RGB LED Cube Team 15: Can’t Undo Bad Electrons Luke Ausley BSEE Joshua Moyerman BSPE Andrew Smith BSPE Sponsored by Stellascapes
Jan 23, 2016
RGB LED Cube
Team 15: Can’t Undo Bad ElectronsLuke Ausley BSEEJoshua Moyerman BSPE Andrew Smith BSPE
Sponsored by Stellascapes
Motivations and Goals
• Desire to discover innovative methods for improving LED cube design
• Project aligned with individual group member’s expertise and interest
SpecificationsTitle QTY Units
Cube Resolution 10 x 10 x 10 Voxels
Cube Dimensions 50 x 50 x 50 cm
Outer Dimensions 60 x 60 x 70 cm
Pitch 5 cm
Refresh Rate 100 hz
Animation Rate 25 fps
Color Space 24 bit
Operating Voltage 120 V
Operating Current 6 A
High Level Diagram
High Level Work Distribution
Hardware Block Diagram
Key Hardware Design Decisions
• Control Hardware Structureo Joint FPGA/MCU
• LED Driver Board o TI LED Driverso MOSFETs
• PCB Layouto Three separate two-layer PCBs
Driver Design
• Two Identical boards will be used to control board to reduce power dissipation and circuit board size.
• TLC5948A LED Drivers
• SI4101DY-T1-GE3 P Channel Mosfet
• Individually fused planes
Driver Schematic
Driver PCB Layout
Control Design
• FPGA and MCU based control system
• FPGA to handle interfacing to driver circuitry due to timing constraints
• MCU to handle user interfacing via ethernet
• FPGA and MCU will work together to complete the task of driving LEDs
FPGA and MCU Choice
• PIC24HJ265GP206A Microcontrollero Low cost, 16 bit architectureo Stellascapes existing experience with Microchip line of
productso Readily available ethernet interface with TCP/IP Stack
• Xilinx XC3S200AVQ100 Spartan 3A FPGAo Team’s familiarity with Xilinx ISE from Digital Systems Lab
worko Stellascapes interest in integrating FPGA with PIC24
Control Schematic
Control PCB Layout
Power Supply
Meanwell SP-200-5
Output Voltage 5 V
Max Current 40 A
Input Voltage 85-264 V
Input Frequency 47-63 Hz
Max Input Current 3.5 A
Dimensions 7x4x2 in
Construction
Construction
Firmware - MCU
• Developed using C
• Microchip MPLAB X IDE
• Microchip XC C Compiler
• Microchip’s freely available TCP/IP Stack
Firmware - FPGA
• Written in Verilog
• Xilinx ISE 14.2 Development Environment
Firmware Update Cycle
• MCU code to be updated via Ethernet bootloader via Windows Application or Microchip PICkit Programmer
• MCU to control loading of FPGA Device
• FPGA bitstream stored on 8MB EEPROM
• Updated FPGA code to be loaded via MCU Ethernet connection
Software
Software Design Choices
Software Block Diagram
Animation Class Diagrams
Animation Creator GUI
Transmission Methods
Simulators
LED Cube Simulator
Animation Features
• Mathematical Patterns
• Geometric Patterns
• Scrolling through Volume
• Scrolling across Faces
• Rendering of Physical Phenomenon
• Color Transitions
BudgetItem Qty Total Cost
LEDs 1200 $350 - Sponsored
Construction Materials N/A $150
PCBs 3 $100 - Sponsored
LED Drivers/MOSFETs 20 $75
Power Supply 1 $70
Frame & Case N/A $100
Assorted Components N/A $20
Current Amount Spent (Non-sponsored) $200
Estimated Total (Non-sponsored) $415
Progress
Issues
• Constructiono Plane bendingo Secure method for attaching base
Special Thanks
• Stellascapeso Sponsorshipo Technical Review
Q&A Session