Hi people,
This is my first post here, excuse my ‘noobism’. (I know this is about a midi controller, but this post in particular relates to SPI, L2C, and hardware so. Please move if necessary.)
Experience & Idea
I have so far built a few Midi Controllers using the Opendeck Firmware, which is incredible!
However, I have a project I’m undertaking which is requires me to actually make/code something from scratch, namely he creation of an OLED ‘Scrible strip’ for my mixing console.
Issues & Main Hardware Questions
I will be building this into the new armrest I’m making, in combination with an Opendeck powered Nextion Touchscreen, an RGB led strip for colour grouping, as well as some other midi controllers that are built into a custom blind plate in an empty section. Managing to get track names to display on the OLED screens from Pro Tools (seeing it uses the HUI protocol), is probably very difficult, so until I figure this out, I might just create a sort of sketch which will allow me to manually upload and save projects with different track names. I’m also considering switching to Reaper, seeing the ‘industry leading’ DAW that I’m using, turns out to… be not very leading…. In fact, it’s incredibly restrictive and behind in relation to many features ….. (even though I have existing experience with it, and I acknowledge the fact that the editing/recording functions are great).
However, before I get into the coding part, I need to figure out some hardware issues etc. first! From my research I discovered that using 60 OLED screens is a bit more difficult than I realised at first, however, I want one for every channel and FX return, so.
I know that L2C sensors (or in this case screens) require unique bus/address names, meaning only two can be connected at once to a regular Arduino. However, the screens I bought from Aliexpress apparently also support SPI, so in case it’s easier to do using that, I could if required. Because I need I/O expansion, I also got a bunch of these multiplexers for L2C screens, but, I don’t know if I can daisy chain several of them to get up to the required 60 screen…. I also saw another solution (links can all be found down below), but it’s very expensive compared to the multiplexers I already bought for 50 cents each from Aliexpress.
Also I was wondering if it’s possible to daisy chain the OLEDS, I’m guessing this is not the case, but it would make stuff a lot easier.
Main Question/Request
My question is, does anyone have existing projects, libraries, code, pictures, resources, tips, in relation to what I’m trying to do??? If you do, please leave a comment!!
I realise this is a pretty difficult project, but as soon as I figure out the hardware part, and make this custom arm rest with the OLEDS, the actual functionality and midi communication part can be figured out over a longer period.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING!!!
The multiplexers I ordered:
TCA9548A 1 Te 8 I2C 8-Way Multi-Channel Expansion Board I2C Module Development Board
The OLEDS I have (x 60)
0.96" oled display module white 12864 LED screen 6 pin SPI IIC interface for arduino STM32 51 sd1306 driver NEW diy OLED display
The I/O expander I discovered which is more expensive
(I saw this, but it’s a bit expensive as I would need 6/7 to connect my 60 LCD):
