Renard PX1 Pixel Controller

General

The Renard PX1 was designed by Phil Short as an inexpensive Pixel controller designed to work with standard Renard systems. It can be daisy chained with other Renard controllers. The design consists of a controller board with a PIC16F1825

Disclaimers

The standard disclaimers pertaining to the information contained on this wiki page are listed here.
THIS BOARD IS STILL IN DEVELOPMENT AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
THIS WIKI PAGE IS NOT COMPLETE YET.

Features

• Standard Renard connections
• 5VDC and 12VDC operation
• WS2801 and WS2811 pixels
• Some Design Details:

1. 1) One output (same 3.5mm connector and pinout as jstjohnz's controller), handling up to 200 pixels
2. 2) RS485 input, same RJ45 pinout and protocol as Renard controllers
3. 3) 115200 input baudrate (lower rates provided, but not recommended)
4. 4) Uses PIC16 parts, so existing programmers should work.
5. 5) Supports WS2811 strings at with either 400KHz or 800 KHz data rate, 5V power input
6. 6) Uses external 5V supply (readily available from Ebay, China, etc).
7. 7) Power, RxD and FE (framing error) indicators
8. 8) Jumper to select pixel speed (400 KHz vs 800 KHz)

The PCB has been designed, with just a few details to be worked out after I receive some connectors to make sure that they fit. I haven't sent the board out for fab yet. The firmware is a work in progress, although I have verified that the microcontroller that I've selected can control the faster WS2811 pixels. First jumper is used to select between a chase and a solid static pattern. Other three jumpers select one of 12 possible themes:

1. 1) Orange theme (Halloween/Thanksgiving)
2. 2) Purple theme (Advent/Lent)
3. 3) Red & Green (Christmas)
4. 4) Red (or pink) Valentines Day
5. 5) Green (St. Patrick's Day)
6. 6) White (Easter)
7. 7) Red/White/Blue (4th of July)

With five possible other themes (national day colors for other selected countries???)

Maximum Number of Pixels per Controller

The number of Pixels that can be supported per serial port depends on both the baud rate and on the frequency of updates that has been programmed into the Vixen sequence. The most common PC control software is Vixen, which easily supports multiple serial ports (including USB-RS232 and USB-485 converters).

Number of Channels (*)

Total Number of Pixels Capable for a given Baud Rate/Refresh Interval*
Baud Rate	Refresh Interval
	100 ms	50 ms	25 ms
115200	383	191	95
57600	191	95	47
38400	127	63	31
19200	63	31	15

Typical Pixels require power injection every 50 pixels. The Renard PX1 only supports up to 50 Pixels directly powered from the controller. If you use more then 50 Pixels, you must provide an off board fused power source to provide power injection downstream.

Schematic

This is a preliminary Renard PX1 schematic. Schematic

PCB Layout

BOM - Bill Of Materials

To build Renard PX1 Pixel Controller you will need parts from Mouser and a Renard PX1 Pixel Controller PCB.

Mouser

Part	Mouser PN	Description	Qty	Optional
R1	291-120-RC	Carbon Film Resistors - Through Hole 120ohms 0.05	1
R2.R3	299-1K-RC	Carbon Film Resistors - Through Hole 1Kohms 5%	2
R4,R5	299-27K-RC	Carbon Film Resistors - Through Hole 27Kohms 0.05	2
R6	260-680-RC	Resistor Network, 680 Ohm, Bussed, 6-pin	1
R7,R8	299-47-RC	Carbon Film Resistors - Through Hole 47ohms 0.05	2
C1	810-FK28X5R1C105K	Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors MLCC - Leaded 1.0uF 16volts X5R +/-10%	1
C2,C3	80-C322C104K5R	Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCC) - Leaded 50volts 0.1uF 10% X7R	2
D1	78-1N5239B	Diode, Zener 9.1V .5W	1
D2	78-1N5229B	Diode, Zener 4.3V .5W	1
D3,D5	604-WP710A10IT	LED, 3mm Red	2
D4,D6	604-WP710A10GT	LED, 3mm Green	2
IC1	595-SN65LBC179PE4	Buffers & Line Drivers	1
IC2	579-PIC16F1825-I/P	Microcontroller	1
IC3	926-2950CZ-5.0/NOPB	LDO 5.0/100mA	1	****
U1	571-1-390261-2	IC & Component Sockets 8P ECONOMY TIN	1
U2	571-1-390261-3	IC & Component Sockets 14P ECONOMY TIN	1
J1,J2	571-5556416-1	Jack, Modular RJ45 PCB Mount Top Entry	2
J3,J5,J7.J9	538-22-03-2021	Headers & Wire Housings VERT PCB HDR 2P TIN PLATING	4
J4	649-77313-122-10LF	Headers & Wire Housings 10P STR DR TMT HDR .76 AU .526IN LENGTH	1
J6	538-22-03-2061	Headers & Wire Housings VERT PCB HDR 6P TIN PLATING	1
J8	538-22-03-2031	Headers & Wire Housings VERT PCB HDR 3P TIN PLATING	3
J9	571-2828372	Fixed Terminal Blocks 5.08MM PCB MOUNT 2P	1
Jumpers	151-8000-E	Headers & Wire Housings MINI JUMPER GF 6.0MM OPEN TYPE BLACK	7
J10	538-39501-6004	Pluggable Terminal Blocks 3.5MM EURO HEADER VE HEADER VERT GRN 4CKT	1
Pixel Connector	538-39503-2004	Pluggable Terminal Blocks 3.50MM EURO PLUG VER UG VERT RWE BLK 4CKT	1
Fuse	504-ATM-5	Fuses 5A 32Vdc 1kA IR Tan	1
Fuse Holder	534-3544-2	Fuse Holder	1

