Beacon4

From Hackstrich
Revision as of 15:40, 31 May 2012 by SarahEmm (talk | contribs) (Adding links to previous Beacon projects.)

Beacon4 will be the fourth incarnation of the flagpole beacon (after Beacon2 and Beacon3), for Burning Man 2012. This year the plan is to take a different approach, and light the entire scaffold tower rather than just a beacon on top of the flagpole.

Project Status

  • 2012-04-30: Started planning the power architecture for the project.
  • 2012-04-29: Work continuing on IO-DMX module.
  • 2012-04-24: Permission received!
  • 2012-04-23: Requested permission from NeonBunny to attach LEDs to the tower.
  • 2012-04-22: Started putting together idea.

Outstanding Issues

  • Software we were thinking of using was QLC (but it only supports 4 universes) or MagicQ (but it's x86-only which means more power draw)
    • If we go x86, the fit-PC might be a good choice, it's a 6-8W x86 box in a small metal enclosure

Ideas/Plans

  • Main idea is to cover most of the scaffold tower in addressable LED strips, driven by multiple StrichLux modules
  • Art-Net will be used between the controller and the StrichLux box
    • Backup plan is to have a USB hub and one OpenDMX USB interface per universe, driving the StrichLux boxes via IO-DMX input modules
    • IO-DMX input module could be brought along either way and swapped to manually control the "display"
  • BeagleBone is being looked at to control the whole display
    • <1W idle, 1.75W full load
    • Comes with onboard Ethernet
  • Need to find a fanless very low power 4 or 5 port Ethernet switch
    • Allied Telesis AT-FS705LE V5 might work, it's rugged, low power, and cheap

System Components

  • BeagleBone (controller)
  • 4-port fanless Ethernet switch
  • 1 or 2 StrichLux boxes (transform engine/protocol converter)
  • Many LED strips (need to work out dimensions)
  • Power setup (need to work out power details)
  • Debugging terminal (XO-1?)

Power Details

  • Power requirements (peak)
    • BeagleBone - 1.75W
    • Ethernet Switch - 1.7W (assuming AT-FS705LE V5)
    • StrichLux box(es) - ???
    • LEDs - 10W/m (need to measure to confirm)

Power Architecture

http://www.asciiflow.com/#4007824742034929919/13747898[YOB-2]
                                                                              +--------------+
                                                                         +--->| LED Strip  0 |
                                                                         |    +--------------+
                                                                         |
                                                                         |    +--------------+
                                                       +---------------+ | +->| LED Strip  1 |
                                +--------------+       |               +-+ |  +--------------+
                                |              |       |   StrichLux   +---+
                                |     Dome     |    +->| Controller A  +---+  +--------------+
                                |   Lighting   |    |  |               +-+ +->| LED Strip  2 |
                                |              |    |  +---------------+ |    +--------------+
                                +--------------+    |                    |
                                        ^           |                    |    +--------------+
                                        |           |                    +--->| LED Strip  3 |
                             +----------+---------+ |                         +--------------+
                             |                    | |
                             |                    | |                         +--------------+
                             |                    +-+                    +--->| LED Strip  4 |
                             |                    |                      |    +--------------+
                             |                    |                      |
                             |                    |                      |    +--------------+
                             |                    |    +---------------+ | +->| LED Strip  5 |
    +---------------+        |                    |    |               +-+ |  +--------------+
    |               |        |    Distribution    |    |   StrichLux   +---+
    |    Battery    +=======>|                    +--->| Controller B  +---+  +--------------+
    |               |        |        Box         |    |               +-+ +->| LED Strip  6 |
    +---------------+        |                    |    +---------------+ |    +--------------+
                             |                    |                      |
                             |                    |                      |    +--------------+
                             |                    |                      +--->| LED Strip  7 |
                             |                    |                           +--------------+
                             |                    +-+
                             |                    | |                         +--------------+
                             +--+-------+---------+ |                    +--->| LED Strip  8 |
                                |       |           |                    |    +--------------+
                      +---------+       |           |                    |
                      v                 v           |                    |    +--------------+
              +--------------+   +--------------+   |  +---------------+ | +->| LED Strip  9 |
              |              |   |              |   |  |               +-+ |  +--------------+
              | Convienience |   |    System    |   |  |   StrichLux   +---+
              |   Outlets    |   |  Controller  |   +->| Controller C  +---+  +--------------+
              |              |   |              |      |               |   +->| LED Strip 10 |
              +--------------+   +--------------+      +---------------+      +--------------+

LED Details

  • Length required (very roughly until I get real numbers from Skibit)
    • Main vertical bars: 4 * 20ft = 80ft
    • Ladder vertical bars: 10 * 3ft = 30ft (but 2 of those are near ground level)
    • Rigid guys: 4 * 6ft = 24ft
    • Ladder rungs: 8 * 4 * 1.5ft = 36ft
    • Total: 170ft (plus probably want a bit extra just in case, so 11 strips or 180ft)
    • That's 1760 LEDs and 550W peak!

StrichLux Enclosures

  • Each StrichLux controller with its 4 output modules, 1 input module, and 1 power module will need an enclosure of some kind.
    • Pelican case? Could do one larger one with all 3 controllers in it, or 3 smaller ones
    • Assuming each StrichLux box has its own enclosure, would need a bunch of connections made through it:
      • Power - 2x12V @ 20A each - 4 20A power pins
      • Ethernet input - RJ45 - 1 RJ45
      • Strip outputs - SPI+5V - 2 signal pins, 2 10A power pins each x 4
        • JAE SRCN2A16-7S/7P would be good and extremely rugged, but the cost may be too high

Test Equipment

  • Want to be able to power the whole setup from AC power for configuration/testing/programming
    • ATX power supplies provide plenty of +12V which could feed the PWR-DC5 modules
      • A modular supply like the OCX ZT-series would be cleanest, could modify the cables with Sabre connectors on the ends
      • Need 100W per channel, 200W per board, 600W total @ 12V
      • 100W per channel @ 12V means 8.33A
      • PCI-E and 8-pin CPU power connectors on ATX PSUs provide 6 amps per pin
        • PCI-E connectors have 3 pin pairs each
        • 8-pin CPU power connectors have 4 pin pairs each
      • Need four pins per board
        • Two boards get 8-pin CPU power -> Sabre connectors
        • The last board gets a 2xPCI-E power -> Sabre connector
      • OCZ ZT-series 750W power supply has all the required connectors