using a raspberry pi to control lights over static network with Arduino Nano nodes
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how this all works there are 4 main parts
1.vixen 3 the lighting sequencing software
2.raspberry pi loaded with falcon pi player
3. Arduino Nano with a ENC28J60 Ethernet Module (each Nano can control maximum of 240 pixels)
4. a load of 12mm WS2811 LED pixels
FYI everything here is using 5v not 12v
for all of you asking what is all this crap please take a look at this
i had and extra pi 3 and i have a 3d prtinter i thought it would be really cool to be able to start the show with a large wireless button to i used freecad and set off to work
its all coming together
assembly time repeat ten times
i keep this nice and simple fit 1x Nano Arduino 1x ENC28J60 and 1x 5V Power Supply in side a 2 Gang 32 cu. in. Type-FSE Switch Box. 
I didn't like my Raspberry Pi moving around all over the table and i want to keep it easily accessible so i put it in a pelican case 1150 with a nice 3D printed envelope. Its really another project in itself and I am planning on doing a write up but for now i loaded it to thingiverse http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1778896
As summer comes to a end here in Boston and i jump back in to this project. it looks like ill have 1150 pixels(maybe 1650 Im thinking about buying another 500) this year with 10 wired Arduinos running you code with FFP and two networks ( one 10.0.0.200 for lights and a wireless 198 for NPT/control)
I was able to house the each Arduino Nano, ENC28J60 and MEAN WELL LRS-50-5 Series 50W 5V in a 2 Gang ABS Switch Box. (I like the 5V because its cheap but i need to inject power every 50 leds i have made a boat load of 16/2 cables for this )
as this is my first year doing this im going to keep it simple with the light just clean all around window trim and general outline.
Im working on getting extra parts now. (that way there is no down time if any thing lets the magic smoke out)
i was planning on using vixen 3 but i still need to do research i'm not convinced its the quickest software.
one more fun thing i have on my list is i just got a Arduino Mega2560 MINI i was planning on putting it with 5v 30a power supply Im trying to think of a way to use it for multiple output streams to the WS2811. ( a diy E6804) then putting the unit in side of an Orbit 57095
test test test
Programing the Arduino to talk with the LEDs and the ENC28J60 Ethernet Module
load the sketch below and change the IP and MAC address so each Arduino has its own unique address
if you don't know any thing about Hexadecimal here is a good site to do the conversions for you (Decimal to Hexadecimal Converter) on the tail end of "const byte mymac[] = { 0x74, 0x69, 0x69, 0x2D, 0x30, 0x17 };" you just need to change the "0x17" you can keep counting up for some time with out using the converter. FYI 0x18, 0x19, 0x20, 0x21 (the decimal is not sequential in hex but it will not matter)
this is the code Im using with 12 separate arduinos.
shane bourgeois
// E1.31 Receiver and pixel controller by Andrew Huxtable (andrew@hux.net.au)
// This code may be freely distributed and used as you see fit for non-profit
// purposes and as long as the original author is credited and it remains open
// source
//
// The ethernet module is an ENC28J60 based item which are easily available
// for a few $
//
// Data connections to the module:
// Module -> Arduino
// SI -> 11
// SO -> 12
// SCK -> 13
// CS -> 8
//
// NB Most of the modules run on 3.3v, not 5v - Use caution! 5V logic/data is fine though.
//
// Please configure your Lighting product to use Unicast to the IP the device is given from your DHCP server
// Multicast is not currently supported due to bandwidth/processor limitations
// You will need the Ethercard and FastLed Libraries from:
// https://github.com/FastLED/FastLED/releases
// https://github.com/jcw/ethercard
//
// The Atmega328 only has 2k of SRAM. This is a severe limitation to being able to control large
// numbers of smart pixels due to the pixel data needing to be stored in an array as well as
// a reserved buffer for receiving Ethernet packets. This code will allow you to use a maximum of 240 pixels
// as that just about maxes out the SRAM on the Atmega328.
// There is deliberately no serial based reporting from the code to conserve SRAM. There is a **little**
// bit available if you need to add some in for debugging but keep it to an absolute minimum for debugging
// only.
