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SchvagnumPI
08-10-2017, 03:34 AM
This is my first attempt at a ledstring saber and I'm slowly working my way through the config but I seem to be stuck at a point. This is what I've done;

edited the override.txt
ledstrip=140

That got the ledstring to light up but it was on and would stay solid white as soon as I booted it.

edited the override.txt
ls0=12
ls1=24

Ledstring was no longer on during boot up and saber would extend on ignition. The color however is not constant and cycles through all it's variations (red, purple, blue, green etc.) and this is where I'm stuck. I have edited the bank config.txt

bank1 drive=0,1023,0
bank2 drive=0,0,1023
bank3 drive=1023,0,0

So each font should change to a different consistent color but the colors still cycle.
I'm wondering what I am missing for the color to stay consistant

Tom Tilmon
08-10-2017, 09:15 AM
Plecter manual excerpts: " ledstrip [0-150]: Enables the ledstrip support 3 channel drive list defining the maximum drive of the high-power LED and therefore the blade color. 0 leaves the board in high-power LED mode ls0 [5-50]: LED strip "zero" timing in multiple of 25.2ns. Sometimes had to be adjusted of 1 or 2 units, depending on the strip used. ls1 [5-50]: LED strip "one" timing in multiple of 25.2ns. Usually the double of ls0. lsfadeon [0-1]: enables the progressive fade in effect combined with the ledstrip scrolling effect, which is the ScrollFade™ feature. lsfadeoff [0-1]: same as above but during blade retraction. lightstick [0-1]: when enabled, it removes the scrolling effect and lights the ledstrip up with all leds at once. Can be combined with lsfade parameters.

Ledstrip timing parameters The board allows for configuring the timing of the data line to adapt to certain brands or part # of pixels. In particular, the SK6812 has slightly shorter timings (-50ns) compared to the WS2812(B). The ls0 and ls1 parameters (override.txt) are there to allow some tuning to adapt to the strip protocol. They are set in multiples of 25.2ns. The default configuration for those is :

ls0=14 // matches WS2812B datasheet 350 nS ls1=28 "

To get the SK6812 running (the Adafruit skinny neopixel use those) we simply changed them to : ls0=12 // matches the 300 nS from datasheet ls1=24 "

Me: "The instructions say that sometimes you have to change the ls0 and ls1 in single increments to get things to work right. Have you tried 13/26 or 11/22 in the override text? Sounds like you have some type of signal issue. Did you resistor the signal line? Did you use a capacitor on power feed? Did you ever give full power on the LED strip prior to connecting it to your board? To test it?

I'm in the planning phases for Adafruit Skinny White Strips on a crossguard saber with Prism, so I'm curious if you get this figured out."

SchvagnumPI
08-10-2017, 03:24 PM
I'm using Adafruit skinny too. I have a 470 ohm 1w resistor on the data but have no capacitor.

Below setting seem to work best
ls0=12
ls1=24

The problem seems to be the flicker. If I turn off the flicker the correct color is displayed. By increasing the duration of the flicker I noticed it flicks randomly between red blue and green. So when it flicks quickly it looked like the colors were cycling. So how to control flicker color, I don't know.

Tom Tilmon
08-10-2017, 05:54 PM
There are multiple configuration adjustments; however, I leave you to the experts. I am only in the planning phase for my Adafruit build. You're doing it. Keep at it, you'll find the sweet spot they want to be in!

Tom

Tom Tilmon
08-11-2017, 08:50 AM
I'm using Adafruit skinny too. I have a 470 ohm 1w resistor on the data but have no capacitor.

Below setting seem to work best
ls0=12
ls1=24

The problem seems to be the flicker. If I turn off the flicker the correct color is displayed. By increasing the duration of the flicker I noticed it flicks randomly between red blue and green. So when it flicks quickly it looked like the colors were cycling. So how to control flicker color, I don't know.

