Teaching how to make a floating LED board

If you follow all the steps carefully and paying attention to the pictures, you will be familiar with most of the principles within a few minutes and without needing to know the science of electronics or the principles of programming, you will be able to create a high-quality and professional circuit board within a few hours Build great features.

The first step: getting to know the main supplies and equipment

First of all, it is necessary to get to know the main components of these new boards so that you can use them better. In the picture below, two LED modules can be seen, one from the main side and the other from the back in the picture. LED modules have many technical characteristics, but we will review some of their important characteristics that you must know in this section.

The most important characteristic is the color produced by the LED module. The LEDs used in the modules may be red, green, blue, white or a combination of these. In the red LED module that can be seen in the picture, only red LED is used. Only green LED is used in the green LED module, only blue LED is used in the blue module, and only white LED is used in the white module. We call such modules monochromatic LED modules, which are indicated by the abbreviations 1R, 1G, 1B, and 1W, respectively.

But the modules that are capable of producing two different colors are sometimes called Dual. Only two LEDs are used in such modules. The basis of the work of these modules is that if one of these two LEDs is lit alone, a special color is produced for each, and if both LEDs are lit together, they jointly produce a third color. These modules are often made of a red LED and a green LED and are denoted by the abbreviation 1R1G.

There are other modules that are made of two red LEDs and one green LED. Sometimes blue LED is used instead of green LED. These modules produce three different colors much more clearly than Dual modules and are even capable of producing other colors. Such modules are called 2R1G and 2R1B for short.

There is another type of module called RGB. In making this model of modules, three LED models are used, one is red, one is green, and the other is blue. These modules are able to produce a variety of colors by using the combination of primary colors.

Finally, other modules are made in which two red LEDs, one green LED and one blue LED are used. These modules are shown with the abbreviation 2R1G1B. These modules are able to produce 16 million colors and produce far more colors than RGB modules. 2R1G1B module is mostly used to make city TV.

Another characteristic that is important for LED modules is Dot Pitch or Pixel Pitch. Dot pitch is the center-to-center distance of the module's pixels and is usually expressed in millimeters. A pixel in single-color modules consists of one LED, in Dual modules it consists of two adjacent LEDs, in 2R1G and 2R1B and RGB modules it consists of three adjacent LEDs, and in 2R1G1B modules four LEDs are placed side by side. For example, the dot screw of the red module in the above picture is 10, because the distance from the center to the center of two adjacent LEDs is equal to 10mm.

Another important characteristic to consider about LED modules is its dimensions. LED modules are made in different dimensions such as 320mm*160mm, 160mm*160mm, 200mm*200mm, and 256mm*128mm, depending on the dimensions of the LED panel, a number of modules should be placed in width and some in height to match the size of the item Comment arrived.

The last feature to consider is the luminance of the LED module. The luminance of a module indicates the light intensity in terms of candles per square meter and its unit is cd/m2. This unit is defined as Candela per Square Meter in the SI standard system. One of the parameters that is effective in the quality of an LED module and affects its price is this characteristic. Another part that you need to make a floating panel is the floating panel control board. The control board is made in different families.

Some of the most famous ones are HD series, M series and C-Power series. HD series for monochrome to three-color boards, M series for color boards and urban television, and C-Power series are mostly used for spectrum boards. Another point to consider when choosing a control board is the maximum number of pixels that a control board can set up in width and height, and this is determined according to the pixels of the final board. Another point is the communication protocol through which the panel can be programmed.

This protocol uses standard computer ports. Ports such as COM, LAN and USB that determine the way to connect with the computer. In fact, the panel control board is responsible for controlling and managing each pixel in each module. This action is performed by the program written in the control board and also by the microprocessor located in the control board. The power or power source is responsible for providing the necessary current to start the modules and the control board. Switching power supplies with a relatively high current are usually used in LED flow boards.

