Summary of UPGRADING A MIDI CONTROLLER WITH AN FPGA
This article discusses [s-ol]'s project of upgrading a VJ setup by replacing drift-prone potentiometers with custom-built rotary encoders based on an FPGA. The encoders detect rotational changes, control eight RGB LEDs per knob, and feature capacitive touch sensing on aluminum knobs. The FPGA communicates via SPI with an Arduino, which then interfaces with a PC through serial communication. This innovative solution offers enhanced accuracy and precision over traditional potentiometers, making it suitable for various applications beyond music or video mixing.
Parts used in the Upgrading a MIDI Controller with an FPGA:
- Rotary encoder boards
- FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array)
- Aluminum rotary knobs with capacitive touch
- Eight RGB LEDs per knob
- SPI communication interface
- Arduino master controller
- Serial interface to PC
While the “M” in MIDI stands for “musical”, it’s possible to use this standard for other things as well. [s-ol] has been working on a VJ setup (mixing video instead of music) using various potentiometer-based hardware and MIDI to interface everything together. After becoming frustrated with drift in the potentiometers, he set out to outfit the entire rig with custom-built encoders.
[s-ol] designed the rotary-encoder based boards around an FPGA. It monitors the encoder for changes, controls eight RGB LEDs per knob, and even does capacitive touch sensing on the aluminum knob itself. The FPGA communicates via SPI with an Arduino master controller which communicates to a PC using a serial interface. This is [s-ol]’s first time diving into an FPGA project and it looks like he hit it out of the park!.Even if you’re not mixing video or music, these encoders might be useful to any project where a standard analog potentiometer isn’t accurate or precise enough, or if you just need something that can dial into a specific value quickly. Potentiometers fall short in many different ways, but if you don’t want to replace them you might modify potentiometers to suit your purposes.
Source: UPGRADING A MIDI CONTROLLER WITH AN FPGA
