ezPIXEL : Control over 9000 WS2812B pixels with one tiny FPGA board!
World Maker Faire 2017
MAKERS
Thomas Burke
Mr. Burke has been a circuit designer for over 30 years and has designed, or contributed to the design, of numerous products in diverse areas including telecom, medical and defense. He has been using FPGAs since the late 1980's in much of his work.
Moira Burke
Moira has a BSEE and MSEE and has been homeschooling her four children for over 15 years.
Seamus Burke
Seamus is starting his sophomore year at UMBC studying computer science. He was a member of the UMBC hacking team that won the Collegiate Cyber Defense Challenge this past spring.
Padraic "Sano" Burke
Sano is starting his junior year in high school and is active in Cyber Patriots and other STEM programs.
Celine Burke
Celine is starting her freshman year in high school. She has been active in Cyber Patriots and enjoys piano, Irish step dancing and art projects.
Ellie Burke
Ellie is entering sixth grade and is an avid artist. She also enjoys playing piano and Irish step dancing.
ezPIXEL controls up to 32 WS2812B strings with up to 288 LEDs/string -- 9216 LEDs! A small Intel/Altera MAX10M08 FPGA and level shifters ensure strict timing and correct voltages to the strings. Demo will show 32 strings driven by ezPIXEL.
What inspired you to make this project?:
Third time is the charm! After attending the last two World Maker Faires with my family, I wanted to exhibit something. I looked for something interesting and challenging to bring to the WMF. I decided to show what a small, inexpensive FPGA could do with a project that many Makers can relate to -- controlling LOTS of blinky lights.
