Protosoft Toaster OS

Software to control Arduino-based protogen heads, using 8x8 MAX7219 LED matrices.

Features

• Controls a protogen head using 8x8 LED matrices to render eyes, nose & mouth on each side of a face
• Supports light strips in each ear/headphones
• Nose "boop" detection & animation
• Blinking animations
• Different expressions, with simple animations

Setup

Dependencies

• FastLED (not included; installed via Arduino IDE)
• LedControl (included)

Electronics

• For both sides of the face
  • Mouth: 4 x MAX7219 8x8 LED martices
  • Eyes: 2 x MAX7219 8x8 LED martices
  • Nose: 1 x MAX7219 8x8 LED martices
• For both sides of the head
  • A strip of 15 RGB LEDs (5V, 3-pin)
• Boop sensor
  • A 3-pin 5V IR proximity distance sensor
• A 5V Noctua fan (40x40x10mm) for ventilation (not connected to the arduino)
• A USB cable and voltage + ground splitters to power everything via a USB battery pack

Configuring

The configuration can be found in ToasterOS/Config.h
This file includes configuration for the face LEDs, the side lights, boop sensor and more.

There are some examples below for different setups.

Example: Single connection for all LED panels

FaceConfig::FaceConfig() {
  NumConnections = 1;

  Connections = new FaceLEDConnection[NumConnections]{
    {
      // Pin configuration
      .PIN_DataIn = 11,
      .PIN_CS = 9,
      .PIN_CLK = 13,

      // Define the order of the panels
      .NumPanels = 14,
      .Panels = {
        // Start: Right mouth back
        { .PanelType = PANEL_RIGHT_MOUTH_BACK, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_RIGHT_MOUTH_MID_BACK, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_RIGHT_MOUTH_MID_FRONT, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_RIGHT_MOUTH_FRONT, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },

        // -> Left mouth front
        { .PanelType = PANEL_LEFT_MOUTH_FRONT, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_LEFT_MOUTH_MID_FRONT, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_LEFT_MOUTH_MID_BACK, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_LEFT_MOUTH_BACK, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },

        // -> Left eye back
        { .PanelType = PANEL_LEFT_EYE_BACK, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_LEFT_EYE_FRONT, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },

        // -> Left nose
        { .PanelType = PANEL_LEFT_NOSE, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },

        // -> Right nose
        { .PanelType = PANEL_RIGHT_NOSE, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },

        // -> Right eye front
        { .PanelType = PANEL_RIGHT_EYE_FRONT, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_RIGHT_EYE_BACK, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
      },
    }
  };
}

Example: Separate left and right side connections

FaceConfig::FaceConfig() {
  NumConnections = 2;

  Connections = new FaceLEDConnection[NumConnections]{
    // Right half of the face
    {
      // Pin configuration
      .PIN_DataIn = 3,
      .PIN_CS = 4,
      .PIN_CLK = 5,

      // Define the order of the panels
      .NumPanels = 7,
      .Panels = new PanelConfig[7]{
        // Start: mouth back
        { .PanelType = PANEL_RIGHT_MOUTH_BACK, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_RIGHT_MOUTH_MID_BACK, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_RIGHT_MOUTH_MID_FRONT, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_RIGHT_MOUTH_FRONT, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
        // -> nose
        { .PanelType = PANEL_RIGHT_NOSE, .FlipX = true, .FlipY = true },
        // -> eye front
        { .PanelType = PANEL_RIGHT_EYE_FRONT, .FlipX = true, .FlipY = true },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_RIGHT_EYE_BACK, .FlipX = true, .FlipY = true },
      },
    },
    // Left half of the face
    {
      // Pin configuration
      .PIN_DataIn = 6,
      .PIN_CS = 7,
      .PIN_CLK = 8,

      // Define the order of the panels
      .NumPanels = 7,
      .Panels = new PanelConfig[7]{
        // Start: mouth back
        { .PanelType = PANEL_LEFT_MOUTH_BACK, .FlipX = true, .FlipY = true },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_LEFT_MOUTH_MID_BACK, .FlipX = true, .FlipY = true },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_LEFT_MOUTH_MID_FRONT, .FlipX = true, .FlipY = true },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_LEFT_MOUTH_FRONT, .FlipX = true, .FlipY = true },
        // -> nose
        { .PanelType = PANEL_LEFT_NOSE, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
        // -> eye front
        { .PanelType = PANEL_LEFT_EYE_FRONT, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
        { .PanelType = PANEL_LEFT_EYE_BACK, .FlipX = false, .FlipY = false },
      },
    }
  };
}

Debugging issues with the face config

If the face isn't rendering properly, there are some steps you can take

1. In ToasterOS/Config.h, set DEBUG_MODE to 3
   • This will render 7s to every LED panel
2. If one of the panels is displaying the 7 the wrong way or upside down, update the config
   • In ToasterOS/Config.h under FaceConfig
   • Find the right panel (see the diagrams above)
   • If the 7 is facing the wrong way, change the FlipX value
   • If the 7 is upside down, change the FlipY value
3. In ToasterOS/Config.h, set DEBUG_MODE back to 0
4. If the face still looks wrong, check that you have added the panels to the config in the right order
   • They should be added in the same order they are wired

Creating new faces

1. Open the file face-demo.html in your browser
2. Draw your new face
3. Add it to the code
   • ToasterOS/Protogen_Faces.h
   • Add in your FaceExpression struct
   • Give it a good variable name
   • Increase the variable NumSpecialFaces by 1
   • Add &YourVariableName to the SpecialExpressions array (see others for examples)

Arduino Basics

• Docs
• Arduino IDE 2
• Example projects

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