Ether Dream: new Ethernet DAC

[j4cbo]

This is the evolution of the j4cDAC DAC project. I've been working on turning my new DAC into something I can produce and sell, and here it is.



What's it got onboard?
- 96 MHz ARM processor, 512kB Flash memory, 64kB on-chip SRAM
- 100mbps Ethernet interface
- USB slave interface
- ILDA output:
- 12-bit DAC for each of X, Y, I, R, G, B, U1, U2
- TTL Shutter output
- Controllable relay across interlock pins
- microSD socket
- Expansion headers:
- Three six-pin headers for off-board DMX, MIDI, TTL, etc interface circuitry
- One 12-pin header with high-speed serial I/O and extra microcontroller pins
- 26-pin header with ILDA
- Serial port and standard ARM JTAG debug header

As for the software:
- Embedded TCP/IP stack
- Real-time streaming of points over Ethernet
- Built-in geometric correction controlled over OSC
- ILDA playback from SD card

On the PC side, I'm working with drlava to include deep support for the Ether Dream in his multi-DAC interface library (and, therefore, ILD SOS and LSX). Additionally, there's an EzAudDac/EasyLase-compatible DLL that should work with any application supporting that API.

I'm about to send out for the first production run of 25, and am taking reservations now; I'll accept payment once they're ready to ship. The price for the first batch is $275 per board. (I'm hoping that this will drop somewhat, but prototyping is *expensive* and I need to recoup my costs.) In the future I'll also be making available a kit with a case and power supply for something under $50, but that's taking a back seat to getting the first boards out the door.

As before, the firmware is open source and the board is designed to be an expandable platform - I'm excited to see what other people can do with this. All the expansion headers are on a 0.1" grid and it should be quite easy to make add-on modules for TEC control, DMX, MIDI, and plenty of things I haven't even thought of yet.

If you'd like one of the first 25 boards, send me a PM, and you should have it by the end of the month.

[dave]

Awesome!

Might well be interested here i think

[dnar]

Nice. Do you have a GIT repository or similar setup for your firmware source? I would like to take a look.

[j4cbo]

It's all right here: https://github.com/j4cbo/j4cDAC

[dnar]

Thanks, I'll check it out and take a look.

EDIT: Nice, well written. I can follow the code quite well.

How do you plan to manage MAC addresses moving forward?

[gashead]

This is wonderful news!

I'm very much excited about this project, it's somthing I've been dreaming of (no pun intended) for a long long time!

I'll certainly be interested in buying a few when I actually get some budget for it

Cheers,

N.

[kl79]

Excellent Job ! I may be interested by 2, the Ethernet interface is really a good point !

[mixedgas]

Excellent Job ! I may be interested by 2, the Ethernet interface is really a good point !

I'm in if Drlava can supports it.

?

Steve

[LaNeK779]

i'm also in, pending LSX support

[j4cbo]

How do you plan to manage MAC addresses moving forward?

The current run of boards have an I2C EEPROM that I buy pre-serialized with a MAC address (Microchip 24AA02E48); that EEPROM will also be used to store a little bit of config info. The hardcoded address you see in the code is only used on the boards I built last year that don't have that chip.