USB to DMX Interface RIT Computer Engineering Senior Design Project

1. USB to DMX Interface RIT Computer Engineering Senior Design Project Brian G VanBuren & Jeffrey Zampieron Faculty Advisor: Dr. R. Czernikowski Winter 2005 Hardware Software The objective of this project was to build a USB to DMX interface and demonstrate its operation with an 8x8 LED matrix displaying “The Game of Life”. The software was written in C++ using the FTD2XX driver to send the DMX packet to the USB to DMX interface. WxWidgets and OpenGL were used to provide the application for both Windows and Linux. The PIC16F747 was programmed to accept a DMX packet and use a board address to control a row of LEDs on the display board. The code for each PIC was identical and followed the following flow diagram: This project had two major hardware modules. The main picture shows the LED display board with microcontrollers to take a DMX input signal and process it to display the output. The microcontroller of choice was a PIC16F747. Rules to “The Game of Life”: An organism is represented by an LED on the center board in the picture. When an organism is alive, the LED is lit. When an organism is dead the LED is unlit. At a user tunable time interval the next generation of organisms is presented. The next generation is determined by the following criteria: 1. If an organism is alive and surrounded by more than 3 other organisms it dies due to overcrowding. 2. If an organism is alive surrounded by less than 2 other organisms it dies due to starvation. 3. If an organism is dead and surrounded by 3 other organisms it will become alive. 4. Otherwise the organism retains its previous state. Other Functionality: 1. Ability to scroll a marquee of text and numbers. 2. Ability to display a binary clock on the LED matrix. The other hardware module was the USB to DMX interface, affectionately known as “The Black Box”, as seen in the top most picture. This allows a computer running special software to talk with the LED display board. As DMX is the USITT standard for stage lighting control, it is also possible to use the module, for which a schematic is shown above, to control lighting instruments in a theatrical setting. About the Creators: Brian G VanBuren (left): Brian was responsible for the software that drives the project. He is a 5th year CE. When not doing classwork Brian enjoys long walks on the beach and pizza. Jeffrey Zampieron (right): Jeffrey was the hardware designer for the project. Jeff is a 5th year CE. When not living in the lab he enjoys working as a lighting and sound designer.