The main system is run on a Raspberry Pi 3b, which displays on a 15" LCD salvaged from an old laptop and run through an HDMI driver board. All components are mounted into a modified aluminum briefcase, which contains a weirdly-practical custom 2 layer acrylic structure, which is bolted onto bits of wood secured underneath the case lining. The system runs on a series of Python scripts, with a custom GUI (I don't like learning SDKs, if I can help it) that keeps everything nicely organized in a modular fashion. All lighting components have their own Arduino (Uno and Nano), which is controlled by the Pi with a custom serial-based scripting protocol.
Contents of the control center case:
- A/C power distribution block (w/separate switches for rPi/PSU/etc control)
- 30A 12v DC PSU (Flood Bank Array power)
- 6A 12v DC PSU ("Thor" Drum lighting power)
- Flood Bank Array circuit distribution box
- Raspberry Pi 3b (w/15" LCD and driver board)
- 7 port USB hub
- Blue LED interior lighting
The system is controlled by mouse and/or keyboard, with support for a gamepad (currently a PS3 controller connected by USB for rapid manual control of the FBA). The system's previous form, as a prototype, used a UI composed in Python/nCurses (for a callback to my love of DOS games)... As the system grew, it became less and less practical and eventually became a hindrance to work around. Due to this, the prototype's 3.5" TFT LCD was no longer sufficient and the original case could not hold a 15" LCD, so I opted to finally tear it all apart and build anew!
I am documenting as I go along, so updates will be posted as new parts are completed. Everything is being re-built from the ground, up. As a result, the Flood Bank Array boards are being re-made on lighter frames and with double the amount of LEDs, as is the same LED increase for each drum for Thor, so each component will be far brighter than they were in the prototype. All source code (Python and C++) is well-commented and standardized (despite being for proprietary hardware, the software is open source) for anyone to look through, if they would like.