ProffieBoard V2.2 - Open Source Sound Board

The Proffieboard is a revolution in lightsaber electronics. Fully open source this feature packed board includes smooth swing which provides the most realistic sound effects we have seen in a sound board. The v2.2 ProffieBoard utilizes the powerful STM32 microprocessor combined with a powerful motion coprocessor IMU, 3W audio amplifier, and 6 MOSFETs to control external LEDs.

Documentation and Downloads

Datasheet

ProffieBoard Base Config File

Software Download Page

Troubleshooting Guide

Please note that all troubleshooting and support will be at the following forums The Rebel Armory and the FX-Sabers online forum

Dimensions

17.8x33.2x4mm (+3.2mm with micro USB port and micro SD card)

A note on reverse polarity protection

This version of the proffieboard is the first to feature reverse polarity protection. Please note, however, that the reverse polarity protection does not really cover the LEDs. The FETs have internal bypass diodes that let power flow backward through them. For regular LEDs, this is not a problem, as power can only flow one way through a LED. Neopixels might not be so lucky though, so it may still be possible to fry your pixels by hooking up the battery backward. But the Proffieboard itself should be fine.

Wire gauges

Most pads on the proffieboard will not need to carry any significant amount of power and can use 30 AWG (very thin) wire if you choose. However, Battery- will carry the combined power of all your LEDs, which is a fair amount of power. It is recommended to use thicker wires, for these wires. There are no absolute rules for what wire gauges are required, but here is a helpful chart . (See the "chassis wiring" column.) Keeping the high-power wires short helps as well.

Programming

Most of the time, programming the Proffieboard is as easy as hooking up the USB cable to a computer and pressing the "upload" button in the Arduino IDE. However, an interrupted upload or a crashing program can sometimes stop that from working. If that happens, hold the boot button, then press and release the reset button. This will put the Proffieboard in bootloader mode, and press "upload" should now work.

Touch Buttons

Any of the buttons can be replaced with a touch button. To wire a touch button, simply hook up the corresponding wire to a metal surface. Note that in spite of the name, you don't actually want anybody to actually touch the touch buttons. The metal surface needs to be insulated, both from the rest of the hilt and from the fingers that will be "touching" it. In my case, I used a circuit-board clamp card in a Graflex lightsaber, then I covered it up with tape to insulate it from everything else. More details here .