4 layers132.6 × 100 mm
2 layers105.4 × 76.5 mm
Dimmer
edwindertien/foundscapemidi control of things that tap and go boink
- Size
- 105.4 × 76.5 mm
- Copper layers
- 2
- Thickness
- 1.6 mm
- Parts
- 101
- Nets
- 104
- Pads
- 345
- Tracks, vias
- 1,201, 53
- Pours
- 2
- Routed
- Yes
- KiCad
- KiCad 5 (file 20171130)
- Created
- 30 Jun 2025
- Updated
- 29 Aug 2026
Overview
Dimmer is an open-source printed circuit board by edwindertien, from the edwindertien/foundscape repository on GitHub. It is a 2-layer board of 105.4 × 76.5 mm with 101 parts on 104 nets, routed with 1,201 tracks and 53 vias.
It is built around the MAX481EPA+, RS485 and ICL7667CPA+, with the L7805, L7812 and IRLZ44N among its other parts. Its parts include 26 resistors, 20 diodes, 17 connectors, 9 capacitors and 9 ICs. It belongs with the audio and music boards and the NXP (LPC, Kinetis, i.MX RT) boards of this library.
Main components
6
MAX481EPA+
PDIP-8-40℃~+85℃ 1 1 2.5Mbps 4.75V~5.25V Transceiver ±15kV PDIP-8 RS-485 / RS-422 ICs ROHSMaxim Integrated (Analog Devices)RS-485 / RS-422 ICs
RS485
SOP-81 1 1.2mA 2.5Mbps 256 5V Half-Duplex Transceiver ±4kV SOP-8 RS-485 / RS-422 ICs ROHSGRRS-485 / RS-422 ICs
ICL7667CPA+
PDIP-80℃~+70℃ 10mA 10mA 2 20ns 20ns 4.5V~17V Half-Bridge MOSFET PDIP-8 Gate Drivers ROHSMaxim Integrated (Analog Devices)Gate Drivers
L7805
TO-220ST0℃~+125℃@(Tj) 1 1.2A 20V 2V@(1A) 42uV 500uA 5V 73dB@(120Hz) Fixed Positive Short Circuit Protection TO-220ST Voltage Regulators - Linear, Low Drop Out (LDO) Regulators ROHSOSENVoltage Regulators - Linear, Low Drop Out (LDO) Regulators
L7812
TO-220ST0℃~+125℃@(Tj) 1 1.2A 12V 2V@(1A) 30V 71dB@(120Hz) 76uV Fixed Positive Short Circuit Protection TO-220ST Voltage Regulators - Linear, Low Drop Out (LDO) Regulators ROHSOSENVoltage Regulators - Linear, Low Drop Out (LDO) Regulators
IRLZ44N
TO-22055V 47A N-Channel HEXFET® Power MOSFETInfineon TechnologiesUncategorised
README
README.mdfoundscape
midi control of things that tap and go boink. The basic structure consists of a midi-interface that takes data from Ableton (or similar) and sends events to 'dimmer cards' - being called like that because initially they mostly controlled LED light.
Two behaviours exist on the main board right now which can be set using a small dip switch: either pulse-lenght or pwm duty cycle as third 'velocity' argument in a MIDI command.
current version (still in operation) uses an ATmega328 (started out with the ATmega8 and then the ATmega88 in WinAVR. now it uses the Arduino environment). In the meantime a version has been made using Teensy, but has not been further pursued / produces (when Teensies were made of nonobtanium). On the wishlist a new version with pico
modules
- actuators 3D printfiles for solenoid holders
- atmegaDimmer first generation dimmer/control box, using RS485(dynamixel) protocol, using ATmega328
- RS485adapter RS485 - midi interface using ATmega32U4 (Arduino micro, native USB)
- teensyDimmer update of dimmer/control box, using Teensy 4.0. build, not tested
- picoDimmer new (to be designed) version of the dimmer/control box using RPI Pico 2040/2350
Parts
101| Qty | Value | Footprint | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 220R | Resistor_THT:R_Axial_DIN0207_L6.3mm_D2.5mm_P7.62mm_Horizontal | R1, R3, R4, R5, R9, R10, R11, R12, R13, R14, R15, R16, R17, R18 |
| 9 | Conn_01x02 | Connector_Phoenix_MC:PhoenixContact_MC_1,5_2-G-3.81_1x02_P3.81mm_Horizontal | J1, J10, J11, J12, J13, J14, J15, J16, J17 |
| 8 | 10R | Resistor_THT:R_Axial_DIN0207_L6.3mm_D2.5mm_P7.62mm_Horizontal | R19, R20, R21, R22, R23, R24, R25, R26 |
| 8 | 1N4007 | Diode_THT:D_A-405_P7.62mm_Horizontal | D13, D14, D15, D16, D17, D18, D19, D20 |
| 8 | IRLZ44N | Package_TO_SOT_THT:TO-220-3_Horizontal_TabUp | Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, Q6, Q7, Q8 |
| 8 | grn | LED_THT:LED_D3.0mm | D5, D6, D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, D12 |
| 4 | 100nF | Capacitor_THT:C_Disc_D3.0mm_W2.0mm_P2.50mm | C6, C7, C8, C9 |
