Interlock on fb3-SE ?

[edison]

I have an fb3-se in my projector and i wondered if i can use the interlock signals A and B from the ILDA 25 D sub connector to connect a keyswitch on the back of my projector for blanking the lasers. I have designed a personal breakout board and if so i still can modify the board for this

[buffo]

There are no "signals" on the Interlock pins from the FB3, or any other controller for that matter. The two pins are connected internally inside the controller. The idea is that the PROJECTOR sends a signal down one wire (usually a DC voltage), and if it comes back on the other wire then you can assume that the cable is securely plugged in at both ends.

So, yes - if you design and install an interlock circuit inside your projector and you include ILDA pin 4 and 17 in series as part of the circuit, then if you interrupt the circuit anywhere along the ILDA cable it will shut down the projector.

Here is an example of a basic interlock circuit.

Adam

[edison]

So if i leave pin 4 and pin 17 "open" (not connected to ground or to eachother ) the fb3 will blank the lasers?

I looked in the manual there is nothing i can find about this. Also i couldn,t find the connections to power the fb3.Eventually i had to browse PL to find where the 5v external powerlead has to go and where the negative should be connected.

Thanks adam for the info always handy!!!

[buffo]

So if i leave pin 4 and pin 17 "open" (not connected to ground or to eachother ) the fb3 will blank the lasers?

No. The FB3 doesn't do anything with pins 4 and 17. They are connected inside the DAC by a jumper of wire. That's all. All controllers are like this.

I believe you have a misconception about the ILDA interlock. Allow me to explain...

The idea behind these two pins is that they make it easy to add a "cable connected" interlock to your projector. (That is, an interlock that will shut off the projector if the ILDA cable is unplugged.)

Assuming that your projector already has a kill switch, and maybe a switch that shuts it off if you open the side panel (that is, a "case intrusion" interlock) as well, then you simply insert pins 4 and 17 in series with the main interlock circuit, and then if the cable becomes unplugged, the projector will shut down. (Since in order for the circuit to be complete, a signal from the projector has to go down the cable to the controller on pin 4, and back to the projector on pin 17...)

However, it is important to understand that the interlock circuit originates inside the *projector*, not inside the controller. All the components that blank the lasers (or interrupt power to them) must be inside the projector, and if they weren't put there by the manufacturer, you have to add them yourself.

This, I believe, is where your confusion is. You are thinking that the FB3 (or any other controller) should send out a signal telling the projector that it's OK to run, and if the signal doesn't come back, the FB3 shuts off. This is *not* how things work at all.

I looked in the manual there is nothing i can find about this.

That's because the FB3 is a controller, and thus it's not designed to have an interlock circuit. What you are looking for is the ILDA standard for projectors and cable connections. This is the document that will describe how the interlock pins are designed to be used as part of an interlock circuit. But as I explained above, interlocks are always contained within the projector. None of the controllers on the market apply any signals at all to pins 4 and 17. In fact, if they did, they would be in violation of the ILDA standard.

The ILDA standard for controllers states simply to have pins 4 and 17 connected internally on every controller.

Also i couldn,t find the connections to power the fb3.

That's because the FB3 is designed to be powered by the USB cable, so it doesn't need an external power supply. Really, the fact that you can add an external power supply if you want one is an undocumented feature of the board. However, since it requires soldering wires to the board itself, it is not something that is recommended for the average user. This is why it's not listed in the manual.

But yeah, if you know where to attach the wires and you're handy with a soldering iron, it's not hard to do.

Adam

[edison]

Thanks adam it,s completely clear to me! Although i think Pangolin now sells the same board only with or without the case arround it.

If you look at my fb3 in the picture there,s the green connector for powering the fb3. There is nothing about that in the manual that says wich is 5v and wich is negative.If you want to power the fb3 you have to place a jumper or a bridge between these points in the circle at the right picture.

I think if pangolin sells it as an SE they should ad some info about the green connector to power the FB3.
Maybe they will do that in the future.

But back to the interlock, you made it perfectly clear so very happy here with youre explanation thanks!!!!!

[Francesco]

Thanks adam it,s completely clear to me! Although i think Pangolin now sells the same board only with or without the case arround it.

If you look at my fb3 in the picture there,s the green connector for powering the fb3. There is nothing about that in the manual that says wich is 5v and wich is negative.If you want to power the fb3 you have to place a jumper or a bridge between these points in the circle at the right picture.

I think if pangolin sells it as an SE they should ad some info about the green connector to power the FB3.
Maybe they will do that in the future.

But back to the interlock, you made it perfectly clear so very happy here with youre explanation thanks!!!!!

The main board of the FB3-SE and FB3-XE are indeed the same. The difference is that the FB3-SE has an extra add-on board that gives DMX capabilities. The FB3-XE don’t has this board but has a nice case instead. The idea behind this is that people can build the FB3-SE inside their projector and control the frames on the included memory card with DMX signals. The FB3-XE is made to be used as an external device between the PC and Laser. In this situation the lasers are often direct controlled from the PC without any DMX. This is also the reason why the FB3-XE is standard USB powered and the FB3-SE not. And you are correct, with a simple jumper you can modify your FB3 to be USB powered or not. Normally I ask my customers if they want to have it USB powered or not.

Just to let you know, on your CD in the folder documentation there is a manual (LiveQUICK XE manual B). In this manual on page 49 you can find the description of all the connections on the FB3. Here is also the information on what pin of the green connector is positive and ground.

Thanks Adam for your very nice input on the interlock!! You will get a beer for this at the ILDA cruise

[buffo]

Thanks Adam for your very nice input on the interlock!! You will get a beer for this at the ILDA cruise

Haha! Cool! I can't wait. (I'm really looking forward to this year's cruise!)

Adam

[norty303]

If you look at my fb3 in the picture there,s the green connector for powering the fb3. There is nothing about that in the manual that says wich is 5v and wich is negative.If you want to power the fb3 you have to place a jumper or a bridge between these points in the circle at the right picture.

Not technically correct as that's my FB3 in the pic...

But just so it's absolutely clear, bridge/jumper needs to be in place if you wish to power the FB3 from USB. As a bare bones board the intention was to have them mainly powered by external PSU, so they came with the pins open.

Problems can arise if you bridge the pins and retain facility to use a PSU as this can break things if you plug in both at the same time.

I've put a small jumper header on my holes now, and when I've got the jumper on, I disconnect the PSU wires, just to be sure. A DPDT switch mounted on the case would be the neatest solution though.

[mccarrot]

edison, my interlock design you have is almost similar as Buffo's only in my schematic there is an extra transistor to allow the laser to be started from remote.
This can be very handy if your laser is high in truss and there is a power failure.

[edison]

yes i had a chad with francisco yesterday about that altough i would change the relais for an optocoupler or solid staterelais but the second transistor is now taken over by a contact from the relais so i,m looking for a solution for this. Maybe ad another transistor maybe? If you have a suggestion let me know.