4x1 RGB-LED-Ring/Rotary Encoder PCB Bulk Order

#1

Hey there,
i developed a PCB module for the midibox-platform which should also be adressable with the axoloti board directly. If anybody is interested in buying some hit me up with a direct message or add to this thread. Post from midibox-forum below:

  • two layer sandwich PCB to get the SMD LEDs on surface level
  • encoder-slots compatible with both 11mm and 16mm encoders, with or without switch
  • two 74HC165 per encoder-board for direct connection to the core board, convenient midibox 10-pin IDC connectors
  • breakable design allowing to easily get 3x1, 2x1, 1x1 board configurations, partially leaving both broken parts usable/connectable/chainable.
  • Full ring of 36 WS2812c RGB LEDs in 2020 size, diameter of 27mm. The full ring allows for vertical or horizontal application as opposed to the classic 80% perimeter LED ring. 36 LEDs make up for the lost resolution.
  • additional power supply inlets for the hungry LED rings
  • distance between encoders is 33mm in the prototype, might change to 35mm for production, allowing for bigger knobs. Not a fan of the current micro-encoders.
  • option for whoever needs it to design a compatible OLED-overlay-board to use instead of the LED-Ring board and thereby achieve something similar to @Antichambre's great OLRE board.

The design is not fully tested yet and we might make some adjustments but I wanted to put this bulk order up already so everybody gets a chance to see it before we order. Which will be as soon as the prototype has proven itself, hopefully in about 2-3 weeks. There is a number of questions to be addressed when the prototype arrived, ie maximum number of WS2812 on a single core board, overall power consumption etc. Obvisouly i am very happy about any ideas or constructive criticism regarding the design.

Here is a price overview that we calculated from an offer we got on a slightly older design, so it might vary depending on the total order amount and possible design changes, plus a tiny shipping&handling fee. I will personally order around 50 each so would make it to the middle price bracket probably.

Encoder board:
50pc --> 10€ / pc.
100pc --> 7€ / pc.
200pc --> 6€ / pc.

LED-Ring board
50pc => 28€ / pc.
100pc => 23€ / pc.
200pc. => 20€ / pc.

Yes these are pretty expensive compared to your usual diy pcb board, but we ruled out any self-assembly pretty early, given the amount of parts and also the sheer number of boards I personally need. So we will order these boards with all SMD parts fully assembled, if anybody is interested we could obviously also get some plain pcb boards made on the side.

So yeah please send me a DM or post in this thread if you are interested in ordering some of these.
Here are some nice renderings courtesy of the genius @FantomXR who might also chime in with schematics or if anybody has more specific technical questions.

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edit: i forgot to make it obviously clear that this is a bulk order situation where everybody is welcome to join in at cost, with no whatsoever financial gain or interest on my behalf. layouts and documentation will be open sourced once finished.

WIP (HERON) Axoloti Addon Board Project
Anyone planning to make and sell an enclosure?
#2

I'd be interested in both. Three to six each - I will first have to determine how I can fit them into the layout.

#3

I would definitely be interested in a few of these.
let me know when you are thinking of making the order.

#4

Thanks will keep you guys updated, prototypes should arrive this week or early next week still.

#5

Prototypes are beeing tested as i type this. Here are pictures:

#6

prototypes working fine. running some additional tests and then i'll have updated prices in a couple of days, estimated to send out the order end of next week.

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#7

so are these already controlled by a axoloti?

#8

basically this is just a ws2812 line which are RGB LEDs that are widely supported by MCU platforms. here is a thread describing use with axoloti

as for the encoders, the boards include multiplexers so they can easily by driven by axoloti too.

while i will mainly use them with the midibox version of the STM32F4, i will definately also develope my own objects for convenient use within axoloti within the next 2 weeks. most likely not before order but i should have test reports by the coming weekend.

we will definately be in a 100+ pcs price bracket fwiw.

#9

I'm in for one set. Where are you shipping from?

#10

I'm interested in participating in a group buy. Any plans to make the encoders push-buttons as well?

#11

I will ship these from germany. I'm in the US a lot though so i might be able to import some directly at some point. if someone wants bigger quantities i am sure we can arrange for shipping directly from the manufacturer.

As for the encoders, the board fits and supports all types of Bourns PEC11 and PEC12 series encoders, with and without detend and with and without built in switch. each 4x board uses 2 HC165 shift registers, 2 pins for each encoder, one for the optional switch, one unused, repeat.

the encoders and the input/output connectors are about the only parts you have to pick, buy and solder yourself, as they are too much of a personal choice.
if needed i guess i could do these super easy soldering jobs for people, in very small quantities.

got the prototypes running perfectly nice on both arduino and STM32F4 midibox, will look into axoloti objects tomorrow or early next week.

edit: @johannes old SPI ws2812 project works like a charm and the first board of 4 LED rings is looking great on native axoloti control! will start writing some convenient objects once i understood johannes driver/adressing scheme...

#12

quick little video with a temporary frontplate. this is NOT controlled by axoloti right now, but a 20$ arduino board. will work on axo objects asap.
frontplate is 3mm mdf, top row has slightly wider holes than bottom row. so that could be improved probably. ws2812 running at 25% brightness....

#13

one more with some basic functionality examples. will order in about 1-2 weeks. also, it looks like the manufacturer has a 30% discount on the assembly part of the job, so prices will go down a bit!!

#14

That looks very smooth, great job! I might be interested in some boards. May I ask what kind of encoders you use?

#15

i'm personally using bourns PEC11, but to clarify the encoders are not part of the package.

#16

thanks, sure that was just curiosity. Did you manage to get a balance of musical feeling/precision with the 24steps per rotation? Did you work with acceleration in order to make full sweeps possible?

PS: What would be the power consumption if all Led were on at the same time? just to get an idea.

#17

Yeah so far for testing i am running the encoders through midibbox, sending midi CC to the arduino that controls the LED rings. I did this mostly for convenience, one board operation should be possible.

So the midibox has different settings for encoder speed and acceleration, but i didn't even mess with these yet cause the default setting feels pretty good. not infront of the boards rn but irrc to go from 0-127 you have to do about 1.5-2 rotations. feels pretty good, nice musical ranges for most stuff for sure, but if you wanna go all the way in one fast sweep its possible but nont ideal anymore. so i'll prolly start finetuning that once i'm back in the lab.

also fwiw right now the CE pins of the encoder board 74HC165s are bound to ground, because midibbox only uses those over SPI. the final version will have the CE pin brought out though so you can do easy bitbanging support on non-timed pins.

#18

slight update. was away for the week so still no axoloti objects.

#19

I would be interested in a set for sure. Maybe a second set based on cost.

#20

Hi, I'm interested in 3-6 each! thanks