https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rabidprototypes/firecricket-xl-bring-your-costume-props-and-toys-t

Hey guys!

Just wanted to let you know my next Kickstarter campaign is live!

The Firecricket XL is the successor to the Firecricket, based on the Neutrino instead of the Tau (Fully Arduino Zero compatible!) and features more I/O pins, more RAM, a stereo amplifier for twice the volume, and a 5V logic buffer for driving strings of Neopixels!

And the TLC59116 LED module is our first add-on board. It allows you to drive 16 LEDs with constant current (no resistors needed, and software controllable brightness) over the I2C bus!

You can check it out here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rabidprototypes/firecricket-xl-bring-your-costume-props-and-toys-t

Hey guys,

Just wanted to let you know the next run of Positrons were ordered last week and are now being manufactured!

If you haven’t ordered yet, there’s still time to get one of your very own! I’ve ordered a few spares, and they should last a month or so.

Btw, if you go to the product page, it will say they are out of stock and on back order, but that’s just to avoid confusion about when they ship. You can still place your order, and your kit will arrive around the first or second week of June!

And when they really do run out of stock and the pre-orders for the next run in September begin, I’ll make a new blog post and update the product page to reflect that!

Hey guys!

The prototypes for the new full size and 80% scale kits came in this past week, and I just got done testing them, and it looks like everything’s good to go!

A shipment of vibration motors just arrived as well. My original source decided they didn’t want to sell them in small quantities any more (MOQ: 5,000 units!) so I found a new vendor and bought enough to last me for the next two years!

In other news, I’ll soon have 500mm servo extension cables in stock! These are useful if you want to install a Super Grille LED in your N-Filter to light it up when venting the pack. And of course, they’re good for any project you might build with one of my Firecrickets that utilize servos!

And finally, just a reminder: Tuesday the 24th is the last day you’ll be able to pre-order the Positron!

I’ll still be taking orders after that date for a little while, but I’ll only be ordering a few spares, and once they’re gone, they’re gone until I do another run, which most likely won’t be until September!

Hey guys,

I’m still waiting on those prototypes to arrive from Macrofab, so there’s still time to pre-order your Proton Pack kit!

The good news is I’ve finally received confirmation they’ve shipped, and will be arriving Friday!

Which means Tuesday the 24th is the last day you’ll be able to pre-order and be guaranteed a kit!

After that date, I’ll still be taking orders, but the number of kits available will be extremely limited! If you can get your order in before then, it’s strongly advised!

And in the meantime, to tide you over, a few prototypes were shipped early, so I thought I’ve give you a sneak preview:

The boards you see here are the new main strobe, and the new 80% scale strobe to go with the new 80% scale powercell. The circuitry on the back of the strobes has been moved to the new switch module, and the strobes now use a slightly narrower 5p flat flex cable.

And on the right side of the photo you can see one of the new and more flexible 4p FFCs that will be used to connect all the modules next to one of the the wider 6p cables used in the first revision of the kit.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I’ll post another update with more photos as soon as those prototypes get in!

Hey guys!

I just wanted to let you know that the pre-order period for my Positron Proton Pack  kit has been extended by two weeks… to April 15th! (The estimated ship date for the kits is May 15th.)

The reason I’m extending pre-orders is Macrofab is still a bit backlogged on orders and I’m waiting on them to get some prototypes back to me.

Prototypes of what, you ask?

Well, I didn’t want to make a big announcement, because this isn’t a big upgrade… but everyone who’s pre-ordered will be getting v2.0 of the kit!

Now, now, don’t get too excited. Functionally, v2.0 will be exactly the same as the kit you’ve come to know and love, and everything you’ve seen in the demo videos is still there!

So what’s changed on the v2.0? Well, the first thing is the connectors. I’ve swapped the 6 pin I2C flat flex cable connectors for 4p ones.  I’ve also moved the control circuity for the main strobe to the switch module,  and removed a few components from the switch module that were never used.  And, as a result of these changes, the switch module is now slightly smaller than it was before, which is good because it means even more room in your thrower.

Why did I make these alterations, you ask?  Well, the 6p FFC connectors are still out of stock, and the two extra pins were never really necessary, so I figured now was as good a time as any to switch to narrower and more flexible cables.

I didn’t do this just to swap connectors though. I also needed to move the circuity off of the main strobe so I could make a smaller version of it… because I’m now offering an 80% scale version of the kit!

This 80% Proton Pack kit is exactly the same as the full size one, but will come with a miniature strobe and powercell! If you go back through my blogs you’ll see a build of an 80% scale kit where the Finchers had to chop up the strobe and powercell to make them fit in the smaller pack. I didn’t want folks to have to do this to their kits when they buy these smaller packs for their kids or install my kits in a Spirit Halloween pack, so I’ve decided to make this scaled down version available!

I don’t have the 80% kits up on the purchase page yet as I don’t have the parts in hand to photograph, but if you want one, simply purchase a regular kit and send me an email, and I’ll make sure you get the right version!

