.NET Micro Framework (Archive)

The RGB Led Panel project get’s a bit more real. The SHT11 class and Yahoo Weather classes I made earlier are now combined with the application and I’ve created a PHP that helped me convert GIF images to an C# byte[] array the RGBDisplay class can understand.

The current application displays the following information:

• Temperature from Yahoo
• Humidity from Yahoo
• Weather image based on Yahoo Weather code
• Temperature from SHT11
• Humidity from SHT11
• Time synced with NTP time server
• Date synced  with NTP time server
• Random anim

You can find more information about this project on its project page

The controllerboard on the LED RGB Matrix devices from Sparkfun contain an Atmel atmega8 controller and three 74LS595 serial shift registers to control the 64 RGB LEDs. With the default programming the backpack only displays 8 colors (actualy 7, black isn’t realy a color). I wanted to allow more colors. Luckally you can re-program the controllers, so I wrote a new program for the backpacks allowing 4-step PWM on each R/G/B Channel.

You can download the WinAVR files here: avr_rgbmatrix.zip

But this is a blog about the .NET Micro Framework, so I should also upload some C# code, ready for download is a very preliminary program that displays the capabilities of the RGBMatrix class.

You can download the Visual Studio 2008 solution here: MF_RGB_Matrix_EarlyVersion.zip

And finaly  a video from Youtube:

Thursday I recieved my package from SparkFun with the RGB Led matrixes.. How nice!
I could’t wait to put them together.. So I did This are the first results..

I connected all the Matrixes together by a flatcable between the ICSP programming connectors removing the MISO and CS wires. Next I build a simple board with a PCF8574A (An I2C 8-bit I/O Expander) that provides the Chip Select signals for the RGB Matrix boards. (I’ll post a schematic when the project matures).

Next thing to do is update the software in the RGB matrixes. These matrixes all have an Atmel atmega8 controller.  I hope I can make the displays PWM compatible so I can make more colors..

Some photo’s from Flickr: (Go to the Flickr page)

Ow no! Is what i tough when my camera fell on my Embedded Master screen. You can see the picture on the right.. Not a pretty site.. When looking for a replacement screen (which are quite cheap, and available at Mouser I looked a bit further and found something very cool on Sparkfun.. An 8×8 RGB Led Matrix that can be controlled trough the SPI bus. I’ve ordered 6 of those.. I hope to make something very cool with it.. I’ll keep you updated!

YouTube movie of someone that used 4 of those matrixes: