Show HN: Mini Christmas Trees with addressable LEDs and RP2040-based controller

Show HN: Mini Christmas Trees with addressable LEDs and RP2040-based controller(pixo.lighting)

44 points by ed_ 3 years ago | 9 comments

Hello HN, these Mini Trees have a custom circuit board with WS2812 addressable LEDs on one side and a controller using an RP2040 microcontroller on the other, all inside a CNC'd Foamex PVC case. They stand around 23cm (9") tall.

The firmware is written in MicroPython, which can be modified or replaced. Power is provided via USB-C, which is also used for programming.

There is also a web-based animation sequencer to create lighting sequences in time to arbitrary audio, examples of which are on the linked page. This is similar to xLights (https://xlights.org/), but much less powerful, and we hope to release firmware to interface directly with xLights soon.

My colleague and I started kicking the idea for these around after making some custom circuit boards for another project, and thought we'd have a go at making smaller versions of some much larger exhibits we had made using 12 volt WS1812 bullet pixels.

I hope you enjoy them, Merry Christmas!

sircastor 3 years ago |

These are beautiful. I was actually looking at the RP2040 as a controller for my Christmas lights setup, but ran out of time and ended up going with another chip that I already knew would work.

I’m curious if there’s room on the pico (or just with an RP2040) for Ethernet to send E1.31 protocol messages to it, and have it drive LEDs.

tssva 3 years ago | |

> I’m curious if there’s room on the pico (or just with an RP2040) for Ethernet to send E1.31 protocol messages to it, and have it drive LEDs.

There are several RP2040 boards available including the Pico W which include WiFi.

If you are looking for wired Ethernet your best bet is to add a WIZnet W5500 SPI Ethernet module. Besides connecting a module to an existing RP2040 based board WIZnet makes an evaluation board which combines a RP2040 and W5500 on a board. All the RP2040 pins are exposed. If you use the Arduino ecosystem the Ethernet library shipped with Arduino core for the RP2040 includes support for the W5500.

ed_ 3 years ago | |

Thank you!

We are working on adding E1.31, using ethernet over USB (CDC NCM). We don't have it finished yet, but we hope it will just be a firmware update once it is. Dmxsun (https://github.com/OpenLightingProject/rp2040-dmxsun) works like this and is RP2040 based, so it's certainly possible.

PaulBGD_ 3 years ago |

Looks cool, although I’m a little curious about the LED controllers that are coming soon. Will they have any clear advantages over WLED?

ed_ 3 years ago | |

We're not out to compete directly with WLED, we think it's great.

We wanted more control over the subsections of the connected LED string than WLED provides with its "segments" feature. For example, the outline of the Mini Tree is made up of four separate sections (it is interrupted by the eyes and the star), but is one single model from the point of view of the firmware and the API.

Also, the firmware will be written in MicroPython for easier customisation. We wanted to add some environmental sensors and a real-time clock to a standalone controller for another project in the works, and it also makes customising the controller much more approachable for beginners. Of course, you can still upload your own C/C++ instead.

Our lighting effect sequencer will also connect to our controllers automatically to orchestrate effects across a number of LED strings in time to arbitrary audio.

If you don't need to customise the on-board capabilities of controllers or orchestrate effects, then WLED is an excellent choice.

windexh8er 3 years ago | |

Exactly this. Competing with WLED and the QuinLED boards is a tall order. For anyone looking for an easy button with most features you'd want - these two are it.

[0] https://github.com/Aircoookie/WLED [1] https://quinled.info/

Markoff 3 years ago |

Extremely overpriced at 80GBP for 125 lights when it cost already more than pricey Twinkly which you can have for like 100 lights/50USD or 250 lights/130USD and if you get your own parts it's way cheaper (from AliExpress for maybe 1/3 or 1/4 of Twinkly, just search addressable lights).

sircastor 3 years ago | |

With most anything, it is cheaper to build something yourself. This is, of course, not just the lights, but also the controller, the tree they plug into, and the (undoubtedly) dozens or hundreds of hours of work that goes into building a product.

From narrow cost-base, yes, other lights are cheaper than these lights - but you’re not just buying lights.

So you can buy the lights and build it yourself, and spend your time writing code and debugging, or you can spend a bit more and buy a finished product.

Markoff 3 years ago | | |

> and the (undoubtedly) dozens or hundreds of hours of work that goes into building a product.

Because other products just appear from thin air.

> So you can buy the lights and build it yourself, and spend your time writing code and debugging, or you can spend a bit more and buy a finished product.

Or you can buy half finished product advertised on HN for even more. I think I'd rather go with first two cheaper options (Aliexpress or Twinkly) than something in between which is the most expensive.