MappyDot

Here it is in all its glory!

https://www.tindie.com/products/blecky/mappydot-plus-a-smarter-micro-lidar-sensor/

Go forth and measure all the things :D

In anticipation of the MappyDot Plus about to be released, we have released the current version of the firmware - https://github.com/SensorDots/MappyDotPlusFirmware

There's still a bit of code cleanup to do, but the major functions are available and working.

We're still ironing out a few little firmware kinks before releasing. But here's some good news. The MappyDot Pluses will actually run up to 100Hz!

There's a MappyDot based Air Guitar in the works for the Hackaday Prize 2018! The design focus is on a very low latency four string interface using multiple sensors so you can play up and down the "neck" of the guitar.

Check it out here:

https://hackaday.io/project/87794-litar-lidar-air-guitar

We are trialing the new VL53L1x from ST Micro for a new MappyDot Plus sensor. The VL53L1 provides a few extra features over the Vl53L0x sensor such as adjustable field of view, better ambient light immunity in certain operating modes as well as distance measurement up to 4 meters.

We hope to release this soon on our Tindie store alongside the MappyDot for those looking for slightly more control from their sensors. It will also work with the MappyDot in the auto addressing bus so you can mix and match depending on your application.

We now have a Rev.01c board ready for programming and testing. We have also updated our reflow process to produce less issues that need to be corrected after assembly. The new boards have a slightly different BOM and a modified solder mask to make manufacturing easier (they are identical in function to the current Rev.01b):

We still have a small number of Rev.01b boards in stock, so we are giving a 15% discount on these boards until sold out:

We now finally have a panel programming and testing board for the MappyDot panels and future sensors we are working on (before installing pogo pins):

It's a simple but feature packed design. The way it works is that each board has a controllable power supply through a TCA6424A 24-Bit digital I/O expander. This allows for programming and testing of an individual device on the panel (it has also been designed to allow all boards to turn on at once for a purely aesthetic effect with the PWM LED output).

Each of the other I/O pins from every board is then connected on a shared bus which is brought back to a Teensy. This can then test for dry joints/disconnected pins on the currently powered board. Now, because they are on a shared bus, there's no way to identify if a board has a short on a certain pin under test, but this is rare occurrence, so if this happens the panel can be taken out and checked manually.

The test routine is just a script which uses avrdude to program the board and check for errors, then it will run a serial terminal program to run through the pin test (built into the firmware) and i2c data test routines as well as calibration. It cycles through every board and then it flags individual boards for errors that need to be fixed.

This should speed things up over the existing individual board programmer and tester:

The MappyDot is 15% off until Wednesday this week on Tindie, so if you've missed out on those juicy Cyber Monday specials there's still time to tick that off this year's bucket list - https://www.tindie.com/products/blecky/mappydot-micro-smart-lidar-sensor/?pt=ac_prod_search

What a crazy weekend. I was in Adelaide for Maker Faire with a MappyDot stall:

I met up with the awesome Mick from MickMakes. He's a really nice fellow and also grabbed me a coffee when I was looking visibly withdrawn from caffeine. I also briefly caught up with the guys from Core Electronics and we each showed off some kit.

Getting to Adelaide from Melbourne was the first hurdle. Just a short 727km drive gets you there in about 9 hrs with a short break:

The day itself was just as full on. Without stopping to eat, 4pm came around so quickly when they rung the bell for the end of the day. I would have loved to get around and see all the makers, but the kids wanted to play with the Mappyano and annoy the owners of the knitting stall next door, with repetitive renditions of chopsticks.

The Tindie guys also sent some swag to give out, unfortunately it just didn't arrive in time for the Sunday. However I now have a perfectly fitting Tindie shirt which I will parade about Melbourne.

Also congratulations to Anthony from South Australia for winning the MappyDot prize draw. Your MappyDot is on the way to you in the mail.

I will totally do it again next time!

There's now a MappyDot 3D step file in the repository for you to use with any circuit layout/visualisation or design placement. There's also a field of view file as well to help people with the placement of their designs.