I copied the below text from the manual, and I think this is where you need to be:
flks [0-20]: speed of the energy variation / flickering effect of the blade. A high value produces a damaged saber effect while a small value generates subtile energy changes. The value 0 disables the effect (static blade). flkd [0-100]: depth (in %) of the energy fluctuation effect, i.e. the the range over which the LED brightness will be affected during the effect. A low value does not modify the energy very much while a high value « digs » big steps of light intensity. To be used with the parameter flks. shmrd [10-500]: duration of the shimmering effect of the high-power LED during a clash. Make sure this duration is not too much longer than the associated sound to keep a nice result. shmrp [5-25]: periodicity of the light bursts during the clash effect. A slow period will produce tight bursts. shmrr [0-25]: random value applied to the periodicity of the light burst during a clash effect. Allows having bursts that are not regularly spaced in time which increases the realism. For instance, a period shmrp of 20 and a random value shmrr of 10 will produce a period between two bursts varying between 20 and 30 (ie 40 and 60 ms). shmr% [0-100],[0-100] : shimmer effect depth. Defines how the shimmer will "dig" the blade defined brightness during a clash or a lockup effect. A static flash is achieved by leaving that value to 0. That parameter is actually composed of 2 numbers separated by a comma to define the range to apply to the brightness modification during the shimmer.


I think you can zero out the dig of the flicker/pulse so that you just have a steady blade. I thought that the signal would only vary the flicker/pulse of the specific color of the LEDs in the string you're trying to illuminate. In other words, say you're running a blue saber. Your board is ordered: R,G,B, so your configs for blue blade say 0,0,1023. The signal wire should only be sending the wavelength signal to activate/wake up the blue LEDs in the string, and the flicker/pulse is just the voltage being delivered in varying increments to the LEDs via power supply. That is how I understand them to work. So, if you're illuminating all 3 colors, I'd still say: you either have a signal issue up the string, or your string is bad. Hence why I asked if you had hooked up the signal wire without a resistor initially. If you did, it is my understanding that you might only fry that first board on the first LED. Simply cut that LED out of the strip, and solder your 3 wires back onto strip. There is a huge string build going on now over at the 501st SLD, and I am following their thread/videos, and doing a lot of communication back and forth with them about it. The strips are pretty awesome technology, that is for sure. So, that is why I'm so interested in your build to see how you get it working with the bisquit. I'm going to be using the prism 5.1 for mine, when I do it. Probably my second Kylo Saber will get the strip LEDs and prism. Then, while that saber is functional for troops, then I'll build a neopixel string for that same saber, and swap out the strips. Then, I'll have the strips available for other future installs. strips are easier and cheaper (time wise) than hand-built strings. Good luck!

SchvagnumPI
08-13-2017, 03:44 PM
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!

You got it. The first LED was being a bit erratic. As soon as I cut it off and resoldered it was all golden!

Thx so much for your help mate! I'm checking out the 501st as soon as I'm done here. Good luck with your saber.

Tom Tilmon
08-13-2017, 07:32 PM
Awesome!!!!! I am stoked, it'd be even better if you posted a vid of it firing!!!!! Good to know I'm learning from them.

Tom

SchvagnumPI
08-15-2017, 06:10 PM
This is it so far.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1DVyymHvJY

Attached a second string which had the same problem and stuck electrical tape to the back of each of them.

Tom Tilmon
08-15-2017, 07:17 PM
That is awesome! Ha! It is alive!!!!!!

ADstewart
09-29-2017, 01:07 AM
Hi, I came upon this thread during research before I even started building my LED strip saber so was aware of the issues. I may be having the same problem! I’m converting a normal saberforge quad cree LED and swapping the cree straight out for the wired strips (my strip -ve goes straight to the L1 pad, not sure whether this is a problem?) I’ve fiddled with 3 different ls1 and ls0 configurations but I only get this:

https://youtu.be/mgbAFT-_Trk

Does this look like a fried chip as well? I was careful to put the resistor (370 ohm) on the data line before I pulled the kill key for the first time.
There’s also some distortion from the speaker which I know is from a weak battery, even though it’s a Panasonic NCR recommended by plecter in the NB manual.

I should mention that I took a gamble and bought the cheapest strips from China for £11 each. Genuine neopixel ones were £50 each in the UK!

