MicroPixel (NeoPixel) Matrix Board Update: Amperage Tests

Update and amperage testing on my micropixel matrix boards. These are TX1813N1 chips instead of WS2812B chips. 2.2mm square.
High quality PCB prototypes: www.pcbway.com

[@arivazhaganpandi2877]

As usual awesome video.

[@pgabrieli]

excellent and interesting as always! thanks!

[@YusufBAYLAV]

Congratulations Clayton. At some point let's talk about making own PCBs. Take care.

[@ClaytonDarwin]

Hi Yusuf. Yes. Sounds like a good idea.

[@MedyGames]

Are you aware of the m5stack devices ... I love the m5atom so small :D its awesome for homeautomation... I was about to get into esp32 and get myself some d1 minis or dev boards.. but these are just way smaller ... and for now seem to have more gpio pins than I need :D... got the whole lineup ... great toys :D Im still looking for a reason to get myself into soldering .... adn getting more familiar with hardware stuff but havent found it yet :D ... Im a programmer from germany... greetings

[@ClaytonDarwin]

Looks pretty cool. I'll have to read up on them.

[@MedyGames]

@@ClaytonDarwin ;). Enjoy

[@SystemsPlanet]

Very cool. Its not clear how you wired the signals between the four boards. How are they addressed?

[@ClaytonDarwin]

Works like a strip of NeoPixels. They are connected row by row (end of one connected to beginning of next). Last one goes out to next board.

[@B0A2]

is the smaller one brighter? it looked brighter on the camera also can you run it at 5v?

[@ClaytonDarwin]

Yes, designed to run at 5v, but will take a 3v input signal.

[@B0A2]

@@ClaytonDarwin awesome thanks!

[@Retinatronics]

Looks like when you are going with white it drops some voltage across the wires you use; hence the reason for getting 1A rather than something closer to 1.5A.

[@ClaytonDarwin]

Also working at 3.3 instead of 5.

[@prateekmahajan190]

How many of these boards can you Daisy chain practically (with 1 wire interface)?

[@ClaytonDarwin]

Theoretically you can connect an infinitely long chain of pixels because the signal is refreshed by each pixel. HOWEVER... You have two issues you will have to overcome. 1) Power. Each pixel can use 60 milliamps. 16 pixels might require 1 amp at full brightness. So you will have to add power into the system at strategic points to insure you don't have a voltage drop. The traces on the boards can only handle about 5 amps. 2) Refresh speed. You can typically update 1024 pixels at 30 frames per second if you have a good enough processor. But the more pixels on the chain, the longer it takes to refresh.

[@ClaytonDarwin]

Practically, at lower light levels, you could do 8 to 10 before amperage becomes an issue. With an ESP32, you can manage 4 before process speed becomes an issue.

[@B0A2]

can you provide the files to buy these? or how to design them myself just a gerber file would help a lot very cool project

[@ClaytonDarwin]

I was thinking of making some more and selling on my store and at PCBWay. They are kind of expensive. Last ones were about 15 US dollars each. Are you in the US? How many were you thinking about.

[@philippealfaiate1097]

I hope to see a link to those some where 👌. I'm not the one who start this discussion, but I'll respond for my self, I'm french. So perhaps letting PCBway ship them will be cheaper. 😅

[@B0A2]

@@ClaytonDarwin I am in the US I would be interested in buying 4 of them and if they worked well for my design I would likely buy a couple more.

[@ClaytonDarwin]

I'll look into getting some made.

[@ClaytonDarwin]

I'll look into getting some made.

[@fusrusty253]

can you share gpio_leds library? thx

[@ClaytonDarwin]

The one I used in this video is pretty basic. The one I've used with micropixel projects is here: gitlab.com/duder1966/youtube-projects/-/tree/master/MicroPython/MicroPix