Awlego's RGB Driver

[Awlego]

I have been working on a full color PWM driver that is very similar to the one FML was selling a while ago over on LPF. At the time I was building my RGB setup, I was unable to buy one of his drivers, and so I designed my own. These past few months I have been designing an official version of the driver I built to sell and here is what I have come up with:



This driver was not designed for use in a full projector as it cannot accept analog input. It is much better suited for a small portable RGB setup where one desires a bunch of cool effects as opposed to a full laser show. That said, you can still make a quick modification should you like to use your own digital input to control each laser. I'm thinking about designing one that will accept analog input for each laser, but I still have to recoup some of my startup costs from this driver before I can start making a new one So this one is for sale in the mean time

This driver has the following features:
-3x DDL drivers, each custom set to the desired maximum current
-Multi-turn potentiometers to adjust color balance
-32 different programs (ranging from psychedelic color strobe through smooth colour morphing)
-2 buttons to change programs
-Memory saves the last program
-16 million+ possible colors
-Reverse polarity protection
-Input voltage of 9-12V
-Works with both 405nm and 445nm
-Outputs of up to 1.5 Amps! (See note at bottom)
-Dimensions of 39mm x 53mm (1.25” x 1.925”) -- insanely small to fit in portable units!
-High quality professional PCB design

I have several max currents available. Below I've posted the current ranges that are available (the multi-turn pots are used to adjust the current). Instead of opting for a narrow range of color adjustment, I decided to leave a large range to allow for the user to swap out diodes in the future or greatly decrease/increase the brightness of their entire setup. With 25 turns on each pot, you should still have excellent control on each laser's current!
56mA - 101mA
63mA - 125mA
68mA - 152mA
77mA - 202mA
83mA - 251mA
89mA - 303mA
92mA - 350mA
95mA - 405mA
98mA - 446mA
100mA - 502mA
103mA - 595mA
106mA - 702mA
108mA - 791mA
110mA - 893mA
111mA - 1008mA
113mA - 1190mA
116mA - 1524mA



They cost $70 US each plus $5 for shipping to the US (one shipping charge per order). For international shipping contact me.

I have created a google form to handle my orders:
http://tinyurl.com/3q6ahqp

Feel free to ask any questions you may have

Looking forward to making these,
-Alex

Note: for high outputs (>500mA) I have found that the LM338's (higher current versions of the LM317) get hot and need some heat sinking. I recommend heat sinking them if you plan on running them at such currents. On my RGB setup I have my 445nm diode set for the range that allows the max current, and when properly heat sinked it works flawlessly. It is also important to know that each LM338 must be heat sinked individually - you CANNOT put them all on one big heat sink. They need to be electrically isolated! There is a workaround using non-conductive thermal paste and then mounting all on the same heat sink, but use at your own risk. Also - if someone has a need for an output greater than 1.5 amps, this can be arranged. The circuit can handle up to 5 amps, but I just don’t stock the resistors needed for such outputs.

[Awlego]

Reserved space for updates

Update:

Building Instructions (still making more complete as I remember little hints and such. Feel free to ask questions)

Solder the following wires into your driver:
Solder your lasers' positive and negative leads into their respective labeled holes.
+V and GND are +9-12V DC and ground, respectively. 3 lithium batteries for a total of 12.6 volts should still run fine as well.
OA and OB are the option button's leads. It does not matter which one you solder to which side of the momentary press button. You will need to supply your own momentary push buttons.
PA and PB are the program button's leads. This also does not matter which one you solder to which side of the program momentary switch.
You should be ready to go!

If any of the labels are unclear to which holes the are supposed to be labeling, let me know and I'll draw up a pdf.

The Effects:
The program button switches through the various programs and the option button cycles through sub-programs within each program.

There are four colour palletes used:-

Primary. A fixed selection of saturated primary colours.
Vibrant. A stunning range of saturated colours.
Bright. A range of bright saturated and pastel shades.
Full Spectrum. Every colour that can be achieved from black to white.

