Mini Pixel Controller System

The Mini Pixel Controller System is designed to provide various lighting patterns using WS2811 or WS2812 pixel strips. The board supports a variety of serial
input protocols along with standard ‘servo pwm’ support.

Specifications

Radio support Jeti ExBus, JR XBus, Spektrum DSMX Satellite, Futaba SBus, Generic PWM
Pixel Support WS2811, WS2812, WS2812b
Power 5v to 12.6v
Configuration User configurable protocol and channel assignment. Support for XBus ID setting
and reset. DSMX satellite binding support
Processor 32bit, 24Mhz ARM core

Mini Pixel Controller

RX Connection Pixel Connection

Hardware Options

The board is available with a standard 3 pin ‘servo’ connector. This connector must deliver both the input signal and the appropriate voltage for the chosen pixel
strip. The recommend strip is 12v WS2811 (60 LEDs per meter), power by a 3S lipo. The input lead should be wired in the same style as a retract lead using
separate battery. It is critical to note that the higher voltage for the pixel strip must not be connected to the RX power pin, or damage is likely to result to the RX
and attached servos.

Also available is a DSMX satellite connector board. This provides a standard 3 pin satellite socket and provides the correct voltage required by the satellite for
operation. Only power is needed for this DSMX board.

DSMX Satellite Adaptor

Power Satellite Controller

Power

The Mini Pixel Controller is designed to be powered from 5V or 12V power supplies (as required by the chosen pixel strip).

Configuration

The Mini Pixel Controller allows end user configuration of input protocol and channel assignment. Note that if PWM is selected then no channel assignment is
possible.

The configuration uses a two stage menu system that is similar to ESC configuration, using led flashes instead of motor beeps. The configuration system has a
‘main menu’ , each item have a sub configuration option.

Board Details
Signal
Pixel data
Power Power
Ground Ground

Configuration Indicator
Button LED
To enter configuration hold down the button and apply power. The button must remain pressed for 2 seconds to enter configuration. As power is applied with
the button held the led will flash slowly. Once the 2 second stage has been reached the led will flash quickly. At this stage the button can be released.

The led will now be cycling through a series of red flashes, each set giving the option to configure that item:

LED Flash Meaning

1 red flash Set the protocol
2 red flashes Set the channel for light mode
3 red flashes Set the channel for light parameter
After each option there will be a slight pause. To select an option press the button whilst the option or it’s following pause is underway. Note that if PPM is
selected as the protocol there will be no option to set the channels. The parameter value is fixed at -150% in this case.

When you set the mode channel, the parameter channel is set to the next channel. For example, if you were to set the mode channel to channel 7, the
parameter channel would be set to channel 8 in the same operation. If you do not want consecutive channels you will need to manually set the parameter
channel as required.

Setting the Input Protocol

Clicking the button whilst the single red flash is being shown will take you to the protocol setting menu. The led will flash to indicate the currently selected
protocol as indicated below:

LED Flash Meaning

1 green flash PPM (standard rx output)
2 green flashes JR XBus
3 green flashes Futaba SBus
4 green flashes Spektrum DSMX satellite
5 green flashes JETI ExBus
Each button press will advance the count (from 1-2-3-4-5-1 flashes). When you have selected the desired protocol press and hold the button until the led turns
red. The setting will be saved and you will return to the main menu.

Setting the Channel

Options 2 and 3 from the main menu both work in the same way to set the channel for the light mode and light parameter respectively. Channel numbers can go
reasonably high and so to reduce the counting load the system uses long flashes to indicate groups of 5 and short flashes to indicate units. See the examples
below:

LED Flash Meaning

1 short green flash Channel 1
4 short green flashes Channel 4
1 long and 2 short flashes Channel 7 (5 + 2)
3 long and 1 short flash Channel 16 (3*5 + 1)
As per the protocol menu, the count is advanced by a short press of the button, and the final selection is stored by a long press (until the led turns red). Each
protocol has its own limit on channel value.

For PPM it is not possible to set a channel as a single value will be read by the board from the pulse stream from the RX and used to control the light mode.

For XBus the board will allow selection of up to channel 14, however it is possible to set the channels using the XBus ID set from the TX. The default assignments
for XBus are Pyro on 7.1 and servo on 8.1. The ID reset function is also supported to return the two channels to the default assignment.

For SBus the board will allow selection of all 18 channels.

For DSMX the board supports 12 channels and the 8 XPort channels. When displaying the channel count with DSMX selected as the protocol the LED will flash
green for normal channel (1-12) and them move to orange for XPort channels (1-8).

JETI ExBus provides support for channels 1-16.

Once the configuration has been set as needed and the user is back at the main menu press the button for 2 seconds to exit the main menu and return to
normal operation.

Binding DSMX satellite

The bind a DSMX satellite you must first ensure the board has DSMX protocol selected, and then power up with the button held (as per entering the main
menu). The satellite will immediately go into binding mode, and if you release the button before the 2 seconds is up you will not enter the menu system. Note
that a side effect of this is that every time you enter the menu system with DSMX selected you will put any attached satellite into bind mode. You can either
ignore this and power cycle to resume operation, or disconnect the satellite before entering the menu system. You can reconnect the satellite once you have
completed configuration.

Configuring you radio

The selected channels need to be set for maximum throw (-150% to +150%) you will need to use your travel adjust / limits function on your radio. Please consult
your radio manual for details on how to do this.

Light modes

Mode Value Lighting Effect Parameter Operation

-150 to -109 Bright White No effect
-109 to -95 Dim White No Effect
-95 to -68 Solid Colour Varies the colour as a colour wheel effect
-68 to -45 Strobing Colour Varies the colour as a colour wheel effect
-45 to -22 Police (alternate double red and blue flashes) No Effect
-22 to 2 Colour Wheel No Effect
2 to 25 Random Colour No Effect
26 to 58 Chase No effect
59 to 86 Random pixels No effect
87 to 109 Fast step Speed of fade
110 To +150 Gapped chase No effect

Firmware

Note that is it possible to provide custom firmware but a specific adapter board is required to download it. Under no circumstances should you try to power the
board through the firmware pins – it will destroy the board. The firmware port should be left unused.