SIRC “RGB Accent Light Controller” Beta

My first attempt at doin' something with Sony SIRC so be kind (lol).

The program doesn't do anything fancy. It simply increments or decrements the Red, Green, or Blue LED duty cycle (0-255) using six keys on the Sony remote. Timing is precise and "cycle accurate" (no pulse-width or period jitter) with a pretty decent 156-Hz refresh rate. The program uses 155 words of program memory, 12 bytes of RAM memory, and no peripheral modules so it should run on a 12F629, a 12F635, a 12F675 or even a 55 cent 6-pin 10F200.

If you want to test it out on low current (20-ma) LEDs then eliminate the N-FETs and set the jumper to "active lo" for common anode 4-pin LEDs or to "active hi" for common cathode 4-pin LEDs and fire away. Don't forget your LED current limiting resistors.

Improvements will be adding a 64-step "gamma" table for 262,000+ color combinations. The colors will look better and you'll be able to adjust the color much faster. Right now it takes a minute to go from 0 to 255 or from 255 to 0 for each LED with a 205-msec "repeat" timer interval. Other improvements may include storing and retrieving color settings or animations from EEPROM.

Cheerful regards, Mike

Very nice. I'll look forward to studying your code later in the week. I will, of course, respect your copyright notice. I'm just curious.

Mike.

Pommie said:

Very nice. I'll look forward to studying your code later in the week. I will, of course, respect your copyright notice. I'm just curious.

Mike.

Click to expand...

yep... but I gotta ask, what is actually the application?

It allows you to use a Sony remote control to choose any colour on a RGB LED.

Mike.

What I meant with the question is rather about it's uses in perhaps RGB applications like RGB detection or sensors, but the answer lead to the way anyway. Thanks to both Mikes.

Nice work Mike.

I built one of Geko's RGB Mood Light projects:
RGB LED controller
but used a Kingbright RGB IC instead of single LED's.

I like the idea of your added SIRC adjustment and look forward to viewing a 10F version....I have a few SOT23 10F's to hand.

Regards.

Hi Mickster,

What is an RGB IC?

Mike said:

Hi Mickster,

What is an RGB IC?

Click to expand...

Oops sorry Mike, wrong terminology, should have read 'RGB Chip LED'
EDIT: or 'RGB DIP LED'

See here:
**broken link removed**

Regards.

EDIT2:
Would the 'IC' label still be applicable, since the package contains two, or more, components?

hi MikeK8,
As always an elegant solution.
As a point of discussion only, which part of the circuit do claim as copyright, is it the posted drawing, the circuit design or the PIC program.?

Regards
Eric

To continue the discussion and append Eric's question..... how would someone legaly combat material released into the public domain, duplicated on a different site without prior permission? Does a simple "Copyright" notice provide sufficient protection, or would an additional message such as "Unauthorised reproduction prohibited." be applicable and be more likely to be enforced?

Is a "Copyright" notice even enough on it's own, without a patent application?

I have no idea, so I'm just asking a question.

There was a previous instance of unauthorised duplication of Mike's work and it still stands to this day, despite him making requests to have it removed.

I'd hate for him to end up restricting his very kind efforts....

Hi Guys,

The copyright notice is for the graphic. The program source code also has a copyright notice. If portions of my copyrighted material should show up on a certain individual's web site without my permission, I have been assured that that individual will be banned from the Forum. I don't generally have a problem sharing material when a responsible and ethical individual asks for permission.

Mike

Mike said:

Hi Guys,

The copyright notice is for the graphic. The program source code also has a copyright notice. If portions of my copyrighted material should show up on a certain individual's web site without my permission, I have been assured that that individual will be banned from the Forum. I don't generally have a problem sharing material when a responsible and ethical individual asks for permission.

Mike

Click to expand...

hi MikeK8,
There has been a case this week where the circuit posted by MikeM, was posted on another members personal website offering it for sale as one 'his' products.
Doing this without asking the original posters permission is not acceptable.

I think a problem arises when some circuits which are posted, claiming copyright, are built from the 'basic' building blocks of electronics components and have no novel features.
A simple example of this is the 555 astable/monostable posted on some websites, built in the 'standard' configuration, it has copyright plastered all over it.
Its a bit like claiming copyright on a house which is built of bricks.

Most of the 'copyrighted' circuits and programs I have seen on the web are so close to the fundamental design, which most other experienced designers/programmers working without prior knowledge of the 'original', would automatically create anyway.

IMHO only a circuit/program which has novel features should be claimed as copyright, else we are going to get so hog tied with copyrights that we will not be able to publish any material without risk of infringing copyrights.

If its really novel and you want to try to protect your work, you should either patent it or register the copyright.

Just to get one thing absolutely clear, I am not taking a poke a MikeK8, in my opinion Mike's programming work is 1stclass.
One of the few people I know who can get a quart into a pint pot...

Having looked at and (half) digested Mike's code I can assure you it is quite novel and deserved of copyright.

@Mike, you must have a lot of patience to count cycles that accurately.

Mike.

Pommie said:

Having looked at and (half) digested Mike's code I can assure you it is quite novel and deserved of copyright.

@Mike, you must have a lot of patience to count cycles that accurately.

Mike.

Click to expand...

G'day Mike,
With all due respect, I don't need to be re-assured regarding Mike's program, having seen Mike's work before.
I am curious to know what other members consider as copyright material, the way that it appears, is that a copyright sticker can be added to almost anything on the web.

To preserve a copyright it must be registered or patented if its to mean anything, I know that you are aware of the legalities having written commercial software for a living.

I think you will agree that the web is a shambles when it comes to claiming copyright, it would be 'nice' if we could try to bring some clarity into defining it, thats all I am suggesting.

My concern is that if I post a circuit showing components connected in a particular configuration, some one is going to claim I am copying their work.

I can site case from many years ago, a guy came on the phone complaining why didn't the chart annotation string in one of my early products, conform exactly to the NEMA standard.?

I pointed out to him that the annotation string format had been devised by me long before that NEMA standard was available, in fact I could claim the NEMA standard was based on my original work.

Regards
Eric

Hi Eric,

My post wasn't directed at anyone in particular, I was just pointing out that having studied the code it is both novel and unique.

As for copyright in general, I think trying to copyright schematics is a little silly but Mikes drawings and code are pretty distinctive and deserve the protection from certain individuals.

Mike.

I'm making progress on implementing the gamma correction table. Stay tuned...

Mike Nice work..........

Mike can you just give an idea about what is gamma correction ??I really like to implement it on my versions as well

Hi Gayan,

I use a gamma correction table (array) to make the brightness steps more linear. We discussed it a bit in this Forum.Microchip thread...

Hi mike thats what I was doing in my versions, I was doing the same thing without knowing the correct name that is "gamma correction" How stupid am I

By the way thats was a nice discussion thanks for the link.

Hi guys,

Here is the new K8LH SIRC RGB Accent Light Controller hex file with 6-bit (64 level) gamma correction and a very respectable 244-Hz refresh rate (8-MHz clock).

Now it only takes about 9 seconds to increment or decrement through all 64 levels of red, green, or blue and you should get much smoother color mixing.

The program uses 215 words of program memory and 15 variables so it should fit on a 55 cent 6-pin 10F200 with room to spare (lol). I'll post a 10F200 version of the program as time permits. Please note that the refresh rate drops to about 122-Hz on devices that have a 4-MHz clock (10F200, 12F629, 12F675).

More features on the way... Regards, Mike