#include <EtherCard.h>
#include "FastLED.h"
//#include <avr/wdt.h>
//*********************************************************************************
// enter desired universe and subnet (sACN first universe is 1)
#define DMX_SUBNET 0
#define DMX_UNIVERSE 1 //**Start** universe
// Set a different MAC address for each...
const byte mymac[] = { 0x74, 0x69, 0x69, 0x2D, 0x30, 0x27 };
// Uncomment if you want to use static IP
//*******************************************************
// ethernet interface ip address
static byte myip[] = { 10,0,0,10};
//*******************************************************
// By sacrificing some of the Ethernet receive buffer, we can allocate more to the LED array
// but this is **technically** slower because 2 packets must be processed for all 240 pixels.
/// DONT CHANGE unless you know the consequences...
#define ETHERNET_BUFFER 580
#define CHANNEL_COUNT 450
#define NUM_LEDS 150
#define UNIVERSE_COUNT 1
#define LEDS_PER_UNIVERSE 150
// The pin the data line is connected to for WS2812b
#define DATA_PIN 7
//********************************************************************************
unsigned long lastUpdate;
// Define the array of leds
CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];
byte Ethernet::buffer[ETHERNET_BUFFER]; // tcp/ip send and receive buffer
int checkACNHeaders(const char* messagein, int messagelength) {
lastUpdate = millis();
//Do some VERY basic checks to see if it's an E1.31 packet.
//Bytes 4 to 12 of an E1.31 Packet contain "ACN-E1.17"
//Only checking for the A and the 7 in the right places as well as 0x10 as the header.
//Technically this is outside of spec and could cause problems but its enough checks for us
//to determine if the packet should be tossed or used.
//This improves the speed of packet processing as well as reducing the memory overhead.
//On an Isolated network this should never be a problem....
//for...
Read more »
you need a
1. 8g mini sd card
2.usb stick (I use a mini 16g stick)
3. I also have a Adafruit RGB Positive 16x2 Lcd+keypad Kit for Raspberry Pi
4. I got a Raspberry Pi A+/B+/2 Adafruit LCD Case from built to spec
I fallowed these instructions
Installing the Falcon Player (FPP) on your Raspberry Pi
The latest FPP release for the Raspberry Pi is FPP v1.5 and is available for download at the following location:
FPP v1.5 Release Pi SD image: https://github.com/FalconChristmas/fpp/releases/download/1.5/FPP-v1.5-Pi.zip
The Falcon Player is designed to be treated like a software appliance. To make FPP installation easier on the Raspberry Pi, the player is distributed in a ZIP file which contains the Pi NOOBs installer. This installer will install the Raspbian Linux Operating System and the FPP software onto the SD card. You will need to copy the contents of the FPP .zip file onto a SD card and boot the Pi using the SD card. Upon boot, the NOOBs installer will take over and install Raspbian and the Falcon Player.
These instructions will guide you through installing the NOOBs image on your SD card that will allow you to easily install the OS and FPP as well as recover your card if the OS becomes corrupted.
Arduino NANO, ENC28J60 and WS2811 wiring
This is the code i have running in 23 Arduinos.
you need to download.
Then open Arduino.
if you don't know any thing about Hexadecimal here is a good site to do the conversions for you (Decimal to Hexadecimal Converter) on the tail end of "const byte mymac[] = { 0x74, 0x69, 0x69, 0x2D, 0x30, 0x17 };" you just need to change the "0x17" you can keep counting up for some time with out using the converter. FYI 0x18, 0x19, 0x20, 0x21 (the decimal is not sequential in hex but it will not matter)
10. Upload the code.
// E1.31 Receiver and pixel controller by Andrew Huxtable (andrew@hux.net.au)
// This code may be freely distributed and used as you see fit for non-profit
// purposes and as long as the original author is credited and it remains open
// source
//
// The ethernet module is an ENC28J60 based item which are easily available
// for a few $
//
// Data connections to the module:
// Module -> Arduino
// SI -> 11
// SO -> 12
// SCK -> 13
// CS -> 8
//
// NB Most of the modules run on 3.3v, not 5v - Use caution! 5V logic/data is fine though.
//
// Please configure your Lighting product to use Unicast to the IP the device is given from your DHCP server
// Multicast is not currently supported due to bandwidth/processor limitations
// You will need the Ethercard and FastLed Libraries from:
// https://github.com/FastLED/FastLED/releases
// https://github.com/jcw/ethercard
//
// The Atmega328 only has 2k of SRAM. This is a severe limitation to being able to control large
// numbers of smart pixels due to the pixel data needing to be stored in an array as well as
// a reserved buffer for receiving Ethernet packets. This code will allow you to use a maximum of 240 pixels
// as that just about maxes out the SRAM on the Atmega328.