Tom Tilmon
10-01-2017, 08:08 AM
L1 and L2 on bisquit should be bridged to negative on strip. L3 feeds the data line with 330-470 ohm resistor between board and strip. positive from battery or board is other remaining hook up on strip. I'll be using adafruit strips, and yes, they are expensive. For my Kylo, I'm looking at 180 bucks in strips. double sided full for main blade (2 strips) and an additional strip to build double sided quillions.

I'm not sure why yours is doing this, I hear the MOTG beep of the NBIV, did you change all your configs?

Tom

ADstewart
10-02-2017, 02:39 AM
$180! Ouch! We just can’t help ourselves can we.

I desoldered the first 2 LEDs on each side and it made no difference so I’m assuming it’s not a fried pixel. Actually when I disconnect the data line altogether it’s the same problem, the LEDs are a pinky colour with a few faint green/blue ones mixed in for good measure and it’s always on. When I swap out a short strip with only 10 LEDs they’re bright white which makes me think it’s either a power (current load) issue or a wiring one. Or the cheap strips are faulty.

The manual for the NB says if you dont want the power saving function then you can return the -ve from the strip to the main -ve on the board but don’t know if returning it to L1 only would make a difference. I was hoping to avoid desoldering the NB but it might be worth a try.

I’ve tried 3 different configurations for ls0 and ls1 (14/28 and 13/26) but haven’t experimented outside these. It’s on my list!

Meatsweats
10-02-2017, 05:40 AM
Just to be sure, did you change the ledstrip parameter to the #of leds you have ? It seems like you're still in high power led mode not strip mode based on the leds going full tilt whitish.

ADstewart
10-02-2017, 04:32 PM
Yeah, I changed the ledstrip to 127 (although does it really matter if it’s higher? The manual says it doesn’t matter if you have fewer pixels than the parameter)
Going to change a few things when I’m next off work to see if it makes a difference. There’s still the crackly speaker so I’ll probably need to change the battery.

Meatsweats
10-02-2017, 05:17 PM
Hmmm. There's got to be a wiring problem somewhere. I couldn't tell from the video but do you have a killkey? Are you sure you wired the recharge port correctly? it's odd that the leds are on before you press the activation switch. It seems like you have the right strip parameters, which leads me to believe you miswired it somehow. From my testing you don't have to have the ledstrip exactly equal to led #.

ADstewart
10-22-2017, 10:56 AM
Turn out it was the ****ty LED strips I bought. Buy cheap buy twice I suppose. The replacement ones I got from KR Sabers in the UK have lit up perfectly!

SA22C
10-23-2017, 12:29 AM
I had really good luck with a set I got on eBay for ~20 CAD each. They’re sturdy, have gotten bent to hell and gone during install (I tried to feed the strips into the blade with too much foam. Forcing it kinked the strips pretty badly but to no ill effect.) The only problem I have is shadowing along the sides of the strip but it’s not a showstopper. The brightness and evenness of the blade is worth it.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/WS2812B-5050-RGB-LED-Strip-5M-150-300-Leds-144-60LED-M-Individual-Addressable-5V-/371432213255?var=&hash=item567b15cb07:m:m4zGWDNLP9buHzMPoM_BHzg

https://imgur.com/gallery/tFqrb

https://youtube.com/watch?v=3tCbJW5uNaU

https://youtube.com/watch?v=w1hRzGW0LZI

https://youtube.com/watch?v=T-AxHUoMorA

ADstewart
10-23-2017, 12:57 PM
Looks good! Did you speed up the scroll for the green and blue? What values did you go for?

SA22C
10-23-2017, 02:57 PM
I did. Using the auto-sense really didn't seem to match well for those, for whatever reason.

The Green ROTJ Luke uses qon=200
The Arctic Blue ESB Luke uses qon=400,qoff=450
The Red R1 Vader uses qon=500 for that super-ominous slow extend.

Here's the blade in bright near-daylight.
https://i.imgur.com/79KfgYY.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/uY0GUmS.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/oC5bJsi.jpg