LED Ring I2C device

Alexinparis · Post by **Alexinparis** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:48 am

This is was I'm currently cooking

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xmdqa9_ledringmultiwii_tech

mr.rc-cam · Post by **mr.rc-cam** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 1:46 am

Nice, looking forward to your new ring light feature.
LED's + R/C models = Cool

ziss_dm · Post by **ziss_dm** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:32 am

Hi,

I also found this project:
http://thingm.com/fileadmin/thingm/down ... asheet.pdf

regards,
ziss_dm

timecop · Post by **timecop** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 5:08 am

This will be really cool on controllers that don't have I2C bus alreaady packed with sensor readings... Oh, wait, that's none of them.

itain · Post by **itain** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:05 am

dongs wrote:This will be really cool on controllers that don't have I2C bus alreaady packed with sensor readings... Oh, wait, that's none of them.

XMegas have 2-4 I2C buses (and 5-8 usarts).

ziss_dm · Post by **ziss_dm** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 4:20 am

Hi donds,

This will be really cool on controllers that don't have I2C bus alreaady packed with sensor readings... Oh, wait, that's none of them.

Could you please explain your point?

regards,
ziss_dm

timecop · Post by **timecop** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 3:51 pm

itain wrote:
dongs wrote:This will be really cool on controllers that don't have I2C bus alreaady packed with sensor readings... Oh, wait, that's none of them.

XMegas have 2-4 I2C buses (and 5-8 usarts).

where is your 'multiwii port to xmega' thread then.

timecop · Post by **timecop** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 4:01 pm

ziss_dm wrote:Hi donds,

This will be really cool on controllers that don't have I2C bus alreaady packed with sensor readings... Oh, wait, that's none of them.

Could you please explain your point?

regards,
ziss_dm

my point: i2c in multiwii is used to read sensors. sometimes at 100khz (ugh). do you see where i'm going with this?

mr.rc-cam · Post by **mr.rc-cam** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 5:18 pm

my point: i2c in multiwii is used to read sensors. sometimes at 100khz (ugh). do you see where i'm going with this?

Used wisely, adding the animated LED's via I2C is not a threat to the I2C buss's limited bandwidth. And I know that for certain; I have I2C interfaced LED's and switches on my quad and I don't see any impact to the cycle time or any other side affects.

Alexinparis · Post by **Alexinparis** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 11:49 am

Hi,
I have also a BlinkM module.
And... I'm not a fan of this because it's driven by a small PIC and it's quite expensive regarding the price of this LEd Ring (BlinkM: around $12, LED Ring: around $23 with 12x more LEDs !).
I bought mine here :
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rainbow-LED-Rin ... _500wt_715

The LED Ring is driven by an atmel 168 with a arduino bootloader => can be updated with the same FTDI used for arduino boards.

Hamburger · Post by **Hamburger** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 9:36 am

Alex,
I saw you submitted code for LED to google rep. Do you have a video to show us what the blinken lights actually looks like?

Alexinparis · Post by **Alexinparis** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 10:15 pm

It's in the first post

see the description of the vid.

LEDRing.pde is the sketch on the DFRobot LED Ring unit (which is an arduino too)

And MultiWii dev was updated to communicate with it using some I2C functions (new option: //#define LED_RING)

dialfonzo · Post by **dialfonzo** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 10:19 pm

I have uploaded and try, but i don't get it to work on my Quadrino.
I will try on my own board to see.

Should i connect the i2c to 3.3v logic level (guess yes since arduino is a 3.3v version)

timecop · Post by **timecop** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:26 am

I'm too lazy to read through ledring code to see if there's a default command I can send to it without it exploding - I see LED.pde and it changing stuff based on pitch/roll/etc, however for auto-detection purposes I want to just write it like a "whoami" type command (either read or write is fine, I',m looking for ack/nak from i2c).

Any suggestions?

seems like maybe 'e' command would work (all black).
any idea on t he arguments for it?
the protocol seems utterly undocumented/

Alexinparis · Post by **Alexinparis** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:22 am

Hi,

Yes, you can send an 'e' command to switch off all LEDs.
There is no arg for this command.
Note: nothing is documented at all as it is currently at a draft stage, but the code is very short and quite easy to grasp.

