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Naigon's Electronic Creations Spark 3 R2, Setup Manual

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Figure 13 - Installing the NEC Editor on Mac. Make sure to grab the "NECEditor" icon near the text. 

On Windows, unzip the file, or just double click to open the zip. Double click the installer to start the install 
process. It may be necessary to click OK on the warning that changes are going to be made by your computer. 

 

Figure 14 - In Windows, double click the installer exe to bring up the install wizard. 

Summary of Contents for Spark 3 R2

Page 1: ... 2018 by Scott DeBoer Naigon s Electronic Creations Spark Igniter and Naigon s Electronic Creations have no affiliation with Lucas Film Disney or its subsidearies R4 SPARK 3 R3 SETUP GUIDE ...

Page 2: ... 1 1 3 7v Power Supply 6 3 1 2 Battery Protection 6 3 1 3 Battery Brands 7 3 1 4 Battery Size 7 3 1 5 LED Choices 7 3 1 6 Pixel String Choices 7 3 2 Spark 3 Layout 8 3 3 TruDrive Separation 9 4 Wiring Diagrams 9 4 1 Basic Wiring 9 4 2 Flash Wiring 10 4 3 RGB Wiring 11 4 4 Single AV Switch Wiring 12 4 5 RGBA RGBW Wiring 13 4 6 Color Matching Crystal Matching 14 4 7 Rumble Motor Wiring 15 4 8 Cross ...

Page 3: ...S 26 5 5 1 Master 26 5 5 2 Motion 28 5 5 3 Blade 29 5 5 4 Clash 31 5 5 5 Blast 32 5 5 6 Audio 33 5 5 7 Accent 34 5 6 Generate Dual Out Sounds for Cross Saber 35 5 7 Format Micro SD 35 5 8 Copy Files Back To The Micro SD 36 6 Error Codes 36 7 Saber Operation 37 7 1 Idle Mode 37 7 1 1 Idle Mode Interaction Table 37 7 2 Running Mode 37 7 2 1 Running Mode Interaction Table 38 7 2 2 Running Interaction...

Page 4: ...Page 4 7 2 3 Saber Tracks Interactivity 39 8 Special Thanks 40 ...

Page 5: ... button before performing the clash the effect will directly go into the lockup skipping the clash altogether If you do a clash and hit the aux it will behave as before This ensures the lockup color will be the actual clash color when starting with holding the main button for single button installs Pixel Support No longer are you limited by certain brands of pixel strings now Spark 3 supports all ...

Page 6: ... a more organic color experience or with high values even random colors 3 GETTING STARTED 3 1 IMPORTANT NOTES PLEASE READ THIS SUBSECTION CAREFULLY AS FAILURE TO DO SO COULD CAUSE DAMAGE TO THE SPARK BOARD 3 1 1 3 7v Power Supply Spark 3 is designed around a 3 7v power supply input In general the best way to run a Spark 3 is to hook up a single 3 7v battery to the VBATT and VBATT GND pads NEVER HO...

Page 7: ...green and blue dies require a forward voltage of 4 0v for maximum brightness Thus it is highly recommended to use the NECree RGB Red Green Royal Blue LED sold here at Naigon s Electronic Creations http saberigniter com NECreeRGB aspx The NECree RGB produces the brightest most even blade for an in hilt LED but it also is pre wired for 3 7v with a diode built in for the red so no external resistors ...

Page 8: ... Creations does NOT recommend the Alotive brand strips from Amazon as they are a cheaper LED and seem to cause addition line noise from internal testing though these strips do now work with our products 3 2 SPARK 3 LAYOUT Before getting started it is important to familiarize yourself with the layout of Spark 3 TruDrive and all of the pads on the board This will help in wiring up the board for use ...

Page 9: ...f it is desired to have the TruDrive separate from the main board for the install then you can detach the two boards To separate them place a mouse pad at the edge of a table and place Spark 3 on the pad with the seam where TruDrive meets Spark right at the edge of the table so that the entire TruDrive is off the table and the entire Spark is on the mouse pad Then with one palm press and hold Spar...

Page 10: ...k 3 This setup allows for a bright single color blade while still allowing for an effect aux color for blast and clash lockup effects The wiring diagram below shows how to utilize that setup The preferred LED to use for this setup is the TriCree as it has an optic made specifically for this configuration and it has a great balance of brightness with good efficiency so it doesn t waste too much pow...

Page 11: ...et c1Color and c2Color c1Clsh and c2Clsh and c1Blst and c2Blast to the same values for a given font to ensure that both LEDs of that same color are enabled 4 3 RGB WIRING Spark 3 supports full RGB color mixing This diagram shows how to hook up an R G rB die for the ultimate color mixing The recommended LED to use by far is Naigon s Electronic Creations own NECree RGrB v2 It utilizes the highest bi...