Anyway, that’s all for now!  I have word that the strobes for the prototypes are arriving this week, and the rest of of the prototypes won’t be far behind. I’ll post some photos once they come in!

Hey guys,

Sorry I haven’t posted an update in a while. I’ve been busy!

Throughout October and November I was assembling and shipping Positron kits, and at the end of November I launched the Neutrino 3.0 on Kickstarter!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rabidprototypes/neutrino-30-the-32-bit-arduino-zero-compatible

With that funded, I finished up the design and ordered the prototypes, and after receiving them and verifying they worked, I placed the full order.  That was at the end of January, and I expect to have the Neutrino back in stock around the end of February!

As for the Positrons, I still need a few more pre-orders to do the next run, and some of the parts I need are out of stock at the moment anyway, so I’ve decided to push back the date which I will order the kits to the end of March. That means you have until March 31st to get your order in!

Finally, I’d like to announce that in March, I’ll be launching a  Kickstarter campaign for my latest board, the Firecricket XL!

The Firecricket XL is based on the Neutrino 3.0 and in addition to having way more I/O pins than the original it also features a stereo amp (TPA2012D2) for twice the output power and a buffer for 3.3V->5V level translation so you can drive strings of Neopixels!

I’ve connected the buffer to pin 11 because Adafruit’s Neopixel library can drive that pin with DMA. This means the SPI peripheral can transmit data to the Neopixels unattended and it won’t interrupt anything else you’re doing! Neopixels are notorious for being difficult to use because they don’t have a clock pin and thus have strict timing requirements that must be adhered to for them to be able to correctly interpret the data you’re sending them. But with DMA you don’t have to worry about servo interrupts or reading from the MicroSD card getting in the way of that. Of course, you can still use any Neopixel library you like and bit-bang the pin normally if you wish, but it’s always good to have options!

And speaking of options, in addition to the Firecricket XL, in my next campaign I’ll be offering some addon modules as well! I haven’t decided how many or what sort yet, but the first will be a breakout for the TLC59116 LED driver:

The TL59116 is a constant current driver which can drive 16 LEDs with PWM and works with 3.3 or 5V logic (so this breakout would work with any Arduino), and solder jumpers on the back of the PCB allow you to change the I2C address, so theoretically you can connect up to 16 of them at once!

Speaking of which, I’ve mirrored the inputs on each end so you can chain multiple boards together! The inputs are in the same order as the outputs on the Firecricket, Firecricket XL, Neutrino 3.0, and Tau so the wiring will be nice and clean. I also broke out the RESET pin for completeness, but in my own experiments I’ve found it isn’t needed.

So, why would you want an LED driver like this, when the Firecricket itself can drive LEDs? Well, with this driver you don’t need any resistors on the LEDs, and the outputs of the SAMD21 really aren’t designed to supply a lot of current, so in my demos where the original Firecricket was driving LEDs I had to make sure they weren’t drawing more than 3mA each. That made the bargraph too dim to see in direct sunlight because the LEDs in bargraphs are never as bright as discrete LEDs for some reason. This driver however can supply 20mA per LED and if you want to dim the LEDs you don’t need to worry about which pins support PWM and which don’t!

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll post the next update when the Firecricket XL campaign goes live!

I’ve just put in the order for the Positron Proton Pack Kits and Pixel Minis for my latest Kickstarter campaign with Macrofab!

If you would like to order a Positron, you still have time! I’ve ordered six spares. These will likely sell out before Halloween, so if you want one, get your order in quickly!

I have also ordered a batch of the long-awaited Super Bright Grille Lights. These replace the wimpy 5mm LED in the grille with an LED which is nearly as bright as your main strobe! The Super Grille lights can also be used with the N-Filter if you want that to light up when venting.

The next batch of Positron Proton Pack Kits for all you Ghostbusters in training will be ordered NEXT WEEK, and the only way to be guaranteed one is to place your order now!

Don’t miss out on the best Proton Pack light and sound kit available!

That was the progress as of a few days ago, I’ve since finished soldering all the slo-blo LEDs and have begun work on the power switch and charge harnesses. I then need to crimp connectors on the cyclotron and slo-blo cables and while there’s still more soldering and crimping to do after that to finish 25 kits worth of parts, I’ll have enough ready to start shipping kits again by Tuesday or Wednesday I think!

PS:

If you’re thinking about ordering a kit and you don’t want to wait months for it, I suggest putting in your order soon! Most of the 25 kits I’m now assembling are already destined for loving homes, and I will likely not get any more in stock until September!

Still hard at work doing final assembly on the Proton Pack kits! 25 kits worth of switches done. Now it’s on to the pots, LEDs, and vibration motors!

In other news, I’m still waiting for the bargraphs to come in, but I received a notice they shipped today, so I expect to receive them Monday.

I should resume shipping kits towards the end of next week!