The power supply in the floating panels converts the alternating and high voltage of the city electricity into a direct voltage of 5 or 12 volts. It is very important to note that the number of power sources in a board depends on the number of modules used in it and the brightness of the modules. For example, to run the modules in the picture above, which are red modules with 3500cdm and have the highest brightness of their kind, one power source should be considered for every 6 or 8 modules.

The power supply cable has two strands, one of which is black and the other is red, and it is used to transfer current from the power source to the modules. When powering the modules as well as the control board, be careful to connect the black wire to the GND terminals and the red wire to the terminals marked with VCC or V+. If the power supply is connected in the opposite way in a module or control board, that module or control board will burn quickly. The flat or data cable is responsible for transferring data from the control board between all the modules of a panel row.

This cable transmits information in a specific row of the board from the control board to the first module and then from the first module to the second module and to the last. In fact, the modules are connected in a row of panels in series like train cars. The output of the last module in a row is always free. Sealing gasket is also used as in the picture below to prevent water and rain from penetrating into the board. Most panel manufacturers do not use this washer, and because they make the skeleton and body of the panel according to their own taste and facilities, they usually do not need this washer, and to seal the panel itself, they seal the gap between the modules and the panel door with special water adhesives they cover.

The second stage: Assembly of the moving board

In this step, the method of assembling the floating panel with LED modules is described. The image below shows the back view of a red LED module with 10 dot screws. The only things you need to know to work with such modules are three things. Each module has two 16-pin IDE ports, which are called hubs. Hubs have different models based on the data transfer protocol they have.

Models like HUB-12 and HUB-8 are widely used in LED modules. In the module under discussion, two HUB-12 are used, one of them is input and the other is output. Basically, each module has an input hub and an output hub. The input hub receives the information from the previous module and the output hub transmits the information to the next module.

Each module also has another port called the power supply terminal, which is used to apply power to the module. This terminal has two pins, one marked with VCC and the other marked with GND. The positive voltage of the power supply, indicated by V+, is connected to the VCC pin of all modules with the help of a power supply cable, and the zero voltage of the power supply, which is indicated by GND, is connected to the GND pin of all modules with the help of power cables Modules connect.

Now we start assembling the board. To connect the modules to each other, according to the figure below, with the help of flat cables, we place the required number of modules in a row in a row like train cars. Note that each flat cable connects the output hub of the left module to the input hub of the right module. After connecting the required number of modules in the first row, we start connecting the modules of the next row to each other to create all the rows.

To find out how many modules a control board can run, pay attention to the pixel characteristic of that control board. In this training, the control board used is HD-S and it can support up to two modules in height and sixteen modules in width (row) because its pixel characteristic is equivalent to 512 x 32 pixels for a monochrome panel. That is, a panel up to the dimensions of 5.12 meters wide and 32 cm high. When connecting the modules to each other, pay attention that the modules in one row have nothing to do with the modules in the other row and only their power terminals are connected.

Note that the output hub of the last module in each line is not connected anywhere and is left. So, there is no need for a flat output cable anymore. Another point is that, as in the above figure, if it is necessary to branch off the power supply of one column of modules from another column, connect them together with the help of a pair of 1.5 power wires, following the power supply symbol. Pay attention to connect VCC to VCC and also GND to GND.

Now it's time to connect the control board to the modules. In the figure above, pay attention to the leftmost module in each row. The hubs of each of the modules at the beginning of the row (the leftmost module in each row) are connected to the control board. HUB-12 is used in the vast majority of modules, including the one in the picture. There may be both HUB-12 and HUB-08 on the panel control board, but considering that the hub module in question is HUB-12, we only use the ports on the control board that are identified with HUB-12 have become.

