Dotty: Buttons orientation (thanks Beta Testers)

I was in the wrong impression the orientation of the Dotty buttons didn’t really matter. I did place them all in the same orientation, didn’t mix it up but didn’t check also. Later found out I was lucky on most of the Dotty’s I build.

The buttons are read by a 4051 chips 8 buttons at a time I call them rows. All four rows worked most of the time. But one build had a problem with row three. When installed in one way the buttons Dotty stop recording steps. I rotated the buttons and Dotty worked again.

Thought it was strange never had it before on the previous versions, put it aside as a glitch to sort out. Then a beta tester reported the same. Now I had to dive into this problem and fix it.

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Dotty: New panels came in

The new panels for Dotty came in the mail today. I just could not wait to fit them on the module. It seems a very good fit just a tent of milometers off. The buttons jacks and led matrix fits a lot better this time. This was a small run of five panels. Beta testers will receive a new one in the mail.

Now it’s back to testing the code and the module. My number 5 and 6 buttons don’t seem to work anymore so lets see what causing that.

Dotty: New pcb’s are in production

The code is working and making progress again. It is time to fix some minor errors on the pcb’s. Mainly the buttons came out to high for the panel to fit and some other minor issues. Last week I fixed these issues and ordered new pcb’s. Hope to receive them in two or three weeks. Didn’t make a new panel yet so that is still on the todo list. Will see if the new pcb’s fit better before starting that job.

Dotty: 1.4 Overview, Features, BOM

With version 1.4 I have a working prototype with a panel. These make mounting it in a case possible. There are still some minor issues I want to fix before releasing it to the public. I build Dotty so I know what to expect. But I would be nice to have some feedback.

This topic is mainly for those whom received or are going to receive a 1.4 prototype version. I hope It helps with the build and explain some of the features. If you haven’t received a Dotty but curious on what it can do, keep on reading.

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Dotty: Building v0.04 are we done ?

This weekend finally the new backboard and panel arrived. Been waiting for these whole week. Could not wait to start building it in the hope I finalized all mistakes. I didn’t make a new front pcb cause I think everything is correct on that one.

(I can reveal that Dotty is working and in a phase where I’m looking for Beta Testers. Got 3 PCB’s left so if you are interested, contact me.)

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Dotty: A new back pcb and first panel

Yesterday I finished the designing of the first panel. Today it got excepted by JLC. So I’m hoping to have new back pcb’s and panel in the next two weeks. The panels are the first version for dotty and I did some moving of headers. So I hope all will line up and it will fit. But will have to see when the pcb’s arrive

Bigger picture after the read more

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Dotty: Prototype 3 it’s become a trigger sequencer

This weekend the boards version 3 came in the mail. I did some work on the clock input and added a clock output. The output still has to be written in code but the pcb now supports this. The boards only had two minor mistake so a four revision is probably needed, but it’s a full working sequencer now and it’s starting to look like a finalized product.

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