So you are now implementing autodetect I2C devices

I understand you can afford this easily on powerful and plenty of mem 32bit proc.

timecop · Post by **timecop** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:02 pm

Thanks, 'e' it is. so I just i2c write 'e' to the address, 1 byte, no args. Got it.

Yeah, sensors were autodetected long time ago - at least through the short number of the ones I support.
The end user should never have to recompile firmware on a modern system...

mr_heat · Post by **mr_heat** » Mon May 14, 2012 12:46 am

hi

i found a led ring v3 in my drawer, tried to get it going with my miniwii from jussi...
i enabled led_ring in the sketch, checked all wiring but ring doesnt work like in the video?
i use multiwii release 2.0 ..
do i need to do anything with firmware of ledring? its stock and with ftdi connected it plays a demo on pressing sw1 and cycles through colors with sw2...

EDIT: ok i managed my env to upload LEDRing.pde, the ring lights up dots are mooving, but only half of the dots are working, other half is dark?

shikra · Post by **shikra** » Mon May 14, 2012 7:26 pm

If you don't mind waiting a few days I'm just finishing up some code for this. If you want to be a tester, let me know and I'll send files over when ready

The v3 hardware is different to hardware Alex produced this for. I just found that out too on the weekend!

Katch · Post by **Katch** » Mon May 14, 2012 9:56 pm

I'll give you a hand test too if you like - I've got a v3 arriving any day.

What features have you written into the new code?

shikra · Post by **shikra** » Tue May 15, 2012 12:52 pm

This is cut from the documentation. It's not quite finished - fitting in bits between jobs!

/*
2 modes -
Mode 0 - Standalone - set LED sequence flash mode via Switch 1.
Mode 1 - MultiWii - LED sequence set via I2C connection from Multiwii
Switch S1 - Toggles between various flashing sequences when run standalone without I2C connection
Switch S2 - Toggles between standalone flashing sequences or I2C controlled. If no I2C, LEDs are off
Modes / flash sequence remembered between restarts
*/

/*
Standalone Mode:
---------------
Sequence 0 - Standard Naviugation lights. Red left, Green right, white rear, flashing red flashing white strobe
Sequence 1 - Flashing Red/Green. Red facing forward for orientation
Sequence 2 - Static Red/Green. Red facing forward for orientation
Sequence 3 - Fast Green flash
Sequence 4 - Static Green
Sequence 5 - Static Red
Sequence 6 - Static Blue
Sequence 7 - Flashing Green
Sequence 8 - Flashing Red
Sequence 9 - Flashing Blue
Sequence 10 - Alexander the great effect 1
Sequence 11 - Alexander the great effect 2
Sequence 12 - All off

Multiwii connected Mode:
-----------------------
Motors on - ACRO flying - Standard Navigation lights / strobe
Motors on - LEVEL flying - Static Red/Green. Red facing forward for orientation.
Motors on - Position hold - Static all Blue
Motors on - RTH - Flashing all Blue
TBD *** Motors on - battery level low
Motors off - Unstable position warning. Will not arm - Fast Green flash
Motors off - LEVEL mode - with BARO/MAG/GPS/CAMSTAB indicator - See below for sequence
-->BASE color for all LED = GREEN
-->IF CAMSTAB=on flash D1
-->IF MAG=on flash D2,D12
-->IF BARO=on flash D3,D11
-->IF GPS SATS> 0 flash D4-D10 (no of sats max=7. Enough for accurate fix)
*/

chilled · Post by **chilled** » Thu May 17, 2012 3:12 am

Ouch! $99 for the LED ring on eBay... Yet, from their own site, it's a fraction of the cost. Am I looking at the same thing?

http://www.dfrobot.com/index.php?route= ... uct_id=487 == http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rainbow-LED-Rin ... _500wt_715 ?

AlouetteIII · Post by **AlouetteIII** » Mon May 21, 2012 11:17 am

Did some beta testing f your code base - works great !!! excellent news - well done.

