HexLight

So after MANY issues with the PicKit 3, I finally managed to program the PIC32. I think this will be my last project with the PIC - the ARM world looks so much nicer!

Seriously I don't understand how Microchip could have gotten the PicKit 3 so wrong - it has less functionality than the PicKit 2, and doesn't even work half the time. If you do a quick google search you'll find a lot of people complaining about it in general, so it's not just a bad PicKit!

Anyway enough of the rant, here's a photo of my prototype version with the bare minimum soldered in:

Unfortunately I've run into more problems: The PIC32MX210F016B doesn't have enough flash :(

There's not even enough flash to fit in a USB bootloader like I was originally intending to, and there's only just enough room for the USB communications library and some basic PWM control. There's definitely not enough room to be able to do any kind of audio processing (which I want in order to make it sound reactive) Looks like I under-estimated how much space PIC32 code would use.

So it looks like the next step is to order in some bigger chips, which luckily will be pin-compatible. At least it works with my C# GUI though!

Woop, PCBs have arrived! I got a stack of 10 in a nice red colour:

My next course of action is to order the components for it and solder up a few boards! 

There's also still a bit of work to be done on both the firmware and software. If you're interested follow my github projects:

https://github.com/jorticus/hexlight-firmware

https://github.com/jorticus/hexlight-gui

The firmware & software is what will make this project special; it will use advanced colour models that will allow accurate colour reproduction and animation. It will also be able to respond to audio and external triggers!

Looking back on my design now I kind of wished I added room for an RGB colour sensor, so it could automatically calibrate the colour models. Alas I'll probably have to implement some sort of separate module to do this, or rely on dodgy chinese datasheets!

PCB has been ordered! It should arrive within a month's time, after which I'll start assembling the prototype... (I don't mind waiting for the boards since I still have a lot of University work to do)

There's still lots of work to be done on the firmware and software though. Schematics/PCB coming soon!