MB-LRE Encoder/LED board production / circuit design

[weasel]

hey guys,

i am planning on getting some midibox pcbs done, mostly cause i need them myself but i might just do a slightly bigger run and make them available to the community at cost.

 

mostly i am looking to do a version of @Fairlightiii's rotary encoder / led ring board: http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=mb-lre8x2cs_rev4.6

4x2 encoders seems fine, as discussed here

but i really want to do a 4x1 version instead, to keep it more modular for different configurations. now here's the thing. by now i got back into electronics enough that i can (barely) assemble the simpler ones of my diy kits. yeah i understand a resistor. but designing/altering a circuit would eat up way too much time for me. so here's my request:

 

is there anybody anybody willing and able ont his board to help me change/reconstruct a proper 4x1 midibox-compliant pcb circuit based on this info?

http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=mb-lre8x2cs_rev4.6

 

i am also thinking about getting the CORE and DIN/DOUT modules done, especially for easier EU availability. but those are somewhat available through modular addict so i am talking to him too to see what makes sense.

based on the first cost estimeate i got from china i think i might want to produce the ENC/LED modules FULLY ASSEMBLED, with smd leds and all circuitry, but without the encoders. also in the end i will try to have them done in china and work with local EU producers instead, depending on the financial overhead of that.

 

once i have the circuit design settled i will msot likey also start a bulk buy thing here.

Edited April 5, 2019 by weasel

[Hawkeye]

Welcome to MIDIbox, @weasel!

We also felt a dire need for a MBLRE replacement and while it maybe not matches your requirements, there is a similar board in the works, created by Andy:

It contains LED rings, pushable encoders (for parameter input accelleration), integrated OLEDs for encoder labels (one display per encoder), a row for superflux-backlit high-quality Matias switches and could be a building block of a future unified MBNG interface - we took some efforts going that way earlier on, but there were never PCBs available. If you look up the MBProgrammA, you will find a 64-encoder - 2048 LED variant with OLED as labels @jojjelito and myself had been working on for quite some time, there should be even a video demo of it being used with an old Alpha Juno around :).

Regarding eurozone availability: you could take a look at https://midiphy.com as a MIDIbox reseller based in Germany, there should be already good euro availability for standard PCBs (cores and such).

Have a great weekend!
Many greets,
Peter

 

[weasel]

haha damn you guys beat me to it. i swear i searched this forum and the internet and couldn't find midiphy or any serious EU supplies.

 

this board looks very promising, what OLEDs are you planning to use? character ones?

when do you think it will be available?

[weasel]

damn i just saw there's no DIN/DOUT or analog I/O modules on midiphy either. got some analog from MA coming but is there any place right now i could get DIN/DOUT from?

[Hawkeye]

You might be able to source common DIN/DOUT PCBs from Mike's Midishop in Germany - Andy's encoder/oled/ledring/matias switch boards currently are "work-in-progress" with no definite timeline for launch - we have to see to some other projects and get them up and running first - the displays are custom 128x32px OLEDs.

Many greets,
Peter

[weasel]

Mike's ceased his midibox business,  Jörg who has the leftover stock is getting me the DIN DOUT for now but the STM32F4 is only to be had from the US right now.

I have a more general question about midibox and general open source guidelines, as i am all new to this. whats is the process if were to produce midibox based boards extension boards like described above, make twice the amount of my personal need and have the other half commercially sold through the usual suspects, at cost though without any earnings for me. do i have to get approval from thorsten or anybody? i assume some kind of crediting according to whatever open source license has to happen? can someone take me by the hand here please? it's been kind of hard to get any kind of positive or encouraging response from most of the people in the midibox supply scene i spoke to so far.

[Hawkeye]

This thread by TK. describes the requirements, both of his postings here should answer your questions:

In short, yes, you'd need to get approval from him to sell PCBs based on his designs. Basically, a lot in the MIDIbox community depends on trust, that is usually established over many years. To do that, it makes sense to build and document personal projects and see how community members respond to them - that also helps to determine, if there is demand for the boards you are planning.

Best regards,
Peter

[weasel]

Thanks Peter, i understand by now that this community is somewhat closed in that “business” aspect. I now contracted a guy developing the new pcb circuit for me and will for now just get the 50pcs for me done, making extra ones and giving them away at cost seems like too much effort, also given thorsten doesn’t seem to be very responsive currently. I would easily pass all the requirements he listed but that useless facts i guess.

Obviously i will try to document and publish my stuff as much as possible, but spending substantial time finding out what the community wants or needs etc is out of scope for me right now. I don’t have “many years” to build my synth. Also the demand was secondary to me as i don’t have the intention to make money on this and i’m not in a rush to recoup the production investment either. Developement cost is on me too, which is high cause i now have to hire a professional given the lackluster help from within the community so far. I am making these for myself and just wanted to make spare ones for whomever might need.

Cause at the same time from a user point of view i am 100% sure a lot of people would be interested in a smaller or even modular/breakable encoder/led option. Show me a hardware synth that has 16 uniform knobs in a row. Even worse 8x8. But that’s a different discussion.

 

i am currently assembling my core and i/o boards and should have the circuit design and a prototype for the enc/led board within 2 weeks, will get back for feedback then. The actual synth engine is 99% finished too, just the controls are missing.

 

have a nice day everybody!