The next iteration of the Luma node has been fabricated and assembled! The new node incorporates 3 10W RGBW LEDs, controlled with constant-current buck drivers and an ATTINY2313 microcontroller. Like all Luma nodes, up to 32 nodes can be daisy-chaned and controlled over RS485 with our open-source music synchronization software. Support for DMX is nearly complete, and will be ready for use after some additional testing!
![[protofusion]](http://protofusion.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/protofusion-text2.png)
CANable
USB to CANbus Adapter
A small open-source USB to CAN adapter with cross-platform compatibility and an easy-to-use Python library. Now only $30!
Now available from the Openlight Labs store
10
Dec
2013
2013
Protofusion Arch Linux ARM Mirror
Protofusion now hosts an official mirror of Arch Linux ARM! The mirror is hosted on Protofusion’s main server, which is colocated in Dearborn, MI. Mirror selection is geoip-based, so if you use Arch Linux ARM in the Michigan/Ohio/Midwest, you’re probably getting data from the Protofusion server. See the official mirrors page below for more information and a map of mirrors.
6
Nov
2013
2013
Installing WebVirtMgr on Arch Linux
WebVirtMgr is an awesome simple web interface for managing virtual machines on Linux. Unfortunately the installation process is not simple at all, and the documentation is a bit lacking. There are also a few issues which are documented only in the bugtracker and not the documentation, as well as some Arch-specific issues. I’ve compiled all of the fixes I’ve discovered below, so hopefully your install process won’t be as painful as mine.
Updated 2/19/14 to reflect bugfixes and updates
Updated 3/11/14 for code and package updates
29
Aug
2013
2013
RJ-45 Breakout
Commonly confused with RJ-45, the 8P8C connector is generally used for ethernet, telephone, and serial communication-type applications. The RJ-45 Breakout board breaks out an 8P8C connector into screw terminals for easy access while prototyping projects. The small form factor and mounting holes make it flexible enough to be placed almost anywhere, and the design can be fabricated for less than $5. Additionally, populating the optional LED/resistor combination provides a power indicator when voltage is applied across pins 1 and 0.
24
Jul
2013
2013
Protofusion at Maker Faire Detroit
If you’re in the Detroit area this weekend, check out the Protofusion booth at Maker Faire Detroit! This year we will be indoors so all of our lighting will be much more visible. We’ll have our new Luma nodes up and running, which integrate an onboard 10W RGBW LED and heatsink. We will also be showing off our PicoBuck LED driver (soon available from SparkFun Electronics!) and our new MNL music synchronization node. Come check it out!
7
Jul
2013
2013
Open Hardware USB to RS485 Adapter
While developing the Luma RS485-networked LED driver we discovered a need for a small and inexpensive USB to RS485 adapter. We designed an adapter with a FTDI basic UART chip (FT230XS) and an inexpensive TI differential receiver (SN75176). Our small selection of parts brings the cost down to just over $5 for one adapter.
14
Jun
2013
2013
BeagleBone Black and DTC
Arch Linux ARM currently includes an unpatched version of dtc (device tree compiler) which lacks the “@” option. If you want to enable additional UARTs, SPI, I2C, or just use GPIO without recompiling the bootloader, you need a patched version of dtc. You can download the source code and manually patch/compile, but to make this process easier I created a PKGBUILD which builds a patched version of dtc from git. Grab the raw PKGBUILD after the break, or just run packer to install from the AUR:
packer -S dtc-git-patched
Make sure you don’t have the vanilla version of dtc installed, pacman will throw “file exists on filesystem” errors if it’s already installed from the standard repository.
After installing dtc you can easily mux pins with the flattened device tree. For more information on muxing pins and enabling UARTs, check out the hipstercircuits guide.
9
May
2013
2013
Open Hardware Pogo-Pin Programmer
The ProtoProg is a small open source hardware pogo pin programming solution. The ProtoProg does not need a physical connector on the board, it uses surface-mount pads for signals and thru-holes for alignment. Two standard footprints are available, the smallest of which takes up very little space–only 7.6mm x 1.2mm!
Projects, ProtoProg |
9 Comments | Tags: AVR, ICSP, Open-Source Hardware, OSHW, Pogo Pin, Programmer
4
Mar
2013
2013
PicoBuck RGB LED Driver
The PicoBuck is a small and inexpensive 3-channel LED driver. It employs constant-current buck driving which approaches an efficiency of 95% (theoretical).
Now available from SparkFun Electronics!
20
Feb
2013
2013
Luma Node Development
Development has started on the next version of the Luma RS485 high-power RGB LED driver node. The new Luma node will include a constant-current buck LED driver, PCB-mount LED, temperature sensor, 16MHz crystal, and many other new hardware features–all in the same footprint. On the software side, we plan on adding DMX support in addition to extra LED fade routines and improved PWM resolution. Check back in the coming months for more updates!