According to the above image, it can be seen that the input flat cable is connected from the first row (top row) to hub number one of the control boards, that is, the hub marked with 12*1. In the same way, the input flat cable from the second row (from the top) is connected to hub number two of the control board, that is, the hub marked with 12*2, and this procedure is repeated for the next rows. If you notice during work that the flat cables to connect to the control board are short, you can make your own flat cable with the help of a piece of 16-strand flat cable of the required length and two IDE connectors. The picture below shows the control board of the Roan panel and the hub numbers written on it.

Note: Connect the flat cable to the control board from one side so that the top of the hub on the LED module coincides with the small triangle of the hub on the control board. In the picture above, you can see this small triangle next to each hub. The power supply terminals are as described below, which we check from the left side in order. We connect the first two terminals to a plug that is supposed to be connected to the city electricity. Moving these two terminals does not cause any problem. You don't need to connect the next terminal marked with the ground mark anywhere.

The next three terminals, which are indicated by the COM symbol, are actually the zero-supply line, which must be connected to the GND terminal on the modules and the control board. These three terminals are not different from each other and they are all the same, and for ease of work, three terminals are intended for wiring. The next three terminals marked with V+ are 5V+ voltage or VCC, which should be connected to the VCC terminal on the modules and the positive terminal on the control board. These three terminals are not different from each other.

To program the board, connect the control board to the computer with the help of a cable, one end of which is a male COM port and the other end is a female COM port. This cable has only three connections as follows. From the male COM port to the female COM port, pin 5 to 5, pin 3 to 3, and pin 2 to 2 are connected respectively. You can make this cable yourself or you can buy a standard RS-232 cable from the market and replace pins 2 and 3 of one of its ports.

The third step: Training to work with HD2010 software

At this stage, we describe very briefly how to design the program for the board. Our goal in this section is not to fully teach the software, but the goal is to familiarize yourself with the software so that you can quickly set up your first board and gradually gain more skills with a little practice. This software is very simple and does not require a lot of training to fully learn it, and with a little practice you will know all the possibilities and how to work with it. There are many pieces of software available for programming the control boards, which are used according to the control board model from software to private.

In this tutorial, we have chosen the HD-2010 software because we intend to use the HD-S model control board and also because of its simplicity for a beginner. First, download this software from the download section of the Kiasell site and unzip it. In response to the password request from WinRAR, enter www.kiasell.com. Then install the software on your computer. This software is easily and quickly installed in both Windows XP and Windows Seven.

After installing the software, carefully check all the wiring of your panel to make sure they are correct. Pay special attention to the power supply lines because a mistake will lead to the burning of one or more modules or the control board. Now connect the control board to the computer with the help of the programming cable that we explained in the previous step and turn on the board.

Click on the HD program icon in Windows Start and open it. If a small window called Screen Parameters Setting opens before opening the software, close it with the cross sign in the upper right corner. At first, only the menu bar and toolbar are active. All the important tools for working with this software can be seen in the toolbar and all these tools can be accessed through the menus, so we will only introduce and how to work with the tools in the toolbar. The figure below shows the software environment in its initial state.

Introduction of tools

We start from the left side. The first tool is called Program. A program that you create will be displayed in each slide or board display, so a program must be created for the number of slides that the board is supposed to display. The maximum number of programs that can be created depends on the memory capacity of the control board and the information that we put in each program. Each program is only able to hold one object unless the screen slide is divided into several areas.

The number of areas that can be divided in a screen depends on the model of the control board. To know the number of areas that each control board can create on a screen, refer to the specifications of the desired control board in the store section. So, every program, if the screen is divided, can keep the number of screen divisions in the object itself. For now, don't do anything with page division and just keep in mind that each program must contain one object. But what is the object? We call tools such as Text, Hypertext, Time, Clock, Count, and Temp as objects. Now we introduce each one.

Text:

This tool is used to insert text and writing in a program. This tool can display your text in any font and in any language installed on your computer. This software is able to enter or leave your text on the page with various effects that you choose

Hypertext:

Hypertext is used to import an external image or an external animation into the program. The image can be in different formats such as jpg, jpeg, gif, png and bmp. The animation should also be prepared in GIF Animation format. There are various software applications such as SWiSH Max and Adobe Flash that can be used to create very beautiful animations and display them on the board with this software. This tool can be used to create or enter animated texts.

