm using Hitech HS-53s plugged directly into he EZB. Super simple and very fast. https://www.ez-robot.com/Community/EZCloud/Download.aspx?id=3543 Hope this helps! Cant' wait for the controller!

Dave Schulpius · Answer

Ah, nice. Your using the Auto Position control for the freakout. Did you have to play with the delay and steps to get the wave right?

dbickert · Answer

I increased the steps but left the delay alone. I also left the speed at -1 for the fastest travel. Beginner's luck, I guess. lol

thetechguru · Answer

That was really cool. Alan

DJ Sures · Answer

-1 means "use last speed specified" so if you use -1 everywhere, unless the speed will actually be 0 because -1 means don't change the speed.

dbickert · Answer

I thought -1 was the default for maxing the servo speed. Thought for sure I read that somewhere. As soon as I get my dome back from the powdercoater I'll reinstall all the servos and play around some more. I need to do a lot more tweaking. Thanks DJ!

dbickert · Answer

Hey DJ, Any updates on the blaster? Can't wait to get my paws on it! Thanks! Doug

fxrtst · Answer

@DJ , Will the Pixel Blaster also be able to run the DotStar LED's? They seem to be slightly different than the Neos. Here is a link: DotStar

DJ Sures · Answer

You'd have to compare the data sheets to see if they have the same protocol

CochranRobotics · Answer

Quote: However, unlike NeoPixels, these LEDs have 2 wires (input and output) for sending data - one clock pin and one data pin. That means you need two pins, not one, to control DotStars. Because the clock and data is seperated, you can use any processor speed or type to control these strips, and you don't have to worry about being careful with the timing. Hardware SPI support is handy but not required. This makes them excellent for use with any microcontroller or microprocessor, including Arduino, Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, Propeller, SparkCore, and any 'raw'  from this, you might be able to run from the v4 directly without the blaster. It looks like the same protocols are still supported from what I read, but aren't optimal.

fxrtst · Answer

Ok thanks.

fxrtst · Answer

I'm trying to convert everything in ALAN over to dedicated EZ Products. I've managed so far to replace my specialty servo's with the very powerful EZ servos from the development kit by redesigning the neck mechanism. My next hurdle is the LED matrix. If I can get DotStars to work directly with the EZB then I can cut my LED Magician out of the equation. Obviously the Pixel Blaster will work with Neo Pixels and that would be fine, just not sure when that will be released. I'm going to order both DotStars and Neos this week to play around.

dbickert · Answer

Any availability updates?

DJ Sures · Answer

Good question - it should be in the store any day. I haven't heard much - i'll find out

DJ Sures · Answer

Sorry to say there's still development delays in these bots. I was under the impression the components were completed a few months ago, but i received word today that they're still under development. This includes the neo pixel blaster, the new ultrasonic sensor, and the 8x8 display.

Due to this new information that they're not complete, I do not have an expected delivery date for you - apologies.

fxrtst · Answer

That's disappointing. Does this also reflect the /2 and the iotiny? Or just the items you listed above?

DJ Sures · Answer

I understand. I don't have confidence in the timelines I've received at the moment, so I'm unable to answer that question. I will get an answer for you soon

fxrtst · Answer

Ok.

Dunning-Kruger · Answer

Seriously disappointed too....

dbickert · Answer

Dang. I hate waiting. stress

DJ Sures · Answer

I understand and the feeling is mutual. I will get involved and get a better answer for you.

DigiEddy

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