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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Mik-Matrix moving message display

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bigmik

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Joined: 20/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2914
Posted: 11:19pm 21 Nov 2015
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Gday All,

Just a bit of advance notice about Mik-Matrix (really the credit belongs to Curtis, he has done the hard bit)

A pretty ordinary demo video clip can be found HERE

It is not easy to capture a decent clip that shows the beautiful depth of colour but at least it shows it working.

Curtis may add some more discussion about the operation but he has done a fantastic job with the code and has written it entirely in BASIC. Whilst there is a bit of flicker at some scroll speeds it is quite acceptable IMHO especially considering, to display RED the GREEN driver has to be disabled and vice versa, yellow is a combination of both RED and GREEN and still requires the alternating on/off of the drivers. This is all handled in interrupts so is taken care of in the background..

Curtis has provided the following features

Red text
Green text
Alternate colour every character
Mixed (alternate colours every column)
Brightness up and down (16 steps)
Speed up and down
RTC support for time & date display
Temperature reading and display (C & F) via a DS18B20

Boards will be available from either Curtis (US based) or myself (AUS based)

Anyway I hope you enjoy the post.

Regards,

MickEdited by bigmik 2015-11-23
Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<<
 
kiiid

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Joined: 11/05/2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 671
Posted: 01:18am 22 Nov 2015
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Good job!
Did I notice variable character widths there? Can you draw individual dots on the screen?

http://rittle.org

--------------
 
bigmik

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Joined: 20/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2914
Posted: 02:00am 22 Nov 2015
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Thanks Kon,

Yes Curtis has created a variable width font fir the job,

Curtis is probably better to answer the individual diets but in the code there are bit maps fir each character so in effect you could draw individual dots by changing a character font but whether it can be adapted to a static bit map display, it is best to ask Curtis.. I am sure he will respond when the antipodes, or, as we are usually called that, the 'podes' wake up.

Regards,

Mick
Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<<
 
bigmik

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Joined: 20/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2914
Posted: 02:01am 22 Nov 2015
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ignore this I tried to edit and ended with a duplicate post,

Sorry


Regards,

MickEdited by bigmik 2015-11-23
Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<<
 
Justplayin

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Joined: 31/01/2014
Location: United States
Posts: 326
Posted: 08:32am 22 Nov 2015
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Yikes! Mick caught me by surprise with his post... I guess now I'll have to actually finish writing the program! Really, it's 99.9% done, just need to make a clean up pass through the code remove diagnostic bits left behind, add some shameless advertising (only in the code comments). I'll get right on it after the NASCAR championship race.

Mick covered most of the features. There are a couple of message "commands":
@xmas$ - Days, Hours, Minutes until Christmas
@xmas2$ - Days until Christmas
@newyear$ - Days, Hours, Minutes until New Years day
@newyear2$ - Days until New Years day
@datetime$ - with parameters for lots of variations of the date and/or time
@temp$ - a couple of parameters create quite a few variations for displaying the temperature

The downside to all these commands is they are standalone only. There can not be used as part of a message. Also, there is limited color control. You may pick any
single one of the 5 colorizing choices and that choice is applied to the entire output for that command created message.


  kiiid said   Good job!
Did I notice variable character widths there? Can you draw individual dots on the screen?


I'm going to go with "No" for both questions. The program has no facility to alter the font. HOWEVER, you may certainly create your own font characters of any size you wish. The current font is a proportional font, so the code does not care if a character is one column wide or 20. Also, there is no support to access individual dots in this program.

Before someone asks... No, flashing characters are not possible with with this code. Not to say it's 100% impossible, but I never created any way to track individual characters after they have been broken down into the column byte data.

I have a list ideas for version 2... ANSI controlled line editor for entering the messages, Flashing text, a pause command, in line commands, create your own count down for holidays/birthdays/anniversaries...

--Curtis


I am not a Mad Scientist...  It makes me happy inventing new ways to take over the world!!
 
bigmik

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Joined: 20/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2914
Posted: 10:33am 22 Nov 2015
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Thanks Curtis for your response,

Sorry I didn't mean to drop you in the deep end, I thought the code had progressed to a stage that it is more than acceptable as it is, any improvement from here will only make it better.. It is a little difficult to synchronise when you are asleep whilst I am awake and vice versa...

I read Kon's first question as a proportional font as an I takes less space than a W ...

Anyway, I was pretty chuffed being able to get a reasonable video clip in about 6MB size that I felt I needed to share it.

I have started on the manual so hopefully this week I will have that finished for perusal by all.