Time:

Using this tool, a clock and calendar can be entered in the program to appear in a slide on the screen. This tool can be used to display the current time and date on the board.

Clock:

Using this tool, you can display a hand clock on the board screen to show the current time in the form of a hand. For this, this tool must be entered in a program to be displayed on a slide.

Count:

Using this tool, a counter or counter can be placed in the program to appear on the screen. The counter can be used to count time in seconds, minutes, and hours, as well as to count days, months, and years. The counter can be configured as a reverse count.

Temp:

If a temperature sensor is connected in the control board and in the designated place and this tool is placed in a program, the ambient temperature can be displayed on the panel.

Delete:

The next key is the Delete key, which can be used to delete objects in programs and even the programs themselves. To delete an object or a program, you must click on it until it becomes selected and then press the Delete key to delete it. All programs and objects inside them appear in a tree-shaped list in the left column of the software environment.

Send:

The Send key is used to copy the program to the control board. After designing the desired program, which includes several programs, by pressing this key, the entire program is copied on the control board and stored in the flash memory of the control board. In this case, there is no need to connect the control board to the computer.

Export:

The next key is a key called Export. In the control board that has a USB port and it is not possible to transfer the computer to the panel location (when it is necessary to change the panel program), after designing the program, a flash memory can be connected to the computer and after formatting it Transfer the program to flash using the Export key. After removing the flash from the computer and inserting it into the USB port of the control board (of course, when the panel is on), after a few seconds, the information of the new program will be transferred to the panel. During this transfer of information, the panel screen is temporarily turned off and after the transfer is completed, it starts working again with the new program. Now you can remove the flash memory so that the panel can continue working.

Adjust Time:

The Adjust Time key can be used to adjust the internal clock of the control board when the panel is on. With this, you can set the internal clock of the control board, which is used to display the current time and date.

Preview:

And the last key is called Preview. After placing an object in the program and making its settings, this key can be used to preview the program before it is copied to the control board.

Running a simple example: This simple example will introduce you to other details of the software. First of all, a screen must be made. Select the New Screen option using the File menu. With this, a window will open and ask you for the password. Enter the number 168 and press OK. A window will open as shown below

Select the name of your control in front of the term Module and press the Next button to go to the next page. You can see this page in the figure below. On this page, change only the options that are mentioned and do not touch other options. Because the modules used in this tutorial are single color red, so select Single Color option in front of Color. Enter the number of pixels of the entire board in front of the term Width and the number of pixels of the entire board in height before the term Height. Then select Scan (1/4) Snake Down Row (16) Column (8) General P10 in front of Scan Mode and press Next to go to the next page.

You can see the third page in the picture below. Uncheck the Use default setting. To achieve a higher refresh rate, select 200HZ in front of the Frequency statement and drag the moving bar in front of the Speed statement all the way to the right to get the most brightness. Now, without changing other parameters, press the Finish key to create the screen. According to the left column of the software, it can be seen that a screen called Screen-1.hd has been created in the list. We click on the Program button to create a Program in the Screen sub-set. Then click on the Text button to create a Text tool in the Program sub-set.

This will open a text editing environment at the bottom of the software environment. Click in its empty space until the cursor blinks. Type a word and move it to the middle of the page using the tools of the editing environment. Then, from the Effect Setting section, which is on the left side of the editing environment, in front of Display, select the Move Up effect. This section determines the effect of your writing on the screen. On the right side of this effect, set the text entry speed to 50ms. Now, in front of Clear, select the Move Left effect. This part determines with what effect your writing will leave the screen. On the right side of this effect, set the text output speed to 5ms. Enter a number in seconds in front of Dwell so that there will be a short pause after entering the text on the screen.