HardLabs

Flipdot Controller

Qeteshpony·Flipdot-Controller·pcb/Flipdot Controller.kicad_pcb

Flipdot Controller PCB layout, top view — open source AVR/Arduino board by Qeteshpony

About the Flipdot Controller PCB

Flipdot Controller is an open source AVR/Arduino PCB design by Qeteshpony, published on GitHub under the BSD-2-Clause license. It is a 2-layer board measuring 100 × 100 mm, with 51 components from 28 distinct parts.

Its main chip is the ATtiny85-20P, from the AVR/Arduino family. Other key parts include the 74HCT238, UDN2981, ULN2803A and LME78_05-1.0. By type, the board carries 27 resistors, 7 connectors, 6 ICs, 5 capacitors, 3 transistors and 3 diodes.

It belongs with the displays & leds designs in this gallery.

From the project

Replacement controller for a Lawo Luminator Flipdot Display

Replacement controller for a Lawo Luminator Flipdot Display

(This was designed and built in 2022, I just never published the sources so here we go)

The project is based around a Raspberry Pi Zero W which replaces the microcontroller/EPROM combination from the original controller board. I reverse engineered the original board and used some of its components, the two transistor arrays, to control the lines of the display. The columns are driven by the original FP2800A drivers.

Flipdot Controller, from the project README
From the project README

Main components on the Flipdot Controller

74HCT238UDN2981ULN2803AATtiny85-20PLME78_05-1.0

Flipdot Controller bill of materials (BOM)

51 components, 28 distinct parts.

QtyPartRefs
2
74HCT238
U1, U3
1
UDN2981
U2
1
ULN2803A
U4
1
ATtiny85-20P
U5
1
LME78_05-1.0
U6
1
AO3401A
Q1
1
2N7002
Q2
1
AO3400A
Q3
1
Backpanel
J2
1
I2C
J3
1
ICSP
J4
1
Display
J5
1
VC IN
J6
1
LED-Strip
J8
1
SERIAL
J9
1
VCC
D1
1
5V
D2
1
VS
D3
3
100n
C1, C2, C3
1
10uF
C4
Show 8 more
QtyPartRefs
1
22uF
C5
2
4k7
R1, R2
8
100k
R3, R7, R8, R9, R12, R13, R25, R27
2
12k
R4, R6
1
1k5
R5
1
10k
R10
1
680R
R11
12
100R
R14, R15, R16, R17, R18, R19, R20, R21 +4

Flipdot Controller design files

The KiCad project lives in the Qeteshpony/Flipdot-Controller repository on GitHub; these links point at the commit this page was built from.

Flipdot Controller: common questions

What microcontroller does the Flipdot Controller use?

The Flipdot Controller is built around the ATtiny85-20P, from the AVR/Arduino family.

How big is the Flipdot Controller PCB?

The Flipdot Controller measures 100 × 100 mm, has 2 copper layers and is 1.6 mm thick.

How many components are on the Flipdot Controller?

51 components, from 28 distinct parts. The full bill of materials is listed on this page.

Where can I download the Flipdot Controller design files?

From the Qeteshpony/Flipdot-Controller repository on GitHub, which has the KiCad layout and the schematic; the links under Design files point to each one.

Can I use the Flipdot Controller design in my own project?

Yes, under the terms of its BSD-2-Clause license, which Qeteshpony chose for the repository.

Can I test firmware for the Flipdot Controller without the hardware?

Yes. HardLabs builds a simulation of the board from its netlist and BOM, so you can run and debug AVR/Arduino firmware against it before you order a PCB.

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