I got good function for Armed - Tilt40 degrees - level mode on/off - could not get anything for BARO or MAG on

I few things I might comment on
Andromeda PARIS impact protection lid - daylight LED orientation - http://www.multiwiicopter.com/products/ ... rientation
- is Blue front - white sides and red to rear - but by comparison - in brightness - these RGB on the DF LedRING are so weak - daylight will be limited range affair - mainly to help Noob Pilots and Multicopter beginners to realise what mode they have set - there is a lot of confusion initially - and a few crashes - caused by not knowing the modes

Some ideas- recommendations
Disarmed - use existing blinking white and nav - but have one blue front and one red back - when posing with an un-armed copter - will look cool
Armed - level mode - all green steady
Armed Acro mode - all red steady
MAg on - for mag on - one white led faces north - if the copter turns the leds moves to match it - Alex in paris had this working on his demo -i think
BARO on - every second LED blue - flash
So for combinations - Acro with baro - red - with blue flashing on every second
Acro with baro and mag - - red - with blue flashing on every second led - white led follows north
etc..

for GPS - It would be similar to AceOne where the LEDs are in the GPS pod itself.

Great work Shikra

shikra · Post by **shikra** » Mon May 21, 2012 12:13 pm

Thanks for testing Quinton. Some of your changes are in here. really like Alex MAG indicator. Showed an issue with my board having lost its calibration this morning....

More testers wanted- PM me!

here is latest update

/*
standard mode - same operation as current Alex code using urrent Multiwii 2.0 LED.ino
enhanced mode - goodies below (requires different LED.ino)
*/

/*
2 modes -
Mode 0 - Standalone - set LED sequence flash mode via Switch 1.
Mode 1 - MultiWii - If Autodetect I2C Multiwii command, puts into Multiwii control
Switch S1 - Toggles between various flashing sequences when run standalone without I2C connection.
Switch S2 - Toggles on/off
Modes / flash sequence remembered between restarts
*/

/*
Standalone Mode:
---------------
Sequence 0 - Static Red
Sequence 1 - Static Green
Sequence 2 - Static Blue
Sequence 3 - Flashing Red
Sequence 4 - Flashing Green
Sequence 5 - Flashing Blue
Sequence 6 - Fast Red flash
Sequence 7 - Fast Green flash
Sequence 8 - Fast Blue flash
Sequence 10 - Standard Navigation lights. Red left, Green right, white rear, flashing red flashing white strobe
Sequence 11 - MultiWiccopter Navigation lights. Red left, Green right, white rear, flashing red flashing white strobe
Sequence 12 - Flashing Red/Green. Red facing forward for orientation
Sequence 13 - Static Red/Green. Red facing forward for orientation
Sequence 14 - MultiWiiCopter Andromeda. Blue forward/White Sides/Red rear for orientation
Sequence 20 - Alexander the great effect 1
Sequence 21 - Alexander the great effect 2
Sequence 22 - Random

Multiwii connected Mode:
-----------------------
Motors on - ACRO flying - MultiWiicopter Navigation lights / strobe
Motors on - LEVEL flying - Static Red/Green. Position for orientation.
Motors on - Position hold - Static all Blue
Motors on - RTH - Flashing all Blue
Motors on - Battery level low - Flashing all Red
Motors off - Unstable position warning. Will not arm - Fast Green flash
Motors off - LEVEL mode - with BARO/MAG/GPS/CAMSTAB indicator - See below for sequence
-->BASE color for all LED = GREEN
-->IF MAG = North direction indicated by single Blue
-->IF BARO = on flash every other blue
Motors off - as above, but BASE colour = RED
*/

/*
Approach TBD:
ACRO mode & motors off = cool NAVI lights unless MAG/BARO or CAMSTAB activated
GPS indicator
CAMSTAB indicator=on D1=RED
*/

Katch · Post by **Katch** » Mon May 21, 2012 12:50 pm

gah my board is still on a slow boat from China - will jump in as soon as it arrives.

chilled · Post by **chilled** » Tue May 22, 2012 12:30 am

eBay or Dfrobot, which is the best source?

dialfonzo · Post by **dialfonzo** » Tue May 22, 2012 1:55 am

chilled wrote:eBay or Dfrobot, which is the best source?

DFrobot is the maker... so i would say there.
Mine came direct from them.

chilled · Post by **chilled** » Tue May 22, 2012 2:15 am

Ordered direct from DF, £16.14 with delivery, bargain!

Katch · Post by **Katch** » Wed May 23, 2012 12:44 pm

As of Arduino 1.0, the Wire.receive() function was renamed to Wire.read() for consistency with other libraries.

Bad error line: -1

Mine won't compile (LEDRing)

Katch · Post by **Katch** » Wed May 23, 2012 1:20 pm

ok - compiled and uploaded with Arduino 0022

observations;

immediately after flash - all reds on - sw1 cycles and sw2 turns off

I2C operation seems bugged.

Acro
- D1 & D2 blue flashing red (possibly pinkish)
- D3 & D4 pinkish (little bit of RGB) flashing red
- D5 strobing white
- D6 D7 D8 red flashing white
- D9 flashing white white red
- D10 D11 white flashing red
- D12 as D1 and D2

Level mode - All green and flash when not level

That's all I've had time to test so far.

LED board is rev v3.

Katch · Post by **Katch** » Wed May 23, 2012 1:26 pm

Just quickly testing this

Standalone Mode:
---------------
Sequence 0 - 10 test fine
Sequence 11 - really messed up red flashing white back blue flashing red front d5 d9 strobing d4 d3 pink flashing red - d10 d11 bright white flashing red
Sequence 12 - 13 fine
Sequence 14 - MultiWiiCopter Andromeda. Blue forward/White Sides/Red rear for orientation * has 2 pinkish LEDs left (d3 d4)
Sequence 20 - 22 fine

shikra · Post by **shikra** » Wed May 23, 2012 3:31 pm

Hi Katch - thanks for testing. Just wanted to make sure you have the latest - posted up at http://www.flypix.co.uk/shikra/ftp. Myy be changes to LED.INO
There are some notes re programming in there and using older rev Arduino. I'll update as it make sense with all new builds being for 1.0

Been a few changes to keep everyone happy re colors and board support etc. Last night was first opportunity to actually test with an rx connected as have been away. Made a few changes as a result.

I noticed the slight pinkings on a couple of led's - actually thought it was my board. I just had a quick look and couldn't see anything quickly obvious but something definitely causing a slight pink. Am sure its fixable!

Katch · Post by **Katch** » Wed May 23, 2012 3:48 pm

yep definitely using that version.

shikra · Post by **shikra** » Wed May 23, 2012 4:35 pm

meh - looks like transistor switching timing or something related. will be interesting.

Alexinparis · Post by **Alexinparis** » Wed May 23, 2012 10:28 pm

Hi,

I looked at the code change for the v3,
The only thing that should be changed is this line:

Code: Select all

  DDRB |=   ((1<<0)|(1<<1)|(1<<2)|(1<<3)|(1<<4)|(1<<5));    //transistors located on PIN B0->B5  : set PORTB as output

It should help to remove odd remaining colors.
Other changes seem ok.

Nice to see more people involved in this dev

Katch · Post by **Katch** » Thu May 24, 2012 11:22 am

More testing,

Changed the line above - seems to have removed a lot of those pinks

Standalone;

1- 10 fine
11 - Red back Blue forward strobing - white sides strobing (3 leds per side front 2 strobing every third)
12-22 fine

I2C;

Acro - same colour error as 11 above
Level - still all green
Not level warning - fine
Baro - fine
Mag - indicator is purple and doesn't point north (it doesn't hold a heading but does moves with the direction of yaw)

Still haven't tried GPS functions.

shikra · Post by **shikra** » Fri May 25, 2012 4:15 pm

@Alex -
Thanks for taking the time- saved me some puzzling over the transistor timing. I completely missed that one. It does fix the ping tinge on couple of LED's

Hopefully we can generate some more interest with the board. Code is not optimal, but should keep easy for those who like to play.

I have to admit, it does look pretty cool with lights on. See if I can get some vid up on the weekend
+ a really usefull indicator. It shows up Mag calibration and incorrect modes well!!

@Katch -
Purple MAG indicator - I was aware but kinda assumed it wouldn't be used in acro mode - being lazy! - it should now be blue in acro or level mode.

edit - this bit is wrong... see below!
Mag is working well for me - follows board perfectly. As a test if I power down turn it around and power back up, the correct new north heading is shown. Verified with a compass
I'm in Northern hemisphere - no way of testing for the southern guys!!

Updated files at...
http://www.flypix.co.uk/shikra/ftp

AlouetteIII · Post by **AlouetteIII** » Sat May 26, 2012 4:50 am

Shikra - tested 1205 25 - cool - everything worked for me - no flickering or half way colour combos now - all fixed in this new version

MAG* the compass turned the opposite direction when the PARIS was rotated around

when I mounted it ontop of the PARIS and I rotated the board with MAG on. if you can reverse the compass rotation direction - will be perfect.

