Hardware   Software   Media

Overview

The RGBSaber project is an open source RGB Luxeon LED driver. The driver allows for PWM modulation of an RGB luxeon LED, allowing the color of the lightsaber blade to be adjusted to nearly any color in the RGB color spectrum. The current version of the lightsaber firmware supports 24-bit color, allowing for 16,777,216 different color combinations. The RGBSaber project, and all other NBitWonder projects, are made available under a Creative Commons BY-SA license.

Components

The RGBSaber project is a multi-board project incorporating a number of different components. Among them are:

1. RGBSaber_Control: The main control board for the RGBSaber project. As of the latest version (v1.5), the control board is powered by a Microchip PIC18F2221 microcontroller, and supports 3 led channels driving up to 2W per channel.
2. RGBSaber_Periph: The peripheral board for the RGBSaber project. 2-styles of peripheral board currently exist, for sliding and rotary potentiometers respectively.
3. RGBSaber_Firmware: The firmware for the RGBSaber project. The current version of the firmware (v1.0) is written in assembly and supports all basic saber operations.

Versions

The RGBSaber project has gone through several versions. Below you will find a summary of the various versions:

• RGBSaber_v1.6: Standardized all passive components to 0805 parts, moved to a surface mount bulk capacitor, switched from MTA100 connectors to smaller JST ZH connectors, changed the 5mm RGB LED indicator on the peripheral board to an SMD part, switched to a more durable pushbutton.
• RGBSaber_v1.5: Further optimized the control board to better fit inside of a lightsaber hilt, DC/DC converter moved to top side of control board, RGB LED header moved to right edge of board, connection cables used. First fully integrated saber design demonstrated to work inside of a lightsaber hilt.
• RGBSaber_v1.4: Introduced style-2 of the RGBSaber_Periph board featuring a single button and rotary potentiometer, ground and power planes added to the RGBSaber_Control and RGBSaber_Periph PCBs, DC/DC converter added to board allowing voltage regulation and increasing reliability.
• RGBSaber_v1.3: Single board split into separate RGBSaber_Control and RGBSaber_Periph PCBs. SOIC-28 microcontroller footprint modified to SSOP-28 part for lower size and smaller overall control board.
• RGBSaber_v1.2: Errors in microcontroller circuit and peripheral board were found and addressed.
• RGBSaber_v1.1: Board was rerouted and cleaned up to improve on the v1.0 design. Powered by PIC18F2221 in SOIC-28 form factor. First fabricated board. Board contained errors in microcontroller circuit and peripheral board that prevented correct operation.
• RGBSaber_v1.0: First attempt at embedded design, switched from TIP120 power transistors to surface mount FZTA14 power transistors. This original design was a minimal PCB layout exercise, and was never manufactured.
• RGBSaber_v0.1: A slight improvement to the original breadboard design that replaced the discrete LED chain with a single high-power luxeon LED. Solved power dissipation, light coherence, and durability issues posed by discrete LED chain.
• RGBSaber_v0.0: The original breadboarded test version of the RGBSaber project. This first original version used 3 TIP120 power transistors to drive a string of discrete RGB LEDs.