The programs available:-

1. Morph and hold with vibrant colours. (Hold delay adjustable in 3 second increments.)

2. Morph and hold with bright colours. (Hold delay adjustable.)

3. Morph and hold with full spectrum colours. (Hold delay adjustable.)

4. Red marker to help you find your way through the programs.

5. Sweep continually between vibrant colours.

6. Sweep continually between bright colours.

7. Sweep continually between full spectrum colours.

8. Green marker.

9. Indie dim with each colour "rambling" independently.

10. Indie dim pastels (all colours 25% min).

11. Blue marker.

12. Rainbow. Can be stopped and started on any colour using option button.

13. Rainbow continuous. (Speed adjustable)

14. Black marker.

FX routines below can only be accessed when unit is in FX mode.
To lock and unlock FX mode, hold both buttons in for about 15 seconds until the output changes from blue to either red (locked out) or green (unlocked).

15. Colour burst with vibrant colours. (Speed adjustable.)

16. Colour burst with bright colours. (Speed adjustable.)

17. Colour burst with full spectrum colours. (Speed adjustable.)

18. Cyan marker.

19. Colour plasma lightning. (Speed adjustable.)

20. White plasma lightning. (Speed adjustable.)

21. Colour strobe. (Speed adjustable.)

22. Windswept flame effect. (3 independent.) (Speed adjustable.)

23. Subtle flame effect. (3 independent.) (Speed adjustable.)

24. Rainbow trail. Fast cycle of primary colours to create a colourful trailing effect on fast moving reflective objects or water droplets. The colours cycle so quickly that the output appears to be static white. (Speed adjustable.)

25. Jewel fountain. Similar to rainbow trail but with random vibrant colours, especially designed for fountains to make the droplets of water sparkle with random colours. Best used where the light is not directly viewed due to a shimmering effect. (Speed adjustable.)

26. X-Fader. A standard speed adjustable cross fading effect between the red and blue channels.

27. Peppers Ghost. An automated cross fade with hold delay adjustable in 16 3-second increments.

28. Juddermeister. A wild psychedelic effect which alternates rapidly between pairs of random colours.

29. Hazard. Specifically designed for LED hazard warning lights. This effect strobes alternately between the red and blue channel with 8 speed options in one style and 8 in another style.

30. Random fixed full colour. (Reselectable with option button.)

31. Random fixed vibrant colour. (Reselectable with option button.)

32. White marker.

If both program and option buttons are pressed together briefly the unit will revert to program 1.

After any buttons have been pressed the changes will be stored to non volatile memory and the unit will power up in that mode until further changes are made.

Here is some media of the prototype of my driver in action:
Please excuse the unfinished setup. I was excited to get my RGB and new driver to work and wanted videos/pictures so I had a photo-shoot with some makeshift dichro mounts :P As such, alignment is not perfect and it's not super pretty. It shows that it works though. In real life it looks much better than the flickering video.
Not all the effects are shown - I originally took this video just to prove my lasers worked :P

[PhantomRage]

this could be a cool driver for the luma projects.

[flecom]

any way these could be "stacked"?

I have an effects projector I am working on but its going to have 6 colors...

445-473-532-593-635-660

don't suppose they could "talk" to each other? or maybe custom pic with 6 outputs so it could be on a separate board protoboard and talk to two of these driver boards??

[Awlego]

any way these could be "stacked"?

I have an effects projector I am working on but its going to have 6 colors...

445-473-532-593-635-660

don't suppose they could "talk" to each other? or maybe custom pic with 6 outputs so it could be on a separate board protoboard and talk to two of these driver boards??

Yes you could stack these with a custom pic with 6 outputs. Just wire the R, G, and B lines from each driver to the RRGYBB outputs on your custom pic/arduino/microcontroller. At this point these drivers would not be controlling the patterns/effects - your pic would be.The actual regulation of power to each laser will still work perfectly though

Let me know I can help at all

-Alex

[flecom]

well thats really the question... I'm pic-tarded so how much $$$ would it cost me to get a custom pic to run 6 colors in patterns?

[Awlego]

PM sent

-Alex