// There is deliberately no serial based reporting from the code to conserve SRAM. There is a **little**
// bit available if you need to add some in for debugging but keep it to an absolute minimum for debugging
// only.
#include <EtherCard.h>
#include "FastLED.h"
//#include <avr/wdt.h>
//*********************************************************************************
// enter desired universe and subnet (sACN first universe is 1)
#define DMX_SUBNET 0
#define DMX_UNIVERSE 1 //**Start** universe
// Set a different MAC address for each...
const byte mymac[] = { 0x74, 0x69, 0x69, 0x2D, 0x31, 0x22 };
// Uncomment if you want to use static IP
//*******************************************************
// ethernet interface ip address
static byte myip[] = { 10,0,0,223};
//*******************************************************
// By sacrificing some of the Ethernet receive buffer, we can allocate more to the LED array
// but this is **technically** slower because 2 packets must be processed for all 240 pixels.
/// DONT CHANGE unless you know the consequences...
#define ETHERNET_BUFFER 580
#define CHANNEL_COUNT 450
#define NUM_LEDS 150
#define UNIVERSE_COUNT 1
#define LEDS_PER_UNIVERSE 150
// The pin the data line is connected to for WS2812b
#define DATA_PIN 7
//********************************************************************************
unsigned long lastUpdate;
// Define the array of leds
CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];
byte Ethernet::buffer[ETHERNET_BUFFER]; // tcp/ip send and receive buffer
int checkACNHeaders(const char* messagein, int messagelength) {
lastUpdate = millis();
//Do some VERY basic checks to see if it's an E1.31 packet.
//Bytes 4 to 12 of an E1.31 Packet contain "ACN-E1.17"
//Only checking for the A and the 7 in the right places as well as 0x10 as the header.
//Technically this is outside of spec and could cause problems but its enough checks for us
//to determine if the packet should be tossed or used.
//This improves the speed of packet processing as well as reducing the memory overhead.
//On an Isolated network this should never be a problem....
//for (int i=0;i<125;i++){
// Serial.print(messagein[i]);
//}
if ( messagein[1] == 0x10 && messagein[4] == 0x41 && messagein[12] == 0x37) {
int addresscount = (byte) messagein[123] * 256 + (byte) messagein[124]; // number of values plus start code
if ( addresscount > 0){
//Serial.println(addresscount - 1);
return addresscount -1; //Return how many values are in the packet.
}
}
return 0;
}
void sacnDMXReceived(const char* pbuff, int count) {
//Serial.println("*");
if (count > CHANNEL_COUNT) count = CHANNEL_COUNT;
byte b = pbuff[113]; //DMX Subnet
if ( b == DMX_SUBNET) {
b = pbuff[114]; //DMX Universe
if ( b >= DMX_UNIVERSE && b <= DMX_UNIVERSE + UNIVERSE_COUNT ) {
if ( pbuff[125] == 0 ) { //start code must be 0
int ledNumber = (b - DMX_UNIVERSE) * LEDS_PER_UNIVERSE;
// sACN packets come in seperate RGB but we have to set each led's RGB value together
// this 'reads ahead' for all 3 colours before moving to the next led.
for (int i = 126;i < 126+count;i = i + 3){
byte charValueR = pbuff[i];
byte charValueG = pbuff[i+1];
byte charValueB = pbuff[i+2];
leds[ledNumber].setRGB(charValueR,charValueG,charValueB);
ledNumber++;
}
FastLED.show(); //Do it!
}
}
}
}
static void sACNPacket(unsigned int port, byte ip[4], unsigned int i, const char *data, unsigned int len) {
//Make sure the packet is an E1.31 packet
//Serial.println("*");
int count = checkACNHeaders(data, len);
if (count){
// It is so process the data to the LEDS
//Serial.println(count);
sacnDMXReceived(data, count);
}
}
void initTest() //runs at board boot to make sure pixels are working
{
LEDS.showColor(CRGB(255, 0, 0)); //turn all pixels on red
delay(1000);
LEDS.showColor(CRGB(0, 255, 0)); //turn all pixels on green
delay(1000);
LEDS.showColor(CRGB(0, 0, 255)); //turn all pixels on blue
delay(1000);
LEDS.showColor(CRGB(0, 0, 0)); //turn all pixels off
}
void setup() {
// Using different LEDs or colour order? Change here...