Regards,

Mick


Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<<
 
viscomjim
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Joined: 08/01/2014
Location: United States
Posts: 925
Posted: 04:18pm 22 Nov 2015
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NICE WORK Curtis and Mik. Been delaying this one for a while, but now I am super excited about these matrix leds again!!!!!! Can't wait to see the code and start playing again. Also the board sounds very interesting. I am glad to hear they will be available over on this side of the pond.

THANKS again for your work!!!!!
 
geraldfryjr

Regular Member

Joined: 02/03/2014
Location: United States
Posts: 61
Posted: 10:08am 23 Nov 2015
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That is Neat !!!!

I like That.... A Lot !!!


jer
Keep on DIYin' !!!
 
lew247

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Joined: 23/12/2015
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1702
Posted: 11:26pm 22 Mar 2016
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Just found this post and the link doesn't work anymore?
 
Justplayin

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Joined: 31/01/2014
Location: United States
Posts: 326
Posted: 05:56am 23 Mar 2016
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The video is available on "Mick's uMite Stuff" page. Here is the current link:

Mik-Matrix Video

I'm currently working on an update to the software which will improve the scrolling through CSubs. Preliminary tests show the C routines are about 65 times faster at updating the displays.

--Curtis
I am not a Mad Scientist...  It makes me happy inventing new ways to take over the world!!
 
bigmik

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Joined: 20/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2914
Posted: 10:50am 23 Mar 2016
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Hi Lew,

We had to change the link as Don and I put a `Free-counter' so we could see how many people visited the pages and it flooded the visitors with spam messages and the best way to overcome the cache in the internet was to change the link (we removed the s from ....micks-mites.... to make it ....micks-mite...) My link in my signature at the bottom of my messages is always up to date..

That video clip is pretty poor but it was the best I could get that showed the true colour of the display... Whilst there is a bit of jerkiness in the `totally' basic version it isnt as bad as the clip shows (I reduced the frame rate to reduce the file size).. Curtis has been working on a CFunction version and has come up with a brilliantly smooth running demo, but he still needs to implement some of the advanced features.. Maybe he can explain the progress further... (Sorry Curt )

Regards,

MickEdited by bigmik 2016-03-25
Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<<
 
Justplayin

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Joined: 31/01/2014
Location: United States
Posts: 326
Posted: 07:40am 24 Mar 2016
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  bigmik said  Curtis has been working on a CFunction version and has come up with a brilliantly smooth running demo, but he still needs to implement some of the advanced features.. Maybe he can explain the progress further... (Sorry Curt )


First I am breaking everything, then try to fix it all!

The addition of the C routines has made it necessary to make several big changes. The integer arrays needed for the C routines are HUGH! Using 8 bytes to store one byte eats up memory in a hurry and I have run out of memory on the umite 170. So I'm looking to convert my main numerical arrays to strings arrays where I can easily store and access single byte values. Of course, that in turn means I have to update the C routines. When finish I "should" have more free memory than I had before adding the C routines. Also, the flashing text routines need to be totally rewritten. It was thrown together at the last minute and it ties flash rate directly to the scroll rate. I want to make it time controlled and independent of how fast the display is scrolling.


--Curtis

I am not a Mad Scientist...  It makes me happy inventing new ways to take over the world!!
 
jman

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Joined: 12/06/2011
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 711
Posted: 04:45pm 24 Mar 2016
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Hi
I got a set of PCB's from Mick and the resulting display is rather nice.
As always the PCB's and Mick's documentation are without fault.

Instead of a MX170 my test unit is running on MX470 and the operation
is rather smooth with the CPU running at 100Mhz.
Curtis has done a great job with the software. I have only tested the Basic Version
so far and will need to check with Curtis if the C-Functions run on a MX470

Link to video of the unit running unfortunately the video does not do
the brightness and colours any justice as they look a lot better in person

Mik-Matrix

Regards
Jman
 
bigmik

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Joined: 20/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2914
Posted: 05:16pm 24 Mar 2016
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Thanks John,

A comment for those wondering...


Those are the slightly `blemished' cheap(er) Chinese modules I was able to obtain.. The blemishes are the odd dot here or there that can be seen in that video clip, it does NOT affect the LED BRIGHTNESS or COLOUR in anyway it is only a slight surface discolouration on 1 or 2 dots per module... When the message is running the brightness of the LEDs make these un-noticeable.. Of course you can pay more for first grade modules but these are about half the price and not worth paying more IMHO.
If the display was mounted behind a soft opaque filter you would not notice them even with the display OFF.

@John,
I know how difficult it is to get a good clip of the display running, I ended up reducing the exposure (quite considerably) to get the colours showing near correct in this VIDEO CLIP but as can be seen the rest of the screen is rather dark, but I thought colour was more important.

Any way well done and thank you for your trust in me.

