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Author Topic: TeensySaber Software Discussion  (Read 67183 times)

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Offline nobunaga

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Re: TeensySaber Software Discussion
« Reply #345 on: February 27, 2018, 04:08:39 AM »
Hi. Excuse me. Can I ask a question about make a config and solder two Neopixel strips?

Normally, Neopixel blade is using two strips. These two strips are glued both back side.
I would like to use two LED strips to a TeensySaber V3.

Then, Must I choose 'Neopixel Dual' in the 2nd listbox by config generator?

Or, Can I choose 'WS2811/Neopixel' in the first listbox and 'None' in the 2nd listbox by config generator? And Can I connect two soldered in parallel LED strips to a LED-pin 1,2,3?
Is it Ok?


Offline profezzorn

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Re: TeensySaber Software Discussion
« Reply #346 on: February 27, 2018, 08:39:10 AM »
Hi. Excuse me. Can I ask a question about make a config and solder two Neopixel strips?

Normally, Neopixel blade is using two strips. These two strips are glued both back side.
I would like to use two LED strips to a TeensySaber V3.

Then, Must I choose 'Neopixel Dual' in the 2nd listbox by config generator?

Or, Can I choose 'WS2811/Neopixel' in the first listbox and 'None' in the 2nd listbox by config generator? And Can I connect two soldered in parallel LED strips to a LED-pin 1,2,3?
Is it Ok?

You can do either one. The dual let's you control the strips individually, with the other configuration they will always look the same.

Offline canteen234

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Dual NeoPixel
« Reply #347 on: February 27, 2018, 02:53:37 PM »
I tried using the values you suggested:
   WS2811_800kHz
   WS2811_400kHz
   WS2811_540kHz
   WS2813_800kHz
and they still get the same result. I also soldered a 150 Ohm resister to each of the data lines and nothing has changed.
The serial monitor has :
ID: 1023 volts 3.30 resistance= 33758500.00
blade= 0
which is an odd value for resistance.

Offline profezzorn

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Re: Dual NeoPixel
« Reply #348 on: February 27, 2018, 03:26:05 PM »
I tried using the values you suggested:
   WS2811_800kHz
   WS2811_400kHz
   WS2811_540kHz
   WS2813_800kHz
and they still get the same result. I also soldered a 150 Ohm resister to each of the data lines and nothing has changed.
The serial monitor has :
ID: 1023 volts 3.30 resistance= 33758500.00
blade= 0
which is an odd value for resistance.


The blade ID is measured between GND and DATA, if you don't have a blade ID resistor, then a large value is expected.
The inability to control the strips is weird though.
Can you maybe share some pictures that shows how everything is connected?

Offline canteen234

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Re: Dual NeoPixel
« Reply #349 on: February 27, 2018, 06:03:23 PM »
I tried using the values you suggested:
   WS2811_800kHz
   WS2811_400kHz
   WS2811_540kHz
   WS2813_800kHz
and they still get the same result. I also soldered a 150 Ohm resister to each of the data lines and nothing has changed.
The serial monitor has :
ID: 1023 volts 3.30 resistance= 33758500.00
blade= 0
which is an odd value for resistance.


The blade ID is measured between GND and DATA, if you don't have a blade ID resistor, then a large value is expected.
The inability to control the strips is weird though.
Can you maybe share some pictures that shows how everything is connected?

Offline canteen234

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Re: TeensySaber Software Discussion
« Reply #350 on: February 27, 2018, 06:13:45 PM »

Offline profezzorn

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Re: Dual NeoPixel
« Reply #351 on: February 27, 2018, 07:27:55 PM »
I tried using the values you suggested:
   WS2811_800kHz
   WS2811_400kHz
   WS2811_540kHz
   WS2813_800kHz
and they still get the same result. I also soldered a 150 Ohm resister to each of the data lines and nothing has changed.
The serial monitor has :
ID: 1023 volts 3.30 resistance= 33758500.00
blade= 0
which is an odd value for resistance.


The blade ID is measured between GND and DATA, if you don't have a blade ID resistor, then a large value is expected.
The inability to control the strips is weird though.
Can you maybe share some pictures that shows how everything is connected?

The wires *look* good.
Except that the blue wire seems to be hooked up to pin 8 instead of pin 7 on the teensy. That's not a problem, but it's also not what your config file says.
(Just change the 7 to an 8 in the second WS2811 invocation and you should be fine.)

Next step: Measure. I don't suppose you have an oscilloscope? No, ok, well, just hook up a multimeter between GND and the data on the strip and turn it on.
Once it's on, you should measure a slightly fluctuating voltage somewhere around 1.7 volts or something. If you switch the multimeter to AC, you should also see a value in the same range I think.
If you don't see these values, try measuring on the teensy itself. If you see something different at the beginning of the wire from the end of the wire, your wiring is bad.
If the signal seems to make it to the strips, then maybe you have weird strips that work differently somehow? (Try a different strip)
If the signal doesn't seem to make it out of the teensy at all, try re-programming and/or a different teensy. (There has been at least one person who managed to fry a teensy in such a way that a pin stopped working, but everything else seemed normal, a sure sign of this is that the blade ID stays the same regardless of any resistors you hook up to it.)


Offline canteen234

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Re: Dual NeoPixel
« Reply #352 on: February 27, 2018, 10:19:19 PM »
I tried using the values you suggested:
   WS2811_800kHz
   WS2811_400kHz
   WS2811_540kHz
   WS2813_800kHz
and they still get the same result. I also soldered a 150 Ohm resister to each of the data lines and nothing has changed.
The serial monitor has :
ID: 1023 volts 3.30 resistance= 33758500.00
blade= 0
which is an odd value for resistance.