// ********************************************************
FastLED.addLeds<WS2811, DATA_PIN, RGB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
// ********************************************************
//Serial.begin(115200);
//Serial.println("Init.");
// No checks in here to ensure Ethernet initiated properly.
// Make sure Ethernet cable is connected and there is DHCP on the network if you are using it ....
// if (ether.begin(sizeof Ethernet::buffer, mymac, 8) == 0){
// Serial.println( "Failed to access Ethernet controller");
// } else {
// Serial.println("Ethernet ok");
// }
ether.begin(sizeof(Ethernet::buffer), mymac, 8);
// ********************************************************
// DHCP
//ether.dhcpSetup();
//Static IP
ether.staticSetup(myip);
// ********************************************************
// Register listener
ether.udpServerListenOnPort(&sACNPacket, 5568);
//Once the Ethernet is initialised, run a test on the LEDs
// If you have problems with lockups/reboots, you might want to disable this
//initTest();
lastUpdate = millis();
}
void loop() {
//Process packets
if (millis() - lastUpdate > 2000){
// If no packet recieved in 2 seconds, reboot.
// I had problems with occational lockups of controllers
// for some reason. Slowing the data rate seemed to help.
// ENC28J60 module probably isnt coping too well.
asm volatile (" jmp 0");
}
ether.packetLoop(ether.packetReceive());
}
Ok, i figured it out myself. I had a bad jumper between data pin 7 and the lights :/. So i did some experimenting, and i found that with the current code, you can only daisy chain up to three 50 pixel light strands to it, thats because one universe can only handle about 170 pixels, and since each strand is 50, actually 150 total pixels on a universe. I tried adding two universes to add a fourth string, since it says you can control up to 240 pixels, but i could never get it to be stable. It would work, but it would crash randomly no matter what i tried. I think two universes is just too much for the ENC28J60 to handle, that, or the arduino nano itself cannot handle it. It keeps dropping packets and once a packet is dropped, it reboots the nano. I have it running stable on one universe with no issues whatsoever. Another thing to note, is in the ethernet buffer, there is not enough allocated to run three pixel strands, the last 6 or 7 pixels on the end of the third strand are wacked out, so i increased the Ethernet buffer size just a little, and it works like a charm. Hope this helps some other folks on here.
Hi ! Give a little feedback this year ! All works perfectly with your code, i have just increase the buffer to 800 because i have only 180 pixels by arduino and i had issues in the middle string led... thanks again for this project !!!
Hi Shane!! Awesome project. The only problem I ran in to was that I am using the Arduino Ethernet Shield. I was able to tweak it to use the Ethernet and EthernetUdp libraries instead of the Ethercard library.
Here is a link to the code I am using, just in case someone else runs into the same configuration.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ol0gB_AZ3bpXuNqkWgBqhshgJKk4bte8?usp=sharing
Hi Shane ! I'm doing my christmas lightshow with your project this year. But need a tip. Do you think that i can drive a P10 pixel matrix with this configuration ? It's a different way of wiring because there's one wire by color instead of one wire for data in ws2811. So i don't have any idea of how to connect the arduino and the P10 matrix (ide)... Thanks a lot for your help !
Hello, a P10 pixel matrix uses hub75 you will need something farmore powerfull than arduino. To my knowledge you can drive them one of three ways:
1. raspberry pi matix adapter has 3 outputs and a max of 12 panels per output for a total of 36 panels.
2. octoscroller for beaglebone has 8 outputs and a max of 8 panels per output for a total of 64 panels.
3. ColorLight 5a-75B receiver board.
Thanks for quick answer !
So the ColorLight 5a-75B receiver board is the cheapest solution ! But is this compatible with the streaming e1.31 by RJ45 and from the falcon pi player ?
Do I have just to buy one more rapspberry pi (in mutltisync and remote mode) and stream e1.31 signal from raspPI to the ColorLight 5a-75B receiver board ?
thank you so much for all your tips since all these years !!!!!!!!!
Is this still active? What updates do you have planned for this year?
I'm new to arduino. I have done the raspberry pi with a relay board for christmas with falcon player and vixon. I have no experience with coding. So with your code is it plug in play and it will work.
its close but nothing cheap is plug and play...... there is also pixel-stick
Could you not add some extra ram, ie. 23K256 (32k), to be able to handle a few more LEDs? Or would the throughput not be there...?
