Drop ceiling smd

Drop Ceiling Controller

An 8-channel ArtNet to 0-10V converter for controlling drop ceiling lighting fixtures. Receives DMX values (0-255) over wired Ethernet using the ArtNet protocol and outputs corresponding 0-10V analog control voltages.

How It Works

ArtNet Controller (Python)
        |
        | UDP / ArtNet (port 6454)
        |
   Wired Ethernet
        |
  ESP32-S3 Feather
        |
        | I2C
        |
    DAC6578 (8-ch)
        |
        | 0-5V scaled to 0-10V via op amps
        |
   Lighting Fixtures (8 channels)

ArtNet Protocol

ArtNet is a protocol for transmitting DMX512 lighting data over Ethernet using UDP on port 6454. This project uses three ArtNet packet types:

ArtDmx (Opcode 0x5000)

Carries DMX channel data from the controller to the ESP32.

ArtPoll (Opcode 0x2000)

Broadcast by the Python controller to discover nodes on the network.

ArtPollReply (Opcode 0x2100)

Sent by the ESP32 in response to an ArtPoll. Key fields:

Total packet size: 239 bytes. Broadcast on the local subnet.

Signal Flow

1. The Python controller sends ArtDmx packets containing 8 channel values
2. The ESP32 receives the packet over its WIZ5500 Ethernet FeatherWing
3. DMX values (0-255) are mapped to 10-bit DAC values (0-1023)
4. The DAC6578 outputs 0-5V per channel
5. Op amp circuits scale the output to 0-10V

Hardware

The ESP32-S3 TFT Feather has a built-in 240x135 TFT display that shows:

• Current IP address and ArtNet universe
• Connection status (LIVE / NO SIG)
• Real-time bar graph of all 8 channel levels

Network Configuration

The firmware defaults to DHCP. If no DHCP server is available (common with a direct USB Ethernet adapter connection), it falls back to a static IP. Defaults can be changed in firmware/DropCeilingController/config.h:

When using a USB Ethernet adapter on macOS, you need to assign a static IP on the same subnet (e.g. 192.168.1.100) via System Settings > Network or:

sudo ifconfig en6 inet 192.168.1.100 netmask 255.255.255.0 up

Firmware

Arduino firmware for the ESP32-S3. Located in firmware/DropCeilingController/.

Arduino Library

The new Arduino library implementation lives in firmware/DropCeiling/. It is structured as a standard Arduino library package so it can stay in this repo during development and move to its own repository later.

The library exposes a DropCeiling datatype with one shared output API and five input modes:

Compile a library example from the repository root:

arduino-cli compile --fqbn esp32:esp32:adafruit_feather_esp32s3_tft --libraries firmware firmware/DropCeiling/examples/EthernetArtNet

The upload script still defaults to the legacy sketch, but can target a library example:

SKETCH_DIR=firmware/DropCeiling/examples/EthernetArtNet ./upload.sh

Prerequisites

• arduino-cli -- install via brew install arduino-cli

Upload

The included upload script handles board core installation, library dependencies, port detection, compilation, and upload:

./upload.sh

For the first upload (switching from CircuitPython or other firmware), put the board in bootloader mode first:

FIRST_UPLOAD=1 ./upload.sh
# When prompted: hold BOOT, press RESET, release BOOT, then press Enter

Override the serial port if needed:

PORT=/dev/cu.usbmodem1234 ./upload.sh

Libraries (installed automatically by upload.sh)

• Ethernet
• Adafruit GFX Library
• Adafruit ST7735 and ST7789 Library
• Adafruit BusIO
• Adafruit DACX578

Software Controller

A Python/Qt desktop application for sending ArtNet data to the controller. Located in software/.

Setup

cd software
python3 -m venv ../.venv
source ../.venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Run

python controller.py

Usage

1. Press Connect -- the app broadcasts an ArtPoll on all network interfaces and auto-discovers the controller
2. Use the 8 channel sliders to set output levels (0-255)
3. All Zero / All Max -- set all channels at once
4. Wave -- animated sine wave pattern across all 8 channels

Project Structure

firmware/
  DropCeilingController/
    DropCeilingController.ino   # Main firmware
    config.h                    # Network, ArtNet, DAC, display settings
  DropCeiling/
    src/                         # Arduino library implementation
    examples/                    # Ethernet, WiFi, BLE, Serial, Standalone examples
software/
  controller.py                 # Python ArtNet controller (PySide6)
  requirements.txt              # Python dependencies
hardwareComponents/
  hardwareComponents.md         # Hardware component details
upload.sh                       # Arduino CLI build & upload script