The blade ID is measured between GND and DATA, if you don't have a blade ID resistor, then a large value is expected.
The inability to control the strips is weird though.
Can you maybe share some pictures that shows how everything is connected?

The wires *look* good.
Except that the blue wire seems to be hooked up to pin 8 instead of pin 7 on the teensy. That's not a problem, but it's also not what your config file says.
(Just change the 7 to an 8 in the second WS2811 invocation and you should be fine.)

Next step: Measure. I don't suppose you have an oscilloscope? No, ok, well, just hook up a multimeter between GND and the data on the strip and turn it on.
Once it's on, you should measure a slightly fluctuating voltage somewhere around 1.7 volts or something. If you switch the multimeter to AC, you should also see a value in the same range I think.
If you don't see these values, try measuring on the teensy itself. If you see something different at the beginning of the wire from the end of the wire, your wiring is bad.
If the signal seems to make it to the strips, then maybe you have weird strips that work differently somehow? (Try a different strip)
If the signal doesn't seem to make it out of the teensy at all, try re-programming and/or a different teensy. (There has been at least one person who managed to fry a teensy in such a way that a pin stopped working, but everything else seemed normal, a sure sign of this is that the blade ID stays the same regardless of any resistors you hook up to it.)

Hey, I switched the value from 7 to 8 and resoldered an LED on the strip and it worked! Thank you for all the help!

Offline canteen234

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Flash when ignited
« Reply #353 on: February 28, 2018, 11:59:16 AM »
So everything seems to work except that the LEDs initially flash for a fraction of a second whenever the blade is ignited. This also happens whenever I plug in the battery.

Offline profezzorn

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Re: Flash when ignited
« Reply #354 on: February 28, 2018, 12:09:04 PM »
So everything seems to work except that the LEDs initially flash for a fraction of a second whenever the blade is ignited. This also happens whenever I plug in the battery.

Having the neopixels come on during bootup, up to a few seconds is normal.
The flash when turning the saber on is not.

It sounds like the particular neopixels you have default to on, which makes it difficult to power them on without having a flash. The code tries to work around this by telling the neopiels what to do as soon as possible when we turn them on, but this might not be fast enough. A workaround would be to just hook up the negative side directly to the battery / kill switch (just bypass the FETs). This would would reduce the standby time a lot unfortunately, but the flash would go away.



Offline canteen234

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Re: Flash when ignited
« Reply #355 on: February 28, 2018, 01:18:11 PM »
So everything seems to work except that the LEDs initially flash for a fraction of a second whenever the blade is ignited. This also happens whenever I plug in the battery.

Having the neopixels come on during bootup, up to a few seconds is normal.
The flash when turning the saber on is not.

It sounds like the particular neopixels you have default to on, which makes it difficult to power them on without having a flash. The code tries to work around this by telling the neopiels what to do as soon as possible when we turn them on, but this might not be fast enough. A workaround would be to just hook up the negative side directly to the battery / kill switch (just bypass the FETs). This would would reduce the standby time a lot unfortunately, but the flash would go away.

I feared that was the solution. It is currently set up so that removing the battery is the only way to completely turn off the TeensySaber, so it's not too big of an issue. Thank you for all your help so far! Is there a way I can donate a bit since I didn't buy a board directly from you?

Offline profezzorn

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Re: Flash when ignited
« Reply #356 on: February 28, 2018, 01:27:53 PM »
So everything seems to work except that the LEDs initially flash for a fraction of a second whenever the blade is ignited. This also happens whenever I plug in the battery.

Having the neopixels come on during bootup, up to a few seconds is normal.
The flash when turning the saber on is not.

It sounds like the particular neopixels you have default to on, which makes it difficult to power them on without having a flash. The code tries to work around this by telling the neopiels what to do as soon as possible when we turn them on, but this might not be fast enough. A workaround would be to just hook up the negative side directly to the battery / kill switch (just bypass the FETs). This would would reduce the standby time a lot unfortunately, but the flash would go away.

I feared that was the solution. It is currently set up so that removing the battery is the only way to completely turn off the TeensySaber, so it's not too big of an issue. Thank you for all your help so far! Is there a way I can donate a bit since I didn't buy a board directly from you?

No need. I'd rather you pay it forward by documenting what you're doing and contribute any improvements you make. :)

Offline gmcivor

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Re: TeensySaber Software Discussion
« Reply #357 on: February 28, 2018, 09:16:24 PM »
How does adding a latching button to the saber effect operation over a momentary? I know with a momentary its one click on, one click off. when off long click plays track. When one and long click play sound effect. And when on and a click/hold and clash it will play lockup. Does this change with a latching button?

Regards,

GMcIvor
« Last Edit: February 28, 2018, 09:56:27 PM by gmcivor »

Offline profezzorn

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Re: TeensySaber Software Discussion
« Reply #358 on: February 28, 2018, 09:58:06 PM »
How does adding a latching button to the saber effect operation over a momentary? I know with a momentary its one click on, one click off. when off long click plays track. When one and long click play sound effect. Does this change with a latching button?

Regards,

GMcIvor

Yeah, there is no such thing as a "long click" for a latching button, so track playing and other stuff has to be on another button.
Not sure if things needs to be reconfigured much, I haven't built anything with a latching button myself.
I think the easy way to do it is just to make the AUX button the latching one, that way most of the functions remain, and I think the aux button can still turn the saber on and off.

Offline gmcivor

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Re: TeensySaber Software Discussion
« Reply #359 on: March 02, 2018, 08:31:14 AM »
Was looking through the custom saber shop for some parts for a couple sabers I was building and came across this http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/NeoPixel-PCB-connector-and-pin-set-P1338.aspx. Would this be something that could be used instead of a blade connector? its nice that it doesn't have to align to have a connection and makes it easier for an end user to use.

Regards,

GMcIvor

 

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