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Uri_ba's pit

DEDuino PCB rev.D

Last Month I’ve sourced DEDuino PCB. REV.D for the Main Board and the Indexers out to production (ITEAD studios) . Key Feature of the RevDs is the switch to I2C, and the switch to Shield type form-factor for Supporting Arduino Due. However, I’ve also incorporated Uno and Mega support while at it.

I’ve finally got the boards in the mail and started assembling them.

RevD Boards - Main board, configured for Due and the indexers
RevD Boards – Main board, configured for Due and the indexers

Read more for the rest of the process and features.

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Uri_ba's pit

DED box – as real as it gets.

I’ve been using a hand built DED box made out of foam board. it was quick to build, and did the job it was intended. holding my DED in place. But then I was pointed towards a post in jSheppard blog, jshep, creator of the PScockpit system, has been using off the shelf plastic box by Hammond, which in a funny coincidence almost exactly in the perfect size to be a DED.

Shep is using the NH 2.8″ LED, I still prefer the ER 2.8″ due to it’s 5V compatibility, but it will not fit into the box due to the PCB side… or will it? (spoiler alert… it does fit ;))

it is a very long post, that will show how to get from this:

Mouser DED box - what you need
Mouser DED box – what you need

To this:

Assembled DED - final test
Assembled DED – final test

 

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Some quick debugging tips for DEDuino

After the release of 1.1.3 I’ve learned some more about the limitation of the Project in regards to features with arduino models.

1. You MUST use Arduino IDE 1.5.x as the earlier version (1.0.x) compiles the code differently (which causes some odd annoying bugs.)

2. Arduino Uno has too little memory to handle too many things. Uno is the default for the project, as it is the most common model. it is NOT however the recommended model, the bare minimum is the Arduino Micro (which has 512 bytes of extra memory over the Uno). Due is highly recommended (and the entire project will soon shift towards it – but for now Micro is the Dev board I’m working with).

The biggest flaw with the Uno for now is that the RealFFI mode can only be used on an Uno if the FFI is the only screen active. If you have a DED/PFL enabled, the Uno does not have enough RAM to render the FFI frame correctly. however, because of the displays are using the same display and font enabling both DED and PFL is not a problem. you can even have the FFI enabled in “BMS render” mode without issues.

And as a bonus for hanging on so long some clips of DEDuino around the world! 🙂
From Italy we have “Cool hand”‘s DED box:

"Cool Hand"'s DED box

From Australia (the one with the Kangaroos),
we have “Moon”‘s  prototype with a temporary paper bezel.

And from Korea we have “Mace”

“Mace” initial prototype

And his video can be found on one of his forum Posts

Cheers guys!
And thank you for all the support!

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Uri_ba's pit

New DED box/screen – a point to consider

Well, remember I’ve said there is a second OLED screen that fits?

I’ve been following a member of the VIAF.it community, “Cool hand”, that has been following this project, He has published a few links I’ve missed while working on the initial steps. I’ve always known that New-Haven screens are a good option but were a bit taller then needed. Apparently, there is a way around it.

Jsheppard of the VP forums, creator of the PScockpit system, has blogged more then a year ago about a box and a NHD secreen combo that works for the DED.

http://psfalcon.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/how-to-install-our-256×64-oled-display.html

here are the parts on Mouser:
NHD 2.8 Oled
Hammond 1598ABK box

I’ve been using the EastRising display, mainly because of shipping issues – had I been aware of this article, I’ve been using that from the start.

for me, buying two sets cost about 85USD, but shipping this over from mauser costs additional 75USD, that’s why I’ve not been ordering anything from Mouser.

I’m now checking my options, that will probably have shipito (or similar service involved.

I now change my recommendation for a screen for the project to this one. code works, and I will re-design the PCBs accordingly.

——- Update – Nov. 20——-

I’ve been digging into the data sheet, it seems that the screen need 3V rather then the 5v tolarant one from BuyDisplay.

So I’ll thing a little about what is needed, and I’ll probably end up getting an extension for the flat cable and dismantle the PCB the same way it’s done here.

Stay tuned!

——- Update – Nov. 21 ——-

Cool hand has posted his progress on the Italian forum…

Check for yourself 😉

As “someone” once said, “Fighter pilots make movies, Bombers make history!” (I hate “Top Gun”! There I’ve said it!)

——- Update – Nov. 23 ——-
I’ve ordered the connectors and adapters I need to try and fit the East-rising display into the Hammond box. I’ll order the Box from Mouser later this week, I’m collecting stuff into my cart there to continue working on the pit (ICP toggles and CMDS panel switches).

because It’s an opportunity to order “real stuff” – with reasonable shipping per item.

I guess December will be a busy month for cockpit electronics 😉

 

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Uri_ba's pit

DEDuino – Release Post

The day is finally here!

