timesquare watch on breadboard

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johnka
 
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timesquare watch on breadboard

Post by johnka »

I'm trying to create a timesquare watch on breadboard with a ATMEGA328P with custom fuses.
I have eliminated the external clock and I uploaded the firmware with a USBasp programmer.
I connect the DS1307 RTC and the anodes and cathodes of the dot matrix screen according to your schematic.
When I press the buttons I can see some scrolling effect but all the leds are on.
I tried to catch it on camera:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga4ckAl49ZQ
Also I tried a custom dot matrix screen with 3mm leds with same results:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sttJRRjSOpw
I also had the same result with a different dot matrix screen and a SMD ATMEGA328P-AU chip on a homemade PCB:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92jGMwvi9CY

What am I missing? could this be a wrong fuse settings issue?

Please help me to find a solution on a project I'm working over a year.
Thank you

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: timesquare watch on breadboard

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

[Moved to General Project Help]

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aerialist
 
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Re: timesquare watch on breadboard

Post by aerialist »

Hi johnka!

Have you found a solution?
I'm facing the exact same problem; all LEDs are turned on with dimmed pattern run across.

Here's what I have done.
1. Burn Arduino boot loader with 8MHz internal clock
Follow arduino tutorial for minimal circuit
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ArduinoToBreadboard
Set up ATMega328P-PU on breadboard as minimal circuit
Set up Arduino UNO as Arduino ISP
Burn boot loader with "ATmega328 on a breadboard (8 MHz internal clock)" as board.
2. Wire up and upload sketch
Wire up ATMega328P-PU with RTC (DS3231SN), LED matrix (SZ410788R; anodes and cathodes are reversed) and buttons.
Upload Watch sketch via FTDI friend.

I tried setting "Divide clock by 8 internally; [CKDIV8=0]" fuse but no luck.

I'm thinking to make a mini version with 20mm LED matrix and 328P SMD if this experiment goes well.

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johnka
 
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Re: timesquare watch on breadboard

Post by johnka »

Hello aerialist,
I haven't found a solution yet. I have ran many tests on breadboard with a through hole atmega328 and on a custom pcb with smd components with no luck.
Please inform me about your progress and I'll do the same. This project struggles me for a long time and I'd really like to finish it.
Last edited by johnka on Mon Jan 18, 2016 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

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aerialist
 
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Re: timesquare watch on breadboard

Post by aerialist »

Hi johnka!

I wanted to try out the original version so I purchased the kit. The first thing I noticed was that the LED module came with it was labeled BL-M15B883. Google took me to the data sheet:
http://www.betlux.com/product/led_dot_m ... 15A883.PDF

Yes, it is B type! Not A. I triple checked.
It means the adafruit_products_timesquaresch.png is not reflecting the current configuration.
https://learn.adafruit.com/assets/2872

I haven't checked if the pub layout is swapped as well but anyway, I guess having anode-cathode swapped could explain the phenomena we observed; all LEDs are ON and see some dimmed scroll.

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johnka
 
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Re: timesquare watch on breadboard

Post by johnka »

Glad to hear you had some progress!
I designed my homemade PCB based on adafruit schematic so I have to design a new PCB if this is the problem.
I will try this on breadboard first to verify the problem and inform you if it works.

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johnka
 
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Re: timesquare watch on breadboard

Post by johnka »

Finally I had success on building my timesqaure with my homemade pcb.

https://youtu.be/8HIJ1MWQgcc

I couldn't imagine that adafruit had errors on schematic and I was trying to edit the firmware. I replaced the common anode per column (1088BS) with a common anode per row (1088AS) display and it worked. Now I have to build a new PCB since I destroyed the old one.

Thank you aerialist! I couldn't realize what's wrong without your help.

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aerialist
 
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Re: timesquare watch on breadboard

Post by aerialist »

Congrats, johnka! I'm glad to hear it worked.

I'm learning a lot from this project. It's my first time to build an Arduino compatible board from a bare chip. Knowing I wasn't alone facing the problem was a good encouragement.

And code by PaintYourDragon is a beauty. I always enjoy reading/studying his code.

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johnka
 
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Re: timesquare watch on breadboard

Post by johnka »

The BL-M15B883 display is common anode per row but it's rotated 90°, so the anodes are the columns.
Since the dot matrix on the schematic is wrong, all the cathodes/anodes references on the schematic are reversed. So LEDCATHODE0 is LEDANODE0, LEDCATHODE1 is LEDANODE1 e.t.c. That means the resistors are actually on cathodes(rows) and not on anodes(columns). Could that be a problem? Should I design my PCB with resistors on anodes?

For reference I created a table showing how to connect the dot matrix display with the mcu depending on what type of display we have and how it's rotated when we face the watch. The original timesquare uses the 1st with the 4th/5th columns. Hope it makes sense.
Screen Shot 2016-01-19 at 15.53.43.png
Screen Shot 2016-01-19 at 15.53.43.png (100.63 KiB) Viewed 247 times

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