Page 12: ...it incorporates an accent LED and switch into one hole The following diagram shows the same RGB wiring with the NECree RGrB LED but using an AV switch instead of two tactile switches It is important to note that a single tactile works fine as well but it does need to be a momentary switch for the main button Also when using this wiring configuration ensure that the Button Layout dropdown is set to...

Page 13: ...RGBA RGBW WIRING With Spark 3 R2 a fourth die can be utilized for even more flash effects and a bit more vivid and efficiently mixed colors The following diagram shows this wiring for a CREE XML RGBW LED but a quad rebel or a quad cree works as well In general it is recommend to stick with a standard RGB setup for simplicity but for folks that really want to do a lot of white silver colors this ma...

Page 14: ...ATCHING CRYSTAL MATCHING With the advent of color mixing many people are wanting a blade matching crystal chamber to go along with their build If you want to experience this thrill then look no further The following diagram shows how to get this LED wired and working It is important to note that this wiring is applicable to in hilt LED setups only when doing a blade matching crystal for a pixel st...

Page 15: ...ommend a 22 33ohm for R1 and a 1ohm each for R2 4 7 RUMBLE MOTOR WIRING When not using a 4th die the C4 pin can be used to run an accessory such as a rumble motor or another special accent LED The following diagram shows the use of a low power 3 3v shaft less motor that can be purchased from Pololu here If using something that requires more voltage than 3 3v the power could be drawn directly from ...

Page 16: ...wing wiring diagram is provided This supports a saber where all three blades are the same color with a secondary flash color for either the main blade or all blades I ve provided the wiring for a TriCree though any other LED would be similar If using a TriCree I recommend only hooking up two of the three die for the side LEDs to prevent battery drain and to ensure that a single channel does not ge...

Page 17: ...d be on If you want a simple static blade then just set all three c3 values C4COLOR C4BLST C4FLSH to 255 However if you want them to only come on for flash effects set C4COLOR to 0 but the rest to 255 You can also turn them down some to something like 155 to save some power For C1COLOR and C2COLOR and C3COLOR they could be set the same if the TriCree is all red or set independently to have c2Color...

Page 18: ...eeded is a separate SD card with the string blade dat and appNN files These strings are not only super bright but they also support Extension and Retraction Flow allowing for super realistic growing and shrinking blades and Impact Blast the ability to replicate bolts hitting the blade in defined spots The Pixel strings are quite easy to work with as there are only 3 wires coming out of each strip ...

Page 19: ...oPixel individual LED wired in parallel with the main blade Rumble motors are thus not supported Figure 11 Wiring a back to back style WS2812 blade with two parallel strips It is also possible to do three strips back to back which reduces the vertical shadowing of the blade but increases the amperage draw Note that a 0603 resistor on the blade side connector between 270 to 400ohm should be used 4 ...

Page 20: ... completely possible and encouraged by using the NEC Editor The NEC Editor is the new replacement for the old Config Editors the NEC Editor is great in that it can edit every board and can also work on both Windows and Mac 5 1 INSTALLATION On Mac unzip the file Double click the DMG When the NEC Editor pops up just drag it over to the APP folder and this will install the app I ve found that on some...

Page 21: ...t On Windows unzip the file or just double click to open the zip Double click the installer to start the install process It may be necessary to click OK on the warning that changes are going to be made by your computer Figure 14 In Windows double click the installer exe to bring up the install wizard ...

Page 22: ...saber In this example Saber1 will be used Now with both the Saber1 empty directory open and the micro SD card opened select all the files from the micro SD card and drag them into the Saber1 directory When done all the files should be copied to your hard drive as shown below Figure 15 After creating a new directory called c Spark Saber1 the files are copied from the micro SD card on the right to t...

Page 23: ... Open and the open dialogue will appear Navigate to the c Spark Saber1 folder and then go into one of the fonts to edit When you see the SCONFIG INI appear in the window double click it or select it and click open to load the program for editing this font Note that you must select the SCONFIG INI file it is not a folder selection ...

Page 24: ... opening it for the first time To copy a new sound font first go to the font that you want to change In this example it will be c SparkColor Saber1 font1 Navigate to that directory in explorer and then select both of the wav files font wav and multi wav and all the wav folders I find the easiest way to do that is to select all edit select all or ctrl A then hold control and click the config ini an...

Page 25: ...iles and backup folder you can copy in all the new wav files from a new font You can find these from online saber sound websites and there are some free ones available from my website as well http SaberIgniter com fonts aspx Once the files are copied then either open the font in the NEC Editor or if the NEC Editor was already opened to this font simply switch back to the NEC Editor and it will aut...

Page 26: ... has a bunch of sliders for individual parameters Spark 3 has simple dropdown values that represent high level pre configured features This makes editing a breeze and removes any confusion with what certain settings control The following sections go over each tab of the config editor and give a description on how the settings are used 5 5 1 MASTER The master tab in the NEC Editor contains global s...