I'm just starting out this year... I have had a play with vixen over generic serial today and it worked very well... (using a 10 pixel string)... I ordered some of the ethernet controllers last week, so hopefully they won't take too long to show up and I can have a bit more of a play with them too ;)
put it on i2c like the ws2811, but I'm thinking, when it comes time to dump the data into the ws, have both chip enable pins enabled at the same time so the ram dumps direct to the ws instead of having to read and write constantly on the arduino? (Timing on the clk should be the same and it's not exactly major data manipulation) I'm only new to arduino though, so I could be barking up the wrong tree... I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong... I'd really like to know how to do it.
should you be able to ping the arduino once you have uploaded the sketch
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B77pC7x_GuF4T194QUIzMUNlSFk
use these libraries
arhhhhh please help i've tried everything and still can't get it to work
Hi again !
I'm building a shooting star.
50 led for the star (1st arduino) and 150 for the others.(2nd arduino)
The RGB test works fine when I start the arduino but when I test with FPP... I have this...
About 25 last led don't work... It looks like ACN information don't arrived at the end...
I tried to modify the code in order to change the number of led and "channel count" but nothing works !
Any ideas ?
Thanks !
Hello,
I'm in trouble with a 150 led stripes. The sketch works fine but the leds lights up 3 by 3 !
How can I modify the skecth to light up the 150 led individually ?
Thanks a lot !
Ok...I've found the solution... The led stripe is made of 50 integrated circuit...so 1 for 3 leds...!
oh yes your using ws2811 led strips they group them in groups of 3s .
you can buy high density strips..
sounds like your code is working fine then.
do you have any feedback? i want to make this easier for the next person.
this is the code Im using and it doesn't do that for me. what are you controlling with?
Hello
Arduino mega has 8ko sram, the board supports 310 leds?
Sorry for my bad English I am french :/
i may do youtube videos but i don't really care about youtube
It's okay NOW !! With the last version of Ethercard lib (It's mentioned on github https://github.com/jcw/ethercard), the CS pin of the ENC28J60 must be connected to the 10th arduino's pin ! Thanks again for your job !
Hello,
Impossible for me to connect de ECN28J60. I use a TP link switch connected to a freebox V6. All the led (green and yellow) works but when I try to ping the IP with FPP ...every packet are lots... HELp !
id love you help but i dont under stand your set up....
in short what are you sayting?
Sorry...with diagram it will more easy !
First I've tried this set up for the network
The ENC28J60 appeared on network but haven't MAC adress. FPP not succeed to ping the ip that I entered in your arduino's code.
Second I did this set up
It's worse...
What's amazing is the fact that the green and yellow led on the ENC RJ45 are flashing so I think all this hardware are communicating...
I'm lost...How to connect all this set up ?
Thanks a lot for your help !
Here is a screenshot of my router ...no mac adress for my ENC...
2 things I would try right off the bat.
1. have a completely separate Network E1.31 data use Wi-Fi to connect the Raspberry Pi to the router/internet for the real world stuff.
2. Reload your Nano from the Arduino IDE
hi
I see that you control the pi by a lcd screen and buttons. Can you explain how to do that ? I guess with the gpio input but what code ? A little help ? Thanks for this great tutorial !!!
i will add more directions letter this week.
in the mean time...... FPP ( Falcon Pi Player ) is pre programmed to use a Adafruit 16x2 LCD+Keypad Kit for Raspberry Pi all you have to do is stack the "Pi plate" on top on the Raspberry Pi... go into Status / Control on the drop down menu you will see "FPP Settings" select that, it will load a new page. on the page the loads will be some check boxes and text, the text says "Pi 2X16 LCD Enabled" 3rd check box is the box that turns off and on the screen.
all it is doing is using the two I2C pins
do you have a wiring diagram or how-to for the nano and ethernet modules? Thanks on advance
per your request i have up loaded a wiring diagram see INSTRUCTIONS 2
Robert Hart
davedarko
Aaron Lager
Podge
ok, for some reason i cannot get the pixels to light up on the initial boot of my nano, i power it up and nothing occurs with the code you provided, I can ping the nano through the ethernet module, so i know that portion is working, but the boot LED test doesnt do anything. i cannot get the LED's to come on. This is a brand new ws2811 string. I manually changed the code just to force a pixel and that worked, but as the code is laid out from here it doesn't work. I'm at a loss with how to troubleshoot. Am i correct to think as long as the code is loaded from here, it should test the LED's when the nano is booting, regardless of anything else?