Category: Projects

Lets stream some Pixels

First things first, have you tried setting up the breadboard test circuit?

Does the SmartPoiOffline sketch upload correctly, and display on 36 connected LED’s? (if you have a longer strip and don’t want to cut it, that’s fine, the rest will just be blank)

Ok it’s time to try streaming pixels.

First load the SmartPoiBasicStreaming sketch to your microcontroller. Right now this is only being tested on the D1 mini, but should work on any ESP8266 board.

The SmartPoiBasicStreaming_UDP_Send program works on PC or Android, you just need Processing IDE with Android Mode installed if you want to do Android.

First, switch on the D1 Mini with LED strip attached. Wait for the led’s to finish cycling their startup pattern, then you need to use the wifi settings to connect the device (PC, Android*) which is running the processing code to the Smart_Poi_2 access point. The password is for this test is: “bluefire”.

*Note: since Marshmallow version, Android has had a nasty “captive portal” detection which refuses to connect to AP’s unless they are able to access the internet. I understand why they did this (security), but without root the only workaround is to put the device in Airplane mode, then switch on WiFi while still in Airplane mode, and connect from there. The annoying notification should be ignored, as there is an option to “never connect to this network” in there somewhere and it will trip you up.  I should probably do a post about this. Just swipe it away, don’t click!!!

Once connected, start the program. Welcome to the world of streaming poi.

A couple of notes: the test program is not POV, it’s an animation (cylon effect) as this is easier to see on a breadboard. I have a complicated program to send images to the poi which are seen only when they are spun, however it’s easier right now to just start with a simple app for testing.

This program does demonstrate one advantage of streaming as opposed to rendering purely on the poi – that is control. It is trivial to change the colour from the random colours I have chosen to any you could wish. I had another version of this program with three knobs which can change the R, G, B values being sent. You could do a curve instead of straight lines, make the line fatter or thinner, slower, faster, and much more.

Have a go, and let me know what you think. Coming soon: more POV poi shenannigans!

 

 

 

Time for some Poi Sync

The esp8266 is an amazing chip. On my poi the Master* poi creates a wireless access point which the Slave* poi connects to – and Android app connects as well, in order to transmit images. No router needed, just switch on poi, 2nd poi connect automatically, connect phone and start sending pictures.

*I have designated these names, for descriptive purposes.

There are limits, however. The ESP chips have a limitation of 4 connected devices per access point device. If you want more devices talking to each other you need a Router to handle the traffic.

This is fairly simple using arduino examples but it brings up configuration issues. I wanted my poi to be able to be used in standalone as well as Master-Slave-Android configuration, and now Router-Multiple-Poi-Android as well. A few settings are in order.

The first option, standalone poi without wireless, I configured directly in the loop() of code. If no wifi signal has been received within the last 5 seconds the poi switch to backup images. Great, if my phone’s battery dies the show still goes on.

The second alternative (Router) is a bit harder to organize. First, there is a limitation where the chip has to be told if it’s in Access Point mode or not on boot. Ok so that’s a setting. Then we need to know what the static ip address is (hard coded but configurable via web interface) so that we don’t conflict with other poi. Also, once you are in Router mode, what if there is no router?

Right now, my poi check a web configurable EEProm switch on boot first, for Router mode on/off. If Router mode is on, the poi enter connect mode. If, after a certain amount of time, the router is not found, the poi restart in Access Point (master-slave-android) mode. However, upon rebooting again they revert back to Router check, so one has to manually set back to Access Point only mode if required.

I need a diagram here to really show what’s happening.

The problem came in if the router wasn’t configured correctly, or was simply not available, the poi needed a reliable way to get configured. My poi get configured by web interface (local network, no cloud) so AP mode was needed by default in case things went wrong.

Here is the note from my code:

//to activate in browser: http://192.168.1.78/router?router=1

//to deactivate: router=0

So I just type it in the browser on my connected Android or PC and the poi are set. I will assign this to a button on the app at some point.

