Add a Pi plugin that drives the gpio pins

[nomis52]

From the mailing list:

Hi, Is there a way to use the Digital IO-Pins of the Raspberry as Output (Switch)? I'd like to use the raspberry itself as a demux (simple switch). This would gife me 5 channels that can drive a Solid-State relais to controll the motor for disco ball or simolar. Thomas

[smokeandlights]

I was thinking the same thing. You'll probably need a simple circuit to invert the signal and amplify both outputs, as well, but in theory, I think this could be done with 1 gpio pin and a ground.

[bobox59]

Hi, have you solved your problem ? i'm in way to do that...

[smokeandlights]

I did not. I'd like to know if there's a way to use this without a USB to DMX adapter.

On Oct 6, 2014, at 3:24 PM, "Benoit Masquelier" notifications@github.com wrote:

Hi, have you solved your problem ? i'm in way to do that...

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[bobox59]

i have a code that send dmx directly to gpio but many performance problems for the moment.

[smokeandlights]

Interesting. I wonder if it's a problem caused by the response rate of the gpio? I assumed that would be the problem with this sort of extension.

On Oct 7, 2014, at 5:16 AM, "Benoit Masquelier" notifications@github.com wrote:

i have a code that send dmx directly to gpio but many performance problems for the moment.

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[bobox59]

the problem is corrected all is ok at 49 frames of 512 dmx channels per sec. seems to work like a charm, only tested with one dmx light

2014-10-07 17:32 GMT+02:00 smokeandlights notifications@github.com:

Interesting. I wonder if it's a problem caused by the response rate of the gpio? I assumed that would be the problem with this sort of extension.

On Oct 7, 2014, at 5:16 AM, "Benoit Masquelier" < notifications@github.com> wrote:

i have a code that send dmx directly to gpio but many performance problems for the moment.

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— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/OpenLightingProject/ola/issues/299#issuecomment-58203798 .

[smokeandlights]

That's great! I don't have a way to test anything at the moment, but let me know if you make this available for download .

On Oct 7, 2014, at 1:10 PM, "Benoit Masquelier" notifications@github.com wrote:

the problem is corrected all is ok at 49 frames of 512 dmx channels per sec. seems to work like a charm, only tested with one dmx light

2014-10-07 17:32 GMT+02:00 smokeandlights notifications@github.com:

Interesting. I wonder if it's a problem caused by the response rate of the gpio? I assumed that would be the problem with this sort of extension.

On Oct 7, 2014, at 5:16 AM, "Benoit Masquelier" < notifications@github.com> wrote:

i have a code that send dmx directly to gpio but many performance problems for the moment.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/OpenLightingProject/ola/issues/299#issuecomment-58203798 .

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

[bobox59]

tell me what do you expect ?

[smokeandlights]

I don't understand the question. Honestly, I haven't looked at OLA in quite some time, and don't expect to look at it again very soon. I understand and support your efforts, but I am a hobbyist who is concentrating on other things at the moment.

I am pleased to hear of your progress, but I am unsure of who you are. Are you affiliated with OLA and your work will be released with OLA distributions? Or are you an independent programmer who shares a common interest on this topic, but your work would have to be applied to an OLA release? I hope that none of this comes across as rude or presumtive.

Best of luck!

On Oct 8, 2014, at 4:13 PM, "Benoit Masquelier" notifications@github.com wrote:

tell me what do you expect ?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

[bobox59]

Ah i'm just a "geek" programmer, not affiliated to ola, and i have just writed a code for linux that act as a artnet to dmx direct from rpi gpio. if you're interessed, i can share this code. I make it for my needs, but if it can be usefull for another one, why not ;) Thanks.

2014-10-08 22:42 GMT+02:00 smokeandlights notifications@github.com:

I don't understand the question. Honestly, I haven't looked at OLA in quite some time, and don't expect to look at it again very soon. I understand and support your efforts, but I am a hobbyist who is concentrating on other things at the moment.

I am pleased to hear of your progress, but I am unsure of who you are. Are you affiliated with OLA and your work will be released with OLA distributions? Or are you an independent programmer who shares a common interest on this topic, but your work would have to be applied to an OLA release? I hope that none of this comes across as rude or presumtive.

