Lixie-Particle (community library)

Summary

Allows for easy writing to Lixie Digit displays! This library takes care of all the Lixie LED addressing and updating for you! All you have to do is write a number to the displays!

Example Build Testing

Library Read Me

This content is provided by the library maintainer and has not been validated or approved. Lixie Library (image removed)

Library for driving Lixie edge-lit displays!

This library allows for easy writing to Lixie Panels! It takes care of all the addressing and updating for you!

NOTE: THIS LIBRARY IS DESIGNED FOR PARTICLE PHOTON OR ELECTRON, NOT GEN3 MESH DEVICES

Contents

• Installation
• Getting Started
• Basic Functions
• Advanced Functions
• Debug Functions
• Troubleshooting
• Contributing
• License and credits

Installation

With Particle Web IDE

1. Open Libraries and search for "Lixie-Particle" and select it from the resulting list of libraries
2. Select an example application from the Examples list

The Lixie-Particle library relies on [the FastLED2 library from Daniel Garcia] available on the Particle Web IDE!

3. Open Libraries and search for "FastLED2" and select it from the resulting list of libraries
4. Click on "INCLUDE IN PROJECT" and select the Lixie-Particle example you had selected above from your list of applications
5. ERASE the lines added at the top of the application file which look like this:

// This #include statement was automatically added by the Particle IDE.
#include <FastLED2.h>

Getting Started:

*Getting Started has moved to it's own guide HERE!

Some Basic Functions

lix.begin();

Inititalizes the underlying FastLED library and sets up variables like the digit colors.

lix.clear();

Clears all displays, all lights off.

lix.write(int input OR char* input);

int: Clears the displays, and pushes in a multi-digit integer as in: 2016

char*: Clears the displays, and pushes in a char array as in: "2016". This ignores any non-numeric chars in the string, allowing you to send "12:52:47 PM" and have the displays show "12 52 47" for a clock.

lix.color(byte r, byte g, byte b);

Sets the "on" color of the digits using RGB. This is the color of an active number in the display. (Default: 255,255,255)

lix.color_off(byte r, byte g, byte b);

Sets the "off" color of the digits using RGB. This is the color of all inactive numbers in the display. (Default: 0,0,0)

lix.show();

Force the Lixies to update with current values and colors. Called automatically after every write call.

Some Advanced Functions

lix.nixie_mode(bool enabled);

The best damn Not-A-Nixie-Tube out there. Includes a well balanced amber digit, with neon aura emulation for a very convincing look.

lix.brightness(byte bright);

Sets the brightness of the displays, from 0 - 255. (Default: 255)

lix.white_balance(CRGB c_adj);

Sets a color calibration for the LEDs. Supports all FastLED color temperatures, and custom temperatures in the form CRGB(r, g, b). (Default: Tungsten100W / R: 255 G: 214 B: 170)

lix.max_power(int volts, int milliamps);

Sets a software power limit for all Lixies. Displaying white at full brightness, a Lixie will draw approximately 1200mA. (Default: 5V, 1000mA)

lix.get_numdigits();

Returns the number of Lixie displays currently in use, as an integer.

lix.maxed_out(int input);

Returns true if the input is too large to fit on the displays, false otherwise.

lix.get_leds();

Returns a pointer to the CRGB array that holds the color values sent to the displays. The library's show() function overwrites the values in this array, so call FastLED.show() to see any changes.

Debug Functions

The library also includes a few debugging functions if you're having issues with your displays. These functions require that the Serial library be initialized with "Serial.begin(speed)" before they will work.

lix.print_binary();

Prints the values of the led_states array, in binary, to the serial console.

lix.print_current();

Prints the current values on the display, in integers, to the serial console.

lix.get_number();

Returns the current number the display is showing in uint32_t form.

Troubleshooting

At the moment the library uses dynamic allocation for the LED arrays, which is not reported as allocated memory by the compiler. If your microcontroller is doing strange things, the first thing to check is that you have at least 70 bytes of dynamic memory available per Lixie digit.

If you've discovered a bug in the library, please create an issue on the Github repository so it can be fixed!

Contributing

Any advice or pull requests are welcome. :)

License and Credits

Developed by Connor Nishijima (2016)

Pull Request Hall of Fame:

• David Madison

Released under the GPLv3 license.

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