Helios - Open source, low cost DAC

[Grix]

Nice! I've ordered one Grix. I have several lasershow packages, so I can be a guinea pig for LSX, Lasercam, Spaghetti, Maxwell, and others that you may support in the future. The important thing for LSX is that they show up with unique names, so that several can be assigned to the different timelines. This has proved to be an issue with at least one other DAC in the past (Medialas), but has since been corrected.

I will provide feedback when it comes in.

-David

Thanks!
By unique name, do you mean just differentiated names (like numbering) of devices connected to the same PC, or truly unique, like one identifier for each device that is constant across different sessions etc?
Currently there is a name getter function that just returns "Helios" plus a device number in the order of discovery by the library. So if several are connected to the same PC their names are different, however the numbers can change if you unplug and replug the USB ports of the devices etc, it's not tied to the specific devices permanently. But that feature would be possible to add.

[dkumpula]

Thanks!
By unique name, do you mean just differentiated names (like numbering) of devices connected to the same PC, or truly unique, like one identifier for each device that is constant across different sessions etc?
Currently there is a name getter function that just returns "Helios" plus a device number in the order of discovery by the library. So if several are connected to the same PC their names are different, however the numbers can change if you unplug and replug the USB ports of the devices etc, it's not tied to the specific devices permanently. But that feature would be possible to add.

Good question. I originally meant anything that would identify it as different from others that are connected. A numbering scheme that varies by order of discovery will work and represents the current state for the Medialas DAC which is also a USB DAC. (DrLava was attempting to get a unique name from those Medialas DACs, but wasn't able to get it working.) This is not preferred, of course, as testing is required for each session to ensure that "DAC 0" is still the same DAC connected to projector X as it was yesterday. In my experience, as long as you haven't been changing around USB cables, they generally come up in the same order, but it would be nice to have them uniquely identified by something truly unique. DACs such as the Ethernet connected Etherdream DAC uses a portion of the MAC address.

I assume you'd need to work with Andrew (DrLava) to get this working in LSX for the Helios DAC, but I'm happy to play the role of beta tester.

-David

[VDX]

Maybe not too hard but I'm not sure you even need to. The DAC will synchronize incoming frames and play them in succession without pauses as if it was one big frame, so you could just stream endlessly that way, using an arbitrary frame size. It doesn't have enough RAM to store 300k points at once though so you'd have to stream it in one way or another. You can take a look at the firmware source and see if you think it will be suitable

... OK, will test it by time - actually in a hurry for some dayjob projects ...

Viktor

[JohnYayas]

Awesome! It says on the OLSD page that Spaghetti already supports the OLSC API, is that correct? I couldn't see an OLSD or OLSC dll in the installation folder, is it built into the main executable?
Anyway, if that is already supported, all you basically need to do is copy all the code for that, and just link it to HeliosLaserDAC.dll found here instead: https://github.com/Grix/helios_dac/releases
Or you can use the Visual studio solution on the github page to build the library the way you like. Let me know if anything is unclear. I will get some sample programs out some time soon.

When you've made a test build or something you can send it to me and I can verify that it works.

Spaghetti supports the OLSD but not the OLSC API. I'll take a look at your code and get something working, though. Thanks!

[Grix]

So an update: By now three third party developers have confirmed that they will support Helios natively in their software sometime soon:

- Spaghetti Laser Show
- Maxwell – Laser Synth & Abstract Generator
- LaserShow Xpress (LSX)

I am planning a firmware and driver update quite soon, will contact the developers when it is out (should be in just a couple of days hopefully) with some more info, it may not be entirely backwards compatible with the current drivers but I will try. One feature of this will be the possibility to customize the name of your DAC using a simple utility program. So for example they could name one "Helios Red" and another "Helios Blue" and then mark them with some red and blue tape. Wouldn't get any easier than that to keep track of DACs in multi-projector setups.

[Grix]

The DAC can now be bought at Innolasers as well: https://innolasers.com/shop/index.ph...roller=product

Also, it might be available for purchase as a bundle deal with LSX in the future.

[Elmi]

This DAC looks really cool. Two questions where I could not find an answer for at the webpage:

1. What current can one pull out of the outputs?
2. Does it support OLSC interface v1 or v2?

Tysen takk!

[Grix]

This DAC looks really cool. Two questions where I could not find an answer for at the webpage:

1. What current can one pull out of the outputs?
2. Does it support OLSC interface v1 or v2?

Tysen takk!

The output opamps limits the current to typ 40mA, min 10mA. In reality it might be less as the DCDC converter can't supply enough current for all outputs to simultaneously draw that much. In normal operation there shouldn't really be any current draw on the outputs except a little to charge/discharge cable inductance, as the terminals are buffered with high resistance.

The current OLSC used is v1. v2 just has some new functions that aren't needed, so it should be backwards compatible. https://github.com/Grix/helios_dac/b...erV1.0.0-Mod.h

[echelon]

This is awesome! Great job, Grix!

I'll have to order one of these from you and write Rust bindings for it!

[dkumpula]

Hey Grix! I've got my Helios working with Maxwell, but how about an update on LSX support?

Cheers!

-David