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Tiled control panel ideas
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danners430:
Afternoon folks,

I'm building a control panel at the moment which consists of standard tiles (40x40mm) arranged in a grid pattern behind a wood facia. The tiles are simply custom PCBs with the various LEDs, buttons and/or displays mounted on them.

My question is this: What would be the best way to connect them all to a "main" control microcontroller? Ideally, I'd be able to remove these tiles if I ever needed to, so I don't want to permanently attach anything... In addition, how would I be able to communicate with all the various LEDs, displays and buttons? ideally, obviously, I'd have a microcontroller connected to a data bus on each tile, but that would get very expensive very quickly... Perhaps only use the microcontroller idea for the input devices, and use addressable LEDs elsewhere...?

So far I've had two ideas, but I'm not sure if they're the best ideas - either using short ribbon cables between the boards, or board edge headers...

Sorry for the rambling post, but I'm a little stuck here :-(
rstofer:
I suppose I would look at the SPI or I2C protocol and various IO Expanders
http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/devicedoc/20001952c.pdf

Then I would look around for SPI 7-segment drivers
https://prom-electric.ru/media/datasheet-MAX7219-MAX7221.pdf

Or maybe 7 segment boards with SPI interface
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11441

There are variations, of course.

I might not like SPI because it takes a dedicated CS' (chip select) for each device and this adds pins in a hurry.  OTOH, I really don't like I2C - it is a very difficult protocol to get working.  Maybe I would use an IO expander to control the CS' lines.
Marco:

--- Quote from: danners430 on February 14, 2019, 03:23:43 pm ---ideally, obviously, I'd have a microcontroller connected to a data bus on each tile, but that would get very expensive very quickly

--- End quote ---
A small microcontrollers costs bugger all, so yeah, add one per tile. They are cheaper than i2c i/o expanders.
danners430:

--- Quote from: Marco on February 15, 2019, 08:03:01 pm ---
--- Quote from: danners430 on February 14, 2019, 03:23:43 pm ---ideally, obviously, I'd have a microcontroller connected to a data bus on each tile, but that would get very expensive very quickly

--- End quote ---
A small microcontrollers costs bugger all, so yeah, add one per tile. They are cheaper than i2c i/o expanders.

--- End quote ---
What sort of communication bus would I use though? Bearing in mind the panel is 2m long

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

Gribo:
That really depends on your physical topology. If all modules reside on a single chain, you can manage with a differential multidrop bus (RS485, CAN). If you want to be able to remove a module in the middle, you will have to either implement a star topology or find a way around the missing links. You didn't specify data rate, so we can't really help you more than that.
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