Currently the only option for multi-poi is to send the same image to all poi simultaneously (only 3 pairs, that’s all I have). This looks great, but there is much more to do obviously. Just a matter of code

Time to go play a bit with the toys…

Simple D1 mini Circuit

Although the Smart Poi is based on ESP-01 for size reasons, I find it easier to use the excellent D1 mini for testing. Here is the basic setup:

Notice that the D1 mini is powered from a battery source (4 x NiMH AA in series). This is not entirely necessary, you could get away with plugging in the D1 mini via USB, and connecting the APA102 strip to the 5v pin. The problem comes in when the LED strip starts drawing too much power, you will have dropouts in Wifi connectivity, or wdt resets and won’t know if it’s the code or just power.

Use the offline code from my Github repo to get started:

SmartPoiOffline code

This code works fine on other Arduinos as well as ESP8266 chips. Just change the pins.

 

Smart Poi Emulators

Two emulators are featured here, the first takes all images in a folder and shows them in sequence, as they would look on the spinning poi:

 

The second program receives RGB values from serial connected poi chip and displays on screen. This is showing what is actually being sent out to the LED strip, useful for testing – I was getting a bit tired of spinning the poi whilst programming them and the Android transmitter app at the same time.

The image below is of the computer generated default offline patterns, but if wifi sent images are available it looks somewhat similar to the above. Colour is not yet optimized.

 

For the serial sending to work on the poi, a fairly large change in code is needed. The serial necessarily slows everything down drastically, so it’s for testing only.

What it’s really like to be a developer

The long road to Smart Poi, visualized:

In order to make this video I used a program called gource. It takes your Git commits and creates an infographic video automatically. I modified the programmer avatar using the –default-user-image setting.  If you want to see something spectacular, check out the linux kernel gource!

k8 Clubs what are they and don’t they come with a remote already?

K8 prophecy clubs and balls come with their own remote, which controls all the colour settings. Why did I make another remote then?

 

Well, first of all, the clubs and balls may glow in the dark, but the remote certainly doesn’t*. The remote is very small and conveniently fits in a pocket, however it is virtually impossible to determine by feel which end is the business end. And by that I mean the end with the IR LED on, so that your hasty button presses actually have an effect… because as we all know, if you point the remote at the stereo, the tv will not change channels.

*Update: I wrote to K8 recently with regards to getting some new equipment, and it turns out their new remotes glow in the dark. They also have an awesome new record pattern function, to make changing colours easier. Can’t wait until I can afford the new K8’s!

Then there are the fiddly buttons, I have to admit my eyesight is not the best and I have broken too many pairs of expensive prescription glasses to hazard wearing them at my juggling gigs (juggling club to the face… it happens). So inevitably I end up squinting in low light trying to see which button does what, I quickly decided this was not the way I wanted my show to go.

Here is a shorter (low ceiling) version of my show running from an IR dongle, on a laptop, synchronized with some DMX lights via midi. Super complicated setup, I gave up on this after a couple of years of doing it. I needed an easier way…

Introducing the ONE button remote.

How does this work? One very prominent button, when held down will repeatedly send the correct signal for my equipment at the time I am pressing it. Once pressed, the program increments to the next required signal and that one is sent on the next button press.

One button, many signals. So now, in my show I occasionally hold up a remote and change the program on my IR juggling toys. I don’t need to be able to see the remote in order to do this, finding the remote takes no time (it’s tied to my homemade juggling equipment stand) and the button is big and can be found in the dark. Also the signal of MY remote is quite a bit boosted from the k8 version.

Here is an arduino sketch which demonstrates the principle (without the IR, I will share the k8 codes if anyone is interested).

EepromOnOffLedExample

Simply put, there is a number saved in EEPROM. Every time the Arduino boots up, the number is incremented, and saved again in EEPROM. The saved number corresponds to an IR signal. Thus a different signal each time. I make sure to loop the number back to 0 again of course at some point, otherwise the EEPROM register will overflow, blowing up the Arduino in the process I imagine 😛