Page 27: ...ich specific pixel protocol should be used for the blade When purchasing pixel strips it should be noted by the manufacturer on which setting to choose Choose one of the RGR options if the red and green are reversed in color from the NEC Editor When using an in hilt LED this setting is not used BUTTON LAYOUT BTYPE Indicates the type of button solution utilized Choices are Two Buttons One Button an...

Page 28: ...o never enter low power NSTRP Applicable only when using a WS2812 NeoPixel blade This defines the length of a single strip of the blade for example when using a triangular prism blade if the lengths of each strip are 144 145 and 144 then choose 145 or the side with the maximum length Currently the maximum number supported is 255 After making all the edits desired to go File Save in the program to ...

Page 29: ... twist will be required 255 means it requires a very hard force GYROYZTHRESH Only applicable when using a single button This determines how much play in the other directions is allowed when registering a twist The higher the value the more play is allowed making the effect easier to perform Note that this is the opposite as the other threshold values in which higher values make the effect more dif...

Page 30: ...s that actually show up on the saber rather you set this to match the saber install This is why I HIGHLY recommend installing BGR so that all the examples and colors line up to the defaults The blade effects settings are also in this tab They define the blade characters for the pulsing effects Each setting is listed below with a description of how to use the parameter Figure 22 Screenshot of the B...

Page 31: ...e color settings for the clash color along with specific settings for the clash effect See 5 5 3 BLADE for details on how to set a specific color as setting the main blade and clash are the same Figure 23 Clash tab contains settings for the clash color and clash effects C1FLSHC C2FLSHC C3FLSHC color parameters for the clash colors Use these together to set the clash color CLSHEFFECT Defines the cl...

Page 32: ... variance in the color lower values make it more static like the defined color Recommended is sixteen 16 for clash CLSHWAITLEN Amount of time in milliseconds after a clash before a blast clash swing can interrupt BLOCKLEN Length of time in milliseconds to hold the button before it is registered as a lockup 5 5 5 BLAST The blast tab contains the color settings for the clash color along with specifi...

Page 33: ...the color variance for the blaster block effect Higher values allow more variance in the color lower values make it more static like the defined color Recommend is twenty four 24 for blast 5 5 6 AUDIO The audio tab contains some settings directly related to the audio These settings are described in detail below Figure 25 Screenshot of the Audio tab LINEAR HUM IN OUT Enable this setting to have the...

Page 34: ...Unlike Igniter which has complicated accent settings Spark 3 has simple drop downs to run the accents This allows for easy setup and ensures a nice pattern To change the accent pattern for each mode simply choose the pattern from the drop down for that mode To see the pattern in the simulator make sure that the desired mode is chosen from the Accent mode dropdown which in the NEC Editor is right a...

Page 35: ...ut wav will be created for each out wav for the font with the secondary extension mixed at the delay of humStart set in the config Once created just save the font so the number is updated any the font will now use the dual out sounds if Cross Saber is enabled Note that if there are no dual out sounds the normal out ones will be used so this is not a mandatory step but does enhance the overall expe...

Page 36: ... car This will ensure that the files are written well and can be accessed quickly by Spark 3 Once this step is done the micro SD card is ready to be loaded back on to Spark 3 to enjoy the new settings and fonts 6 ERROR CODES Spark 3 comes equipped with an on board SMD error LED which blinks to indicate certain SD or read failures making install a snap When an error occurs the led will blink a cert...

Page 37: ...vity that is possible with the saber while in idle mode Entry Label Action Description Main button MAIN Press Latch Pressing the main button latching when it is a latching switch puts the saber into running mode for font1 and font2 and font 3 for saber tracks it is used to engage the blade Aux button AUX Press Advances to the next font Twist Hilt NA NA When One Button is set with motion in the mas...

Page 38: ...en a Slash sound will be performed Hit saber Blade CS NA Hitting the saber against something or hitting your hand on the hilt will cause the Clash sound to play To return to running simply wait for the clash to finish Main Button MAIN Hold Unlatch Holding or unlatching the main button will cause the retraction sound to play and then the saber will return to Idle mode Table 4 Interactions possible ...

Page 39: ...xtension effect will occur followed by the pulsing of the blade No additional effects will be displayed and now sound effects will play but the music will stream non stop The blade color and pulse for Saber Tracks in Spark 3 will be selected from the last used font This means that Saber Tracks can be used with any of the 3 blade colors for each of the 3 fonts To turn off the blade simply hold the ...

Page 40: ...yle Miller for being a great tester and helping ensure the quality is up to par Without his attention to detail the sound fonts and feel of all the gen 3 boards would not have been what it was Big thanks to Jimmy Hutson for setting up the NEC Editor which made editing on Mac not only a reality but a first class citizen being developed hand in hand with Windows as opposed to being a port Thanks to ...

Page 41: ...Page 41 Revision History Date Revision 01 September 2018 Initial version of Spark 3 ...

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