Renard Firmware: Difference between revisions
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The function of the output LEDs/lamps is as follows: | The function of the output LEDs/lamps is as follows: | ||
*Channel 2 - blinks on and off as a heartbeat (if you see blinking, the PIC has power, clock, and is basically working ok). | *Channel 2 - blinks on and off as a heartbeat (if you see blinking, the PIC has power, clock, and is basically working ok). If this channel is not blinking (either solid ON or OFF) there is an error condition that must be fixed. This will be usually be either a bad PIC, bad oscillator or bad power on the controller. | ||
*Channel 5 - blinks on and off if the PIC is seeing a more or less proper Zero-crossing signal | *Channel 5 - blinks on and off if the PIC is seeing a more or less proper Zero-crossing signal. If this channel is not blinking (either solid ON or OFF) there is an error condition that must be fixed (unless you plan to run the controller in 'DC' mode). | ||
*Channel 6 - blinks or turns on as the PIC receives good serial data (no framing error, no over-run errors). It will usually appear as a solid 'ON' when Vixen is sending data, although it may appear to blink if Vixen is changing the display infrequently. | *Channel 6 - blinks or turns on as the PIC receives good serial data (no framing error, no over-run errors). It will usually appear as a solid 'ON' when Vixen is sending data, although it may appear to blink if Vixen is changing the display infrequently. | ||
*Channel 7 - blinks if the PIC receives bytes on the serial line with framing errors (usually wrong baudrate or inverted data). | *Channel 7 - blinks if the PIC receives bytes on the serial line with framing errors (usually wrong baudrate or inverted data). The LED may also appear as a solid 'ON' if the errors are occurring in rapid succession. If this channel is ON (or blinking) there is an error condition that must be fixed before the controller will work properly. | ||
*Channel 8 - blinks if the PIC has overrun error on the serial line (no known causes for this, other than possibly a bad PIC). | *Channel 8 - blinks if the PIC has overrun error on the serial line (no known causes for this, other than possibly a bad PIC). If this channel is ON (or blinking) there is an error condition that must be fixed before the controller will work properly. | ||
Revision as of 17:50, 25 November 2008
Intro
They all current firmware uses version 1 of the Renard protocol. The regular and Ren-C firmware operate at 57600 baud while the diagnostic firmware operates at 19200 baud.
Regular Firmware
The firmware can be configured for either PWM or non-PWM operation. By editing the firmware file and changing the #define statements you can select which mode of operation you want.
- Non-PWM operation causes a narrow output pulse (30 μS, or so) to turn on the SSRs. This results in the lowest PCB current requirements, because the waveform driving each SSR has a 1:256 duty cycle. The drawbacks of non-PWM operation is that it will not properly control any channel status LEDs (present only on the Renard64 board), and may cause some issues when driving LED strings (e.g. they may possibly not turn on at the upper 25% of the brightness range).
- PWM operation sends a variable-width output pulse to turn on the SSRs (the output turns on at a variable time in the AC power cycle, and stays on until the end of the cycle). This presents a PWM signal to any attached channel status LEDs, causing them to have a variable brightness that somewhat corresponds to the brightness of lamps attached to the SSRs. It will also be better at driving LED strings on the output of the SSR (because the PIC drives the SSRs throughout the cycle, rather than relying on the current through the opto-isolator to latch the opto).
Firmware for Renard8/Renard16 (xmus)/Renard24 (Kostyun)/Renard64
Operation with 50 Hz power
The Renard firmware is designed to sense the power line frequency and change how it works according to the line frequency. In a 60 Hz locale the duration of each (non-PWM) pulse to the SSR is about 30 μS, and the pulses are placed about 30 μS earlier in the AC cycle for each higher dimmer value. For 50 Hz locales the width of each pulse is 40 μS (approx), and they are placed on multiples of 40 μS across the AC waveform. The PWM versions operate in a similar manner, with the pulse widths being a multiple of 30 μS and 40 μS (roughly) for 60 and 50 Hz locales, respectively.
Testing has taken place in both environments.
Firmware for Ren-C
Beta Test firmware
There are later, Beta-test versions of the firmware available over at the forum.
Diagnostic Firmware
There is also a special firmware available to help in diagnosing hardware problems. This firmware uses the output channel signals to provide indications of which features are working. The safest way to use this firmware is to temporarily replace the SSRs with LEDs (and current limit resistors) between the output pin of the PIC and +5V on the board. Also note that this firmware does not re-transmit the serial data, so the 'downstream' PICs won't see any serial data.
The function of the output LEDs/lamps is as follows:
- Channel 2 - blinks on and off as a heartbeat (if you see blinking, the PIC has power, clock, and is basically working ok). If this channel is not blinking (either solid ON or OFF) there is an error condition that must be fixed. This will be usually be either a bad PIC, bad oscillator or bad power on the controller.
- Channel 5 - blinks on and off if the PIC is seeing a more or less proper Zero-crossing signal. If this channel is not blinking (either solid ON or OFF) there is an error condition that must be fixed (unless you plan to run the controller in 'DC' mode).
- Channel 6 - blinks or turns on as the PIC receives good serial data (no framing error, no over-run errors). It will usually appear as a solid 'ON' when Vixen is sending data, although it may appear to blink if Vixen is changing the display infrequently.
- Channel 7 - blinks if the PIC receives bytes on the serial line with framing errors (usually wrong baudrate or inverted data). The LED may also appear as a solid 'ON' if the errors are occurring in rapid succession. If this channel is ON (or blinking) there is an error condition that must be fixed before the controller will work properly.
- Channel 8 - blinks if the PIC has overrun error on the serial line (no known causes for this, other than possibly a bad PIC). If this channel is ON (or blinking) there is an error condition that must be fixed before the controller will work properly.
Here is the latest version of the diagnostics firmware, intended for operation with an external 18.432 MHz oscillator. It is set up for 19200 baud, which can be changed by the user if desired (change the #define statement).
Here is an older version of the diagnostics firmware that does not require an external oscillator. This is also set up for 19200 baud, which should not be changed.