Best of luck!

On Oct 8, 2014, at 4:13 PM, "Benoit Masquelier" < notifications@github.com> wrote:

tell me what do you expect ?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/OpenLightingProject/ola/issues/299#issuecomment-58424259 .

[smokeandlights]

That's very interesting. I think that right now, I will not have time to play with it, but perhaps in the future. I do think you should submit your work to the OLA project if you have not already. It might be useful for many people. Which GPIO pins are you outputting on? Are you directly connecting to these pins, or do you have any circuitry between the pins and the DMX connection? I remember thinking that it might require amplification or a circuit to invert the signals for some reason. Thanks,Matt

Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 01:17:55 -0700 From: notifications@github.com To: ola@noreply.github.com CC: smokeandlights@hotmail.com Subject: Re: [ola] Add a Pi plugin that drives the gpio pins (#299)

Ah i'm just a "geek" programmer, not affiliated to ola, and i have just

writed a code for linux that act as a artnet to dmx direct from rpi gpio.

if you're interessed, i can share this code.

I make it for my needs, but if it can be usefull for another one, why not ;)

Thanks.

2014-10-08 22:42 GMT+02:00 smokeandlights notifications@github.com:

I don't understand the question. Honestly, I haven't looked at OLA in

quite some time, and don't expect to look at it again very soon. I

understand and support your efforts, but I am a hobbyist who is

concentrating on other things at the moment.

I am pleased to hear of your progress, but I am unsure of who you are. Are

you affiliated with OLA and your work will be released with OLA

distributions? Or are you an independent programmer who shares a common

interest on this topic, but your work would have to be applied to an OLA

release? I hope that none of this comes across as rude or presumtive.

Best of luck!

On Oct 8, 2014, at 4:13 PM, "Benoit Masquelier" <

notifications@github.com> wrote:

tell me what do you expect ?

—

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

—

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub

https://github.com/OpenLightingProject/ola/issues/299#issuecomment-58424259

.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub. =

[nightrune]

Hey guys,

Just to give you an idea. In traditional lighting and sound areas, gpio pins work in a very specific way. Generally one dmx channel corresponds to one gpio pin, but it usually has a bit of hysteresis in case there are errors in the dmx signal. This works by having a different dmx threshold when the pin is high vs when the pin is low.

Example: gpio pin 0 is low, and patched to dmx channel 1 once channel 1 is above 55% (~130 decimal in dmx) gpio pin 0 goes high once channel 1 is lower then 45% (~120 decimal in dmx) gpio pin 0 goes low.

At its completely finished state an ola plugin what would deal with gpio pins would probably look something like that, and would probably be configurable by RDM like the SPI plugin. I would be open to hearing other ideas but this is generally what I would expect as a lighting professional.

Have fun! Let me know if you guys need help.

On Thu, Oct 9, 2014 at 7:17 AM, smokeandlights notifications@github.com wrote:

That's very interesting. I think that right now, I will not have time to play with it, but perhaps in the future. I do think you should submit your work to the OLA project if you have not already. It might be useful for many people. Which GPIO pins are you outputting on? Are you directly connecting to these pins, or do you have any circuitry between the pins and the DMX connection? I remember thinking that it might require amplification or a circuit to invert the signals for some reason. Thanks,Matt

Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 01:17:55 -0700 From: notifications@github.com To: ola@noreply.github.com CC: smokeandlights@hotmail.com Subject: Re: [ola] Add a Pi plugin that drives the gpio pins (#299)

Ah i'm just a "geek" programmer, not affiliated to ola, and i have just

writed a code for linux that act as a artnet to dmx direct from rpi gpio.

if you're interessed, i can share this code.

I make it for my needs, but if it can be usefull for another one, why not ;)

Thanks.

2014-10-08 22:42 GMT+02:00 smokeandlights notifications@github.com:

I don't understand the question. Honestly, I haven't looked at OLA in

quite some time, and don't expect to look at it again very soon. I

understand and support your efforts, but I am a hobbyist who is

concentrating on other things at the moment.

