MySensors shield and RGBW Controller
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@activemind said:
@LastSamurai This is a very nice and useful board you have here. But I was more interested in the first PCB you made with heftier FETs. Would it be okay if I took that first rev as a base and modified it for my needs. I need a VERY simple 3 channel (RGB) controller with hefty (> 5A) FETs.
How do I access the board files of that first rev to use them as base?
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Thanks you! The old files are here I think. It has been done with Target3001 and kicad. You could just take my newest board and replace the FETs. Or just order my boards and solder the FETs onto the smd pads (not perfect but should work too).
I did some updates in the newer versions so be carefull to catch that (e.g. use pwm pins for all 4 colors).Once I find the time I'll upload some pictures here too. At the moment I am using 3 of my boards to light up a room. Looks very nice imho.
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Thanks @LastSamurai . I went ahead and ordered v1.3 of the board just to try them out. If I can solder heftier FETs then your board is EXACTLY what I am looking for. I dont care much about 4th channel since all of my applications will be high power RGB floods.
I didnt look too closely but is there provision for current limiting ressistors in each of the channels.
I will go ahead and load your files in KiCad and see if I can find my way around. Never done any PCB dev but want to give it a try :-)
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Thanks @LastSamurai . I went ahead and ordered v1.3 of the board just to try them out. If I can solder heftier FETs then your board is EXACTLY what I am looking for. I dont care much about 4th channel since all of my applications will be high power RGB floods.
I didnt look too closely but is there provision for current limiting ressistors in each of the channels.
I will go ahead and load your files in KiCad and see if I can find my way around. Never done any PCB dev but want to give it a try :-)
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@activemind Cool, I guess you are the first one (beside me^^) using these boards. It's nice to see that my work can help others. Some feedback later on would be great :+1:
Current limiting resistors are not part of the board atm. Did not really need them. I only added pulldowns to the control lines.
But just have a look with kicad; the program (while having some strange menues/shortcuts) isn't that hard to learn and if you continue to work with electronics its a nice skill to have. I am 100% selft taught and my designs (mostly :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: ) work. -
@LastSamurai Thats a bummer that there are no current limiting ressistor. They are a must with any kind of RGB flood. Hmmm!
I understand why you did not need them because you are primarily driving strips and not RGB floods!
Maybe you can add them to your TODO list for the next rev as optional components.
Yeah, I installed KiCad and now need to load your files to see if I can stumble my way around :-)
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@LastSamurai Thats a bummer that there are no current limiting ressistor. They are a must with any kind of RGB flood. Hmmm!
I understand why you did not need them because you are primarily driving strips and not RGB floods!
Maybe you can add them to your TODO list for the next rev as optional components.
Yeah, I installed KiCad and now need to load your files to see if I can stumble my way around :-)
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@activemind Yes, I will include that in my next version (whenever that will be^^). You could just add them "after" the board before connection the actual RGB lights though (if you use TH components).
Ok have fun ;) If you have questions feel free to send me a message here.
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@LastSamurai Thanks for the offer. I might take you up on it though :-P
I think I am going to start another thread once I have something meaningful to update.
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Just a short update: I now have 5 of these controllers controlling different led strips in my apartment. They are all working without a problem (some of them for nearly half a year now).
I did some small updates to the code (which you can get via github) and will try to update the pcb later to fix that one annoying error with the mosfets. -
I will try to upload the changed pcb tomorrow. Today I added my sensor platform that I am currently using with a motion sensor to light up a room when someone enters.
I will also try to add some pictures of my current setup soon.Here is the sensor platform: https://www.openhardware.io/view/261
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I will try to upload the changed pcb tomorrow. Today I added my sensor platform that I am currently using with a motion sensor to light up a room when someone enters.
I will also try to add some pictures of my current setup soon.Here is the sensor platform: https://www.openhardware.io/view/261
I tried the new version of the pcb. I think the hardware is just working fine. However I have a problem with the sketch or domoticz. I can switch the light on and off. This switches all channels. So the FETs and the Arduino seem to work fine. I can dim the light, too. What does not work is the color selection with domoticz. If I select another color nothing happens. All 4 channels seem to habe the same level all the time. Any idea?
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@Jan-Gatzke Was this due to the error in my fading code? Otherwise you have to connect a serial to usb controller to the node and check what the converter method does that converts domoticz to RGBW values.
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@Jan-Gatzke Was this due to the error in my fading code? Otherwise you have to connect a serial to usb controller to the node and check what the converter method does that converts domoticz to RGBW values.
Yes, this was the problem we already discussed in the other thread.
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Hi
Is anybody who can help me how add phisical button to enable from the wall leds only in color white ?
Button will be connect to pin in arduino but how implement it to code sketch ? I want to on/off white color without gateway... example gateway not working.... -
Hi
Is anybody who can help me how add phisical button to enable from the wall leds only in color white ?
Button will be connect to pin in arduino but how implement it to code sketch ? I want to on/off white color without gateway... example gateway not working....@pepson Hi, not sure if it is exactly what you are looking for, but this firmware
https://github.com/d-diot/d-diot-nano-repeater
Can turn a RGB led strip on and off with a button press. To force white color you need to customize the code.
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How many LEDs do you want drive with this controller, because the MOSFET has a limit of 4.6A.
A full bright white LED (like a SMD5050) can have ~60mA current - so you can drive save 70 LEDs on a strip with this controller.But anyway, nice design :-)
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Very nice project you have here! Thank you for taking the time to post/share your work!
At first I thought it might be exactly what I was looking for, but reading through everything now I am not so sure.
I have been studying various ways (Wi-Fi, 433/315 Mhz RF, MySensors) to implement controlling RGB lights and I initially thought Wi-Fi (while readily available, easy, and cheap) might be too "slow" in response time, which got me thinking to use MySensors (with NRF24) instead, which led me to this thread (among others).
Something concerned me though, I see in your GitHub for this project you stated:
Project frozen/final - This project is done from my side. It has been working for years but I switched to another solution so I won't update this anymore.
and on your OpenHardware page:
Update2: They have been running for about 2 years now mostly without problems. The only disadvantage is that my Mysensors network overall is quite "slow" (~1s reaction time). I am currently experimenting with Wifi RGBWW controllers (H801) so there wont be to many more updates to this project
Which made me want to ask you what you are using now?
It seems to me that those MagicHome type Wi-Fi (or RF) RGB controllers would be pretty hard to beat price wise, I don't think I could implement similar functionality (including packaging, etc.) for the same amount of money, and that's before even counting my time.
Also I am still struggling with reliability of my MySensors network in general, but I hope to be able to still solve this as it seems that many others have been able to (but that is a different subject altogether).