Kind Regards,

Mick



Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<<
 
Justplayin

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Joined: 31/01/2014
Location: United States
Posts: 326
Posted: 08:33am 25 Mar 2016
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John,

It's great to see someone has a set of Mik-Matrix modules up and running. I hate to think how many times I've watched that demo run but it amazes me that I got it to work. Currently the C routines do not support the 470. I know what needs to be changed, so it will be supported.

--Curtis
I am not a Mad Scientist...  It makes me happy inventing new ways to take over the world!!
 
palcal

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Joined: 12/10/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 1873
Posted: 11:53am 20 Apr 2016
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I have got my Mik-Matrix up and running with a new beta version of the code from Curtis. Using C functions this display is awesome. It runs as fast as you want with no jitters, very smooth and the TWINKLE is mesmerising. Anyone who wants an eye catching display this is the one.
Some comments from the code...

  Quote   '** 1) The message text: A Message may be as long as will fit on DATA statement line
'** - Long messages can be REALLY boring to watch
'**
'**
'** 2) The colouring info (case sensitive):
'** Y = Yellow, R = Red, G = Green
'** y = yellow Flasing, r = red Flashing, g = green Flashing
'** S = Stripe - Rotate colours per column of each character
'** s = striped Flashing - Rotate colours per column of each character while Flashing on/off
'** M = Mixed - Rotate each whole character colour
'** m = mixed Flashing - Rotate each whole character colour while Flashing on/off
'** T = Twinkle - All dots of a character randomly change colour
'** t = twinkle Flashing - All dots of a character randomly change colour while Flashing on/off
'**
'** The first character of a message must have a color assignment
'** Simply indicate where the colour changes should be,
'** no need to indicate the colouring of each character
'**
'**
'** 3) Pause message scrolling at the indicated point. You will have to manually adjust
'** your message spacing and Pause placements for optimumal results. Exact centering
'** or charcater placement is not possible at this time.
'** Valid values: 0 to 9 (seconds)
'** any other characters will produce a 125ms pause
'** SPACE or 0 = no pause
'** * This line MUST have at least one character on it
'**
'** 4) The message padding: L = Left, R = Right, B = Both and N = None
'** Message padding adds extra spaces to either end
'** of the message text so that it scrolls on and
'** off of the display fully.
'** * This line MUST have padding choice indicated
'** * 'B' is the prefered setting
'**
'** Simple Example:
'** DATA "Your message goes here" <---- Your Message
'** DATA "Y G r S" <---- Message coloring
'** DATA " 3 4" <---- Pause Scrolling
'** DATA "B" <---- Padding 'B' strongly recommended


Brilliant, thanks Mick and Curtis for the great project.
Paul.
"It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all"
 
Justplayin

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Joined: 31/01/2014
Location: United States
Posts: 326
Posted: 04:14pm 20 Apr 2016
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Thanks Paul!

The C routines have really made a HUGH difference in performance and smoothing out the scrolling. TassyJim's help with the generation of bit masking pairs made the “Twinkle” effect possible. Those mask pairs turn solid yellow characters into characters with randomly changing colour patterns. A new data handling method for storing data into the arrays reduced the arrays down to one eighth their original sizes! There is free memory again!

--Curtis
I am not a Mad Scientist...  It makes me happy inventing new ways to take over the world!!
 
bigmik

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Joined: 20/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2914
Posted: 01:36pm 21 May 2016
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Hi All,

I just want to let you all know that Curtis has released a new C based version of his fantastic demo for the Mik-Matrix.

All of the files are available from my `site' Located HERE The new C-Based code is in a zip format called

Bi-Colour Matrix - v2.2 .zip

which contains 2 versions, the entire program complete with comments and a crunched version.

Due to memory space the standard MM2 will overflow if you try to load the non-crunched version int, hence the crunched version which loads in OK and (after a lot of effort on Curtis's behalf) even on the beta version 5.2.

Also for those interested I have been able to source some cheaper display modules (had to buy in lots of 100) These are similar to the duller modules that I had previously for offer but are slightly brighter than them. These are NOT blemished but are good quality with black front surface..

I will be offering these for $4ea or $3ea for QTY 5 or more.

As these are better quality than my slightly `blemished' displays. I am prepared to sell those off for $2ea ... PM me if interested in either.

The Sparkfun Display is still IMHO the best and is `burn your eyes out' bright (set on level 15 but they cost me about $8-$9ea landed over here in Australia so are uneconomical..

But on brightness level 15 both the blemished and the newer modules are a very pleasing brightness level at normal room lighting.

Kind Regards,

Mick



Edited by bigmik 2016-05-22
Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<<
 
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