I am pleased to hear of your progress, but I am unsure of who you are. Are

you affiliated with OLA and your work will be released with OLA

distributions? Or are you an independent programmer who shares a common

interest on this topic, but your work would have to be applied to an OLA

release? I hope that none of this comes across as rude or presumtive.

Best of luck!

On Oct 8, 2014, at 4:13 PM, "Benoit Masquelier" <

notifications@github.com> wrote:

tell me what do you expect ?

—

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

—

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub

< https://github.com/OpenLightingProject/ola/issues/299#issuecomment-58424259

.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub. =

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/OpenLightingProject/ola/issues/299#issuecomment-58494773 .

Sean Sill Electronic Systems Consultant/Contractor Electrical and Computer Engineering Alumni from Missouri University of Science and Technology(Missouri S&T)

[nomis52]

@bobox59 can you push the code up somewhere? It sounds like this would be valuable to include in the OLA mainline.

[bobox59]

yes, it's working very well ! i only have to put an sn75176 on the pin of choice on the raspberry.

when i can, i'll check to put this code for ola but i think it need some adaptation for work with ola...

Thanks for all

2014-10-09 13:17 GMT+02:00 smokeandlights notifications@github.com:

That's very interesting. I think that right now, I will not have time to play with it, but perhaps in the future. I do think you should submit your work to the OLA project if you have not already. It might be useful for many people. Which GPIO pins are you outputting on? Are you directly connecting to these pins, or do you have any circuitry between the pins and the DMX connection? I remember thinking that it might require amplification or a circuit to invert the signals for some reason. Thanks,Matt

Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 01:17:55 -0700 From: notifications@github.com To: ola@noreply.github.com CC: smokeandlights@hotmail.com Subject: Re: [ola] Add a Pi plugin that drives the gpio pins (#299)

Ah i'm just a "geek" programmer, not affiliated to ola, and i have just

writed a code for linux that act as a artnet to dmx direct from rpi gpio.

if you're interessed, i can share this code.

I make it for my needs, but if it can be usefull for another one, why not ;)

Thanks.

2014-10-08 22:42 GMT+02:00 smokeandlights notifications@github.com:

I don't understand the question. Honestly, I haven't looked at OLA in

quite some time, and don't expect to look at it again very soon. I

understand and support your efforts, but I am a hobbyist who is

concentrating on other things at the moment.

I am pleased to hear of your progress, but I am unsure of who you are. Are

you affiliated with OLA and your work will be released with OLA

distributions? Or are you an independent programmer who shares a common

interest on this topic, but your work would have to be applied to an OLA

release? I hope that none of this comes across as rude or presumtive.

Best of luck!

On Oct 8, 2014, at 4:13 PM, "Benoit Masquelier" <

notifications@github.com> wrote:

tell me what do you expect ?

—

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

—

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub

< https://github.com/OpenLightingProject/ola/issues/299#issuecomment-58424259

.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub. =

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/OpenLightingProject/ola/issues/299#issuecomment-58494773 .

[peternewman]

The mailing list thread was https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/open-lighting/Va5K5N3WK60 .

@bobox59 , @smokeandlights there seems to be some confusion here, there's already a "UART native DMX" plugin, which uses the Pi's serial port to generate a full DMX stream.

As I see it, there are a number of use cases involving the GPO pins on a Pi: Toggle a pin on and off, based on a single DMX channel (to drive a relay or similar) PWM a pin, based on a single DMX channel, to drive an LED Generate 0-10V, based on a single DMX channel, to drive an analogue dimmer Bit bash a protocol from a pin (e.g. DMX, potential for many universes, on many pins from one Pi; could also generate other protocols, e.g. SPI)

Using a GPI: Analogue sense to generate data for a single DMX channel Digital sense to generate data for a single channel

The original issue was talking about toggling a single pin from a single DMX channel to drive a relay. As mentioned, there's already the ability to generate a single universe from the Pi's UART. If you can drive one, or more, universes, from the Pi's GPO pins, that's pretty cool to, and as Simon says, you should open a pull request. Although it's not the original issue, and probably deserves a new enhancement issue of it's own.

[nomis52]

I've added a GPIO plugin.