| 4 | ICL7667 | Package_DIP:DIP-8_W7.62mm | U6, U7, U8, U9 |
| 4 | MountingHole | MountingHole:MountingHole_3.2mm_M3 | H1, H2, H3, H4 |
| 2 | 100nF | Capacitor_THT:C_Disc_D5.0mm_W2.5mm_P5.00mm | C2, C5 |
| 2 | 100uF | Capacitor_THT:CP_Radial_D6.3mm_P2.50mm | C3, C4 |
| 2 | 10k | Resistor_THT:R_Axial_DIN0207_L6.3mm_D2.5mm_P7.62mm_Horizontal | R6, R8 |
| 2 | lc-4.0 | Jumper:SolderJumper-3_P1.3mm_Bridged12_RoundedPad1.0x1.5mm | JP2, JP3 |
| 1 | 10uF | Capacitor_THT:CP_Radial_D5.0mm_P2.50mm | C1 |
| 1 | 120R | Resistor_THT:R_Axial_DIN0207_L6.3mm_D2.5mm_P7.62mm_Horizontal | R7 |
| 1 | 1N4148 | Diode_THT:D_DO-34_SOD68_P7.62mm_Horizontal | D1 |
| 1 | 470R | Resistor_THT:R_Axial_DIN0207_L6.3mm_D2.5mm_P7.62mm_Horizontal | R2 |
| 1 | 6N138 | Package_DIP:DIP-8_W7.62mm | U3 |
| 1 | Barrel_Jack_Switch | Connector_BarrelJack:BarrelJack_Horizontal | J2 |
| 1 | Conn_01x04 | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x04_P2.54mm_Vertical | J7 |
| 1 | Fuse | Fuse:Fuse_Bourns_MF-RHT300 | F1 |
| 1 | Jumper_NC_Small | Jumper:SolderJumper-2_P1.3mm_Bridged_RoundedPad1.0x1.5mm | JP1 |
| 1 | L7805 | Package_TO_SOT_THT:TO-220-3_Horizontal_TabUp | U4 |
| 1 | L7812 | Package_TO_SOT_THT:TO-220-3_Horizontal_TabUp | U2 |
| 1 | MAX481E | Package_DIP:DIP-8_W7.62mm | U5 |
| 1 | MIDI-in | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x05_P2.54mm_Vertical | J4 |
| 1 | RJ45_LED_Shielded | Connector_RJ:RJ45_Amphenol_RJHSE538X | J6 |
| 1 | RJ45_Shielded | Connector_RJ:RJ45_Amphenol_RJHSE538X | J9 |
| 1 | RS485 | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x03_P2.54mm_Vertical | J8 |
| 1 | Rotary_Encoder_Switch | Rotary_Encoder:RotaryEncoder_Alps_EC11E-Switch_Vertical_H20mm | SW1 |
| 1 | SW_DIP_x04 | Package_DIP:DIP-8_W7.62mm | SW2 |
| 1 | Teensy-LC | teensy:Teensy_LC | U1 |
| 1 | USB_B | Connectors:USB_A | J3 |
| 1 | green | LED_THT:LED_D3.0mm | D4 |
| 1 | oled display | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x04_P2.54mm_Vertical | J5 |
| 1 | power on bus | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x02_P2.54mm_Vertical | JP5 |
| 1 | red | LED_THT:LED_D3.0mm | D2 |
| 1 | separate logic and power | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x02_P2.54mm_Vertical | JP4 |
| 1 | yellow | LED_THT:LED_D3.0mm | D3 |
Questions
How big is the Dimmer PCB?
It measures 105.4 × 76.5 mm and has 2 copper layers, 1.6 mm thick.
What parts does the Dimmer use?
101 parts, built around the MAX481EPA+, RS485, ICL7667CPA+ and L7805. The full list of its parts is on this page, with links to each part's symbol and footprint where PCBKit's library has them.
Where can I download the Dimmer KiCad files?
From the edwindertien/foundscape repository on GitHub, at the commit this page was made from: the board is teensyDimmer/kicad/dimmer.kicad_pcb and its schematic anarchitechno-box/kicad/MIDI.kicad_sch. PCBKit opens the board in the browser, with nothing to install.
Can I use the Dimmer design in my own project?
Its repository states no licence, so its author keeps all rights: ask edwindertien before reusing the design.
More from edwindertien/foundscape
2- 2 layers46.9 × 19.7 mm
Similar boards
- 2 layers33.5 × 20 mm
JURA WiFi Dongle
Jutta-Proto/protocol-cpp
C++ JURA protocol implementation for controlling a Jura coffee maker over a serial (UART) connection.
31 parts86GPL-3.0 - 2 layers49.3 × 103.7 mm
- 2 layers44.6 × 53.7 mm
- 2 layers99.5 × 99.5 mm
ESP32 master
kwiecinski/BMS-and-offgrid-photovoltaic-management-system
Project contains BMS for lead-acid batteries and ESP-based board used to pull information from EASUN offgrid inverter, energy meters and sensors.
155 parts3MIT - 2 layers155 × 108 mm
- 4 layers174 × 29 mm
- 2 layers69.9 × 47 mm
ModbusMSP430
penoud/ModbusMSP430
A PCB kicad project to try to setup MSP430 as slave Modbus device using MAX481 as RS232 - RS485 converter, freemodbus on sourceforge
26 parts2MIT - 4 layers149.5 × 113 mm
1. PDU
SshgurkiratSingh/CCMS_PORTAL
A full-stack smart streetlight fleet management system with real-time monitoring, remote control, and analytics.
111 parts2