Latest PCBs

Here are the two latest PCBs.  The top board in white solder mask is the MiWi-Bluetooth Bridge.  This is used to control the Turnout & Signal PCB and the LED Controller PCB.  The bottom PCB in yellow solder mask (I know it looks orange, but I have two PCBs done at different times with the same color).  This is the LED Controller PCB.

The MiWi-BT Bridge uses two interfaces, USB HID and Bluetooth, to control the layout.  I had done a brief discussion of it in this post.

In this picture I have both the MiWi and RN4020 BT Click modules installed.  The modifications on the RN4020 Click module allow for RN4020 firmware upgrades.  I have had  good luck with this board and the MiWi side.  I have used it to control the existing Turnout & Signal control PCBs that are installed in the layout.  I built two of these.  One is installed on the layout so I can make progress on the layout itself.  The other I will use to continue the development of the MiWi interface with USB HID and to develop the BT side.  Once  that is done, I can update the Bridge PCB in the layout.

I have had limited success so far working on the BT side.  Integrating the BT code I have from other projects is consuming more time than I thought.  Mostly because I am updating the code to be more universal for future projects.  While this work is impeding progress now, I am sure it will pay dividends on future projects.

 

The LED controller is very similar to the Turnout & Signal PCB.  I had done a brief discussion of it in this post.  Basically this controls 12 LED channels.  Eight of the channels are connected to a PCA9624 from NXP.  (Here is a link for more information.)  The other 4 LED channels are controlled by the PIC18F27J53.  

The PCA9624 allows for individual PWM control and up to 100mA of sink current.  This should provide the capability for varying types of lighting effects on each channel, besides the normal ON/OFF.  This is controlled through an I2C bus, which I will need to get up and running.  I do have multiple examples of this from previous projects.  I do plan on updating this also to a more universal format.

The pin configuration allowed for each of the 4 PIC connections to be controlled by a separate PWM controller in the PIC.  Again this provides the flexibility for lighting effects.

Finally there is an I2C EEPROM for storing configuration.  I intend to have the capability to have a default lighting setup.  Otherwise when configuring the LED channels, one parameter will be whether or not this a power on configuration.