Tested for ACRO/LEVEL/BARO/MAG with 2.0.504

Nice work Shikra !

shikra · Post by **shikra** » Sat May 26, 2012 9:49 am

@AlouetteIII
Thats great. Thanks for testing. Mag will be sorted later

@Katch
Numbnut moment....Yes you were right on the MAG. I took the board of plane and have been developing on the bench and I'm turning the multiwii board and not the LED board. It works perfect that way!! I now know why I had to reverse the direction a while back. Thought it was odd at the time.

shikra · Post by **shikra** » Sat May 26, 2012 10:25 am

Try amending this in the sketch..

from this
param[5]=param[5]-90;
to
param[5]=90-param[5];

Updated files at...
http://www.flypix.co.uk/shikra/ftp

Only had a very quick test, but looked good.

Katch · Post by **Katch** » Sat May 26, 2012 10:28 am

will test soon.

AlouetteIII · Post by **AlouetteIII** » Sat May 26, 2012 12:14 pm

Shikra - thanks - re-tested 1205 26 - cool - everything worked

MAG* the compass rose (blueLED) held north as I rotated the PARIS around 360 degrees - perfect. looks great - and super useful for all - especially new pilots - who really struggle to understand the modes and when they are on or off.

Tested for ACRO/LEVEL/BARO/MAG with 2.0.504 - with all combinations

Job Done - Shikra !

Katch · Post by **Katch** » Mon May 28, 2012 3:35 pm

I'm still getting solid green on level mode... is it not supposed to be green / red?

mr_heat · Post by **mr_heat** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:23 am

can confirm, tested everything but GPS in advanced mode

nice work

Katch · Post by **Katch** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 1:32 am

is this now completely broken in the 2.1 release candidates? can't get it working.

mistaheat · Post by **mistaheat** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 11:40 am

got it running by using standard mode on led ring pde.
using latest mwii rc with led_ring uncommented

shikra · Post by **shikra** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 11:48 am

Seem like peopel are getting round to trying the code with the latest vers! Three pm's thins morning. Glad its being used.

OK, this is untested as I have no board/copter with me, but here is link to my proposal of LEDring.pde with flags changed to suit the new format. It complies so fingers crossed... test carefully as always.

LEDring.ino
http://www.flypix.co.uk/shikra/ftp/

Once 2.1 is out I was planning to see if we can progress it for inclusion in 2.2. if Alex is willing. Kinda like the bling on my copter now.

mistaheat · Post by **mistaheat** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 12:09 am

please be careful with fiddling on i2c bus...always use soldered connections or firm and secure sockets and plugs...ive learned this the hard way this evening.

somehow the connector to the led ring shaked loose during flight, i bounced one time on the ground between hoovering, it was enough to create a i2c bus error,
and front left und back right engine spun up full speed and it flipped hard on the concrete. it didnt stop spinning although i cut throttle and tried disarming.

Alexinparis · Post by **Alexinparis** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 11:54 pm

shikra wrote:Seem like peopel are getting round to trying the code with the latest vers! Three pm's thins morning. Glad its being used.

OK, this is untested as I have no board/copter with me, but here is link to my proposal of LEDring.pde with flags changed to suit the new format. It complies so fingers crossed... test carefully as always.

LEDring.ino
http://www.flypix.co.uk/shikra/ftp/

Once 2.1 is out I was planning to see if we can progress it for inclusion in 2.2. if Alex is willing. Kinda like the bling on my copter now.

The initial LEDring I made was here mainly for testing purpose.
There is no problem to replace it with a more elaborate one like yours.
Is the code currently compatible and ready to merge with 2.1 ?

shikra · Post by **shikra** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 11:19 am

@mistaheat
- yes - any loose conenction on I2c has potential to cause issue. Same for sensors etc.
IWill run fine with it connected or fully disconnected - I frequently do this as always uploading / testing something.
I just tried to simulate by plugging off/on/lightly touching to simulate breaks. Can cause I2C errors as expected, but couldn't replicate your issue - small changes in motor outputs to esc, but still kept RC. (Props off!!) you were real unlucky on that one. But good no injury to you.

shikra · Post by **shikra** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 11:19 am

@Alex:
I'm using it on 2.1 along with a few others and normal acc/baro/mag functionality is good, but GPS part not tested. I would like to confirm that first - with so many improvements in that area. Give me a couple of days to get GPS and test ...