I’ve decided to release the project with all the issues I’ve found and could not fix – in hope that someone will be able to look at the code and schematics and help me hunt down the issues.

You can download the code from the Download Page 

And also available on github:
https://github.com/uriba107/deduino

I hope this initial release would be a stepping stone for things to come! thank you all!

Uri

Release Readme:

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Uri_ba's pit

PCB – First batch review and notes

I’ve FInally got the PCBs I’ve ordered. it has been a holiday here pretty much all of the second half of September up till mid October. So the post office/customs were barely working – while waiting I’ve noticed a few issues with the main board. which triggered a redesign to Rev.B. In addition, Redneck of Viperpits have pointed out that my PCB design for the Indexers is all wrong, so we have Rev. B on that too.

All boards as Deliverd
All boards as Deliverd

in the meanwhile – let’s look at Rev.A boards in depth and see what we can find.

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Uri_ba's pit

DED – Building a box

Well, While still waiting on the boards to arrive, I’ve been starting to focus on mounting everything in the pit. The Indexers are the most complex items – and will probably require some 3d printing – however, my initial design of PCB for them is not correct in dimensions, as “Redneck” for ViperPits have shown. I’ve been working with him on a new improved design to fit a 3D printed model he is working on.. So that will be covered once I order the new PCBs – but till then, I’ll focus on the rest.

DEDbox - Prototype No.3  with screen and bezel
DEDbox – Prototype No.3 with screen and bezel

Next up is the DED box which will be covered in this post

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Uri_ba's pit

DEDunio Performance Tuning – Arduino Uno

I’ve been getting some PMs on Viperpits from folks interested in some configuration or another. some what the FFI, others DED, FFI and PFL.

So I’ve decided to use the time till the PCBs arrive and test expected performance

I’ve opted to use my Arduino uno as he is the weakest one (the Micro has half a KB more RAM and a self adjusting serial communication, and the due – well, should be different ball game entirely…). If performance would be Acceptable on the Uno, it will be on every other device too.

I was too last night tired to finish the  caution panel (control board wiring is still not done) – so I took the challange and played around with the code – trying to make code changes easier and more coherent and of course fine tune the performance.

This is a step along the way.
Redneck, this one is for you 😉

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Uri_ba's pit

DED Adventures – Part 5 – And we’re expanding!

We’ll after we got the DED and FuelFlow sorted out it’s time to think on how to get everything packed for the real pit installation, in addition, when we have things running we get a better clue on available memory and CPU cycle limit. When I’ve changed the way the DED worked, I suddenly realized I’ve cleared the exact amout of memory to drive a second DED, or to be more precise, to drive the PFL. The PFL is identicle to the DED in size and resolution, the the adaptation was very easy, on the PC side of things, PFL uses exact same structure in the SharedMem. so it’s a matter of reusing the DED code.

    //PFL Lines
    char PFLLines[5][26];  //25 usable chars
    char PFLInvert[5][26]; //25 usable chars
DED, PFL and FuelFlow driven by Arduino Micro
DED, PFL and FuelFlow driven by Arduino Micro

Once we have that done, we can get some more thought into final solution. I’ve decided to start with the small scale, the Indexers.

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Uri_ba's pit

DED Adventures – Part 4 – And there be light

OK, So we got the DED and FuelFlow sorted out. we got a way to get the data over and drive the screen. Before we go on, let’s talk a bit about Arduino boards.

Arduino Boards are ATMEGA based development board, putting the I/O pins available for quick connections. Basic Arduinos traditionally have 13 available digital I/O pins and 6 ADC 10bit “analog” Inputs.

the “classic” arduino board is the Arduino Uno.
Based on the ATMEGA328P, a 16MHZ, 2K RAM chip that uses an on-board RS232 chip to handle serial communication via 2 of the 13 IO pins. I’ve done my initial prototyping work on this board and it works with comms of up to 96000 baud reliably. you might start catching some errors but YMMV.

on the other side of the scale there is the Arduino Due.
the Duo is ARM based 84MHz chip with 96k RAM, it has 54 IO pins, 12 ADC pins and so on. it’s bigger then the Uno.

in the middle this is the Leonardo, it’s about the same size as the Uno, but uses a different Chip, the ATMEGA32u4. However, it’s his little brother the Arduino Micro, is the one I’ll focus about. the 32u4  is pretty much identical to the 328P with a few exceptions, it has 2.5K of RAM, a bit more I/O pins, but the most important feature on the chip is that it has native USB capability, which means it can do serial communication much faster then the Uno. the added bonus is it’s size, the Micro is TINY, it’s slightly less the 5cm long, and has male headers in two rows, which makes it breadboard compatible, and allows an easier mounting . So I chose it and everything I wrote was Micro Optimized. However I do indend to try and make the code in an Uno version (but with diminished capability) and in  Due version (as Acef already has on – so why not).

And back to the design..