After getting the hardware put together for the 4x4 test slice, I was able to cobble together a test program in Python. Not a real spectacular test but it does run through 7 colors and each level. The results are as shown in this video:
First test of 4x4 slice
Strangely enough, it looks like there will be some timing issues that I will have to deal with. The python programming on the RPi does not seem to control the MCP23017s very fast. I was able to get about a 1.6 msec response time w/o sleep between each change that was made before I started changing out everything. This may be due to python being more of an interpreted language than a compiled one. In any case, my next step will be to look into individual addressing of the LEDs and how I will accomplish what I need to do. I gotta think in terms of a video or movie, frame by frame, to get animation. More later.
This is a blog mostly about techie things, what I am doing to my apartment network on the cheap, IOT, 3D Printing, Raspberry Pis, Arduinos, ESP32, ESP8266, Home Automation, Personal Weather Stations, Things That Go Bump in the Night, and some side issues that need discussing. Remember, sometimes the journey to an end is as much fun as the goal achieved!
