FPP PB16 Pixel Controller

[woganaga]

There is another board that Scott did for the BEagle Bone Black.. it is in the GitHub..under BBB16. So there isn’t the issue that is suggested in your reply as I am expecting (and am sure that Scott made this so..)that the BBB16 board is compatible with the expansion boards and all other items in the GitHub. My question related really the ease of setting this up in Xlights, especially using the visualiser where ( I don’t think) the PB16 board would be a choice and thus a bit more tricky to map the port outputs.

Ahh! I was not aware that board was out there - I see it in the GitHub now... so I take back my comment!

As for the visualizer I have not used it but mapping the ports in xlights is pretty easy IMO I don’t think you’ll have a tricky time with it. The visualizer that I do use for the prop setup is gold though.


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[ukdel]

Ahh! I was not aware that board was out there - I see it in the GitHub now... so I take back my comment!

As for the visualizer I have not used it but mapping the ports in xlights is pretty easy IMO I don’t think you’ll have a tricky time with it. The visualizer that I do use for the prop setup is gold though.


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What's the visualizer you use then???

[ukdel]

Hi Scott.. I am awaiting the BBB16 boards from JLCPCB but noted that around 18 Feb 21 you seem to have updated the Github, with a pushbutton/GPIO modification. What was the modification for (does it relate to the OLED power mod and the ETHPHY reset?) and does that mean I may have to do a slight mod to the original design. Many Thanks for a great project, and even more so that you have provided it as open source.

[scooter_seh]

I have been working on a Smart Receiver. The Smart Receiver is still very much a work in progress. My plan was to make a 12 output receiver with all "A, B, & C" outputs all on one PCB. I am having issues with the firmware, I cannot get it working on the STM32 Nucleo dev board. I have no real embedded programming experience besides Arduino, so it has been a challenge fo me. After the Pi Pico was released, I started redoing the Smart Receiver to use the Pico as I thought it may be easier. I still don't know what direction is better the STM32 or the PI Pico. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks,
Scott

I see a smart receiver in the works... is that ready to go/ready to be tested?

[ukdel]

I have been working on a Smart Receiver. The Smart Receiver is still very much a work in progress. My plan was to make a 12 output receiver with all "A, B, & C" outputs all on one PCB. I am having issues with the firmware, I cannot get it working on the STM32 Nucleo dev board. I have no real embedded programming experience besides Arduino, so it has been a challenge fo me. After the Pi Pico was released, I started redoing the Smart Receiver to use the Pico as I thought it may be easier. I still don't know what direction is better the STM32 or the PI Pico. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks,
Scott

Sorry I cant help on the smart receiver problem but... I must apologise I think I sent several messages to your private box, responding to your message. If I did, it was because I didnt think the message service working because there was nothing in my sent folder.. then i realised I didn't have the option chosen to show sent messages.. sorry. Thank you for the update on V3 of the BBB16 board. I have made the alterations on the board but not been able to test it yet.. waiting for a zener diode to arrive. Many thanks to your commitment to this Project.. Regards

Derek W

[ukdel]

I have been working on a Smart Receiver. The Smart Receiver is still very much a work in progress. My plan was to make a 12 output receiver with all "A, B, & C" outputs all on one PCB. I am having issues with the firmware, I cannot get it working on the STM32 Nucleo dev board. I have no real embedded programming experience besides Arduino, so it has been a challenge fo me. After the Pi Pico was released, I started redoing the Smart Receiver to use the Pico as I thought it may be easier. I still don't know what direction is better the STM32 or the PI Pico. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks,
Scott

Good afternoon from the UK. Well I have now finished my BB16 board. .. I think I have loaded FPP correctly on Beaglebone black. I have loaded up the BBB16 eeprom file (from GitHUB issues section) and I can see the BBB16 string cape with the sixteen strings ouptputs..and 2 DMX. The OLED display seems to be showing FPPD running ok. I am now trying to link (ethernet hard wired only, no wifi) back to through my home router, to run a check sequence on XLIGHTS. I connected a couple of WS2811 lights on the outputs on the BBB16 board.. and nothing.

I seem to get the connection and have had indicators on the status page of FPP that it had received E131 . I have tried the configuration as standalone, master and bridge on FPP.

I do keep getting the error "could not initiate output BBB48String" showing in red on the status page of FPP. So I am guessing its a configuration file perhaps missing or something. Do you have any ideas or a checklist of what I should have on the setup in FPP/Xlights for the BBB16 board?

Many thanks

Derek

[ukdel]

Good afternoon from the UK. Well I have now finished my BB16 board. .. I think I have loaded FPP correctly on Beaglebone black. I have loaded up the BBB16 eeprom file (from GitHUB issues section) and I can see the BBB16 string cape with the sixteen strings ouptputs..and 2 DMX. The OLED display seems to be showing FPPD running ok. I am now trying to link (ethernet hard wired only, no wifi) back to through my home router, to run a check sequence on XLIGHTS. I connected a couple of WS2811 lights on the outputs on the BBB16 board.. and nothing.

I seem to get the connection and have had indicators on the status page of FPP that it had received E131 . I have tried the configuration as standalone, master and bridge on FPP.

I do keep getting the error "could not initiate output BBB48String" showing in red on the status page of FPP. So I am guessing its a configuration file perhaps missing or something. Do you have any ideas or a checklist of what I should have on the setup in FPP/Xlights for the BBB16 board?

Many thanks

Derek

It maybe that I have recently been skipping the updates to Xlights. I have just seen that the update to Xlights (2021.07) now has the BBB16 board listed in it .. and may solve the problem. Will get back to you if it does.
Derek,

[ukdel]

It maybe that I have recently been skipping the updates to Xlights. I have just seen that the update to Xlights (2021.07) now has the BBB16 board listed in it .. and may solve the problem. Will get back to you if it does.
Derek,

Duh.. how silly can ya get. I must write out 100 times... "you must update xlights regularly" !! The BBB16 configuration on the controller choice (FFP - BBB16) in Xlights did it! ... and of course you also need to run FPP in bridge mode if I want to run sequences directly from Xlights.
Well its been a learning curve and now I understand things a little more.
What a great Project.
Thanks Scott.

Derek

[Glycerine]

I have been working on a Smart Receiver. The Smart Receiver is still very much a work in progress. My plan was to make a 12 output receiver with all "A, B, & C" outputs all on one PCB. I am having issues with the firmware, I cannot get it working on the STM32 Nucleo dev board. I have no real embedded programming experience besides Arduino, so it has been a challenge fo me. After the Pi Pico was released, I started redoing the Smart Receiver to use the Pico as I thought it may be easier. I still don't know what direction is better the STM32 or the PI Pico. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks,
Scott

Cool, thanks for the info. I have only done basic programming with microcontrollers.

[woganaga]

Hey guys... Posted a mounting bracket for the PB16 to Thingiverse to mount in the $9 Harbor Freight Ammo box enclosure in case anyone is using same enclosure. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4807955

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