Pixel Controllers - ESP32-CAM

 After finding some interesting open source controller layouts by Scott Hanson (https://github.com/computergeek1507) I decided to get a couple of boards made by jcbpcb and have a go at some improved controllers.

After looking through the various controller layouts I settled on one based on the ESP32-CAM board, commonly available at a good price on aliexpress.  It seems to hit a sweet spot of being about to insert an sdcard, upload sequences from xlights and have it act as a FPP Remote, while giving 4 outputs for lights.  The only thing missing is ethernet, but at the same time I am looking for something at a lower price point than the big controllers.

The next step was to purchase the components to make up the board.  Mostly straight forward but the ESP32-CAM boards became interesting after making up the first board and starting on programming an configuration.

I ran into an issue where the first board I programmed would not boot when installed in the controller board, after some debugging with jumper wires  I found that if I didn't connect one of the GND pins it booted and ran.

After a bit more playing I decided to program up another ESP32, and this one would not program using the ESP32-CAM-MB, I eventually found a work around and got it programmed.  When inserted in the controller it ran without a problem - this is when I started to look closer at the boards as their behaviour was different.

ESP32-CAM-MB (only a RST switch)

ESP32-CAM - purchased with MB

ESP32-CAM - purchased separately from same supplier

If you look closely at the two ESP32-CAM boards you may notice the pin on the top left has a different label on each board - one is GND/R and the other GND.   It appears that they have linked this pin on the board that came with the MB to the RST pin of the ESP, therefore linking it to GND causes it to constantly reset and not boot.  The other visible difference is that the column of tiny resistors near that pin has 6 components, rather than 4 on the other board.

I have also had an issue with the SDcard in the board with the reset - still need to investigate that at some point, but at the moment I am continuing to build the first controller to determine if there are any other changes I need to make. 

The nice thing about making your own controllers is you do not need to buy components that add no value for your application, such as a voltage regulator for those powering it with 12v, as I am using 5v and plugs for the outputs when I can just attach the pigtails I want to use to the board.

2021 Christmas Lights

The lights have grown, the controllers are now a Falcon F16v3 (love the Falcon, but high cost is limiting) and two esp8266 home brew controllers running Espixelstick firmware.  The show is in it own vlan, run from a Raspberry Pi running fpp.  All sequencing is done in xlights.

I am about to embark on a new phase of the christmas lights with plans to expand, improve the configuration to reduce maintenance of props and controllers.

A couple of examples of current setup are on youtube