The Mouser Project BOM can be found here.

Assembly Instructions

Assembly of the Renard PX1 is done in two steps:

1. Assemble PCB and Solder parts
2. Configure Jumpers

Renard PX1 Pixel Controller Assembly

1. Begin by inspecting the PCBs to look for any defects such as cracks or breaks. The holes on the board should be open on both sides. Then inspect and sort out the various parts for the boards.
   

1. Install Resistors
2. Install Capacitors
3. Install Diodes
4. Instal IC Sockets
5. Install LEDs
6. Install Headers. The short end of the header is soldered into the PCB.
7. Install Voltage Regulator
8. Install Connectors
9. Install Fuse Holder
10. Install ICs
    1. Install the 14 pin PIC in
    2. Install the 8 pin RS485 chip in

Configure Jumpers

You must place the appropriate jumpers on the various headers to configure the Renard PX1 Pixel Controller.

• J3- 1x2 DMX Termination Resistor
  
• J4- 2x5 Options Connector
  
• J5- 1x2 RS232
  
• J7- 1x2 Programing?
  
• J8- 1x3 5V Bypass
  

Congratulations, you have finished constructing your Renard PX1 Pixel Controller.

Connections

• J1 RJ45 Input
• J2 RJ45 Output
• J6 1x6 ICSP
• J9 Power Feed
• J10 Pixel connection

J1 and J2-Renard Input and Output

NEEDS WORK
The two 3 pin jumpers J2&J3 near the bottom left side of the board are used to bring DMX signals to and from the board. The 3 pin connectors are polarized and should be connected as follows:
Pin 1 is the Square hole of the three holes on the side towards the center of the board: Connect to DMX Ground
Pin 2 is the center hole of the three holes: Connect it to DMX Data -
Pin 3 is the left most hole of the three holes: Connect it to DMX Data +
Note that the two 3pin DMX connections are setup as a thru connection and can be used as either the input or output of the board. If the LEDancer is the last connection on a DMX data line, it may be necessary to add a 120 ohm terminating resistor to the unused DMX terminals between PIN 2 and Pin 3.

J6-ICSP Programming Header

NEEDS WORK
J4 is the 6 pin header located in the bottom center of the board. J4 allows the PIC microprocessor to be programmed in place on the board by directly connecting a PICKIT2 or PICKIT3 programer.
Pin 1 is the square hole towards the right side of the board closest to D1.

J9-Power

NEEDS WORK
J1 is the 2 pin header located at the top left side of the PCB. The LEDancer can be powered by 5-24VDC. If you are using 5VDC, omit the voltage regulator and jumper the voltage regulator position by soldering a wire jumper to where the two outer pins of the regular would have gone in position U1 near the top left side of the PCB. If you are feeding greater than 5VDC, then you must use the on board voltage regulator.
Round Hole closest to the top of the board: Positive Power feed
Square Hole: Negative Power feed

J10(4 pin)- Output to Pixels

NEEDS WORK
J5 is located along the right edge of the board and is a 8 pin connector used to connect to the LED Segment PCB. Pin1 of the connector is marked by the arrow next to it on the silkscreen.

Firmware

TBD

Enclosure

TBD

Other Information

DIYC Flood Discussion Threads

Initial Thread

Video

TBD

FAQ

TBD