Poll: Buddabing's LED controller

[Buddabing]

It has come to my attention that some of you may want to daisy chain two of my LED controllers. It's possible to do this, but it will require a reversible mod to the board. If I designed a switch into the circuit, I could make it so that no mod would be required.

I want to see if there is any demand for this switch before the boards are sent off for production.

Since it will take three controller outputs to drive one RGB LED, one controller can drive only 13 RGB LEDs. So to drive a full two-player panel with fourteen RGB LEDs, 16 directional indicator LEDs and a couple of start buttons, it will take 60 controller outputs.

[mahuti]

I will buy more than one, and I'm happy to put my money where my mouth is.

[Franco]

Im definatly looking at two.

[wakerlet]

Bedaubing,

For clarification, will it be able to control 40 Leeds independently?  I'm really just interested in driving 1 LED per button.  So 40 will be enough for my 16 button control panel.

Thanks,
Todd

[Franco]

Yeah, it will.

[pointdablame]

I haven't decided if I'd buy them or not (which is how i voted), but if I do, I will definitely want enough for a full setup with RGB leds, so I'd be buying 2.

[Patent Doc]

Buddabing

I voted not decided for the same reasons as pointdablame.  Basically, I want them, but other projects (home not gaming related) are calling me and my cash first.

Patent Doc

[CJK]

I'm in for (at least) two.

-- Chris

[Q*Bert_OP]

Me too 

[clanggedin]

I have 43 buttons on my CP so I will require 2.

[Kremmit]

Since it will take three controller outputs to drive one RGB LED, one controller can drive only 13 RGB LEDs. So to drive a full two-player panel with fourteen RGB LEDs, 16 directional indicator LEDs and a couple of start buttons, it will take 60 controller outputs.

Am I missing something?  If one controller can only drive 13 LEDs, and each LED requires 3 outputs, then I take it one controller has 39 outputs?
13x3=39 outputs

A full two-player panel as described above, with 14 buttons, 16 directions, and two start buttons, only takes 60 outputs? 
14+16+2=32
32x3=94 outputs, not 60!  That's three boards by my count.

Oh, answered my own question- the 16 directional LEDs and the 2 Start LEDs will not be RGBs, but rather single fixed-color LEDs? 
14x3=42
42+16+2=60 = two boards.

Can three boards be daisy-chained for full RGB support on all LEDs?

Oh, and you forgot the Coin Reject button LEDs!

[Franco]

Oh, and you forgot the Coin Reject button LEDs!

Hey, have you been reading my mind?

Now all we need is some clear coin rejects. Shawnzilla..........

[ddockery]

I need full details on both this board and randy T's before I decide, so I voted that I was unsure.  However, if I go with this board, I would just need one.

[Buddabing]

Can three boards be daisy-chained for full RGB support on all LEDs?

The hardware limit is eight boards. So it can be done. But I will not support more than four boards, due to other hardware considerations.

A PCB change to support four boards will be easy. I would just need to make a four-position jumper.

Popular demand seems to be in favor of more than one controller. It's probably easier and cheaper to add the 4-way jumper than it is to add a SPDT switch for 2-controller operation.

Four boards would give 160 outputs, enough to light 53 RGB LEDs.

FYI: each board, when all 40 ports are at full output, can draw a full amp of current from the PC's power supply. That may seem like a lot, but this shouldn't be a problem, the power supplies I've looked at can supply much more. 1 amp times 5 volts=5 watts. For comparison, I pulled a random disk drive manual from Seagate, this rather typical hard disk pulls 9.5 to 13 watts depending on its state. CPUs can pull much more power than that, especially the Prescott Pentium 4s.