Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Br-miniBrick8 ServoMotor & Digital Output Show Control System The Br-miniBrick8 is a complete, stand-alone Show Control System. It features Eight Digital (on/off) outputs, two model airplane-style ServoMotor outputs, and two trigger inputs. It can run from onboard nonvolatile memory, RS-232 serial port, or industry-standard DMX-512 input.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Safety Disclaimer: Any electronic or mechanical system has a potential to fail. Certain applications using Gilderfluke & Company equipment may involve potential risks of death, personal injury, or severe property, or environmental damage (“Critical Application”).
Gilderfluke & Co.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Changing the channels you selected........! Another way to change the channels you selected........! Changing the amount of time selected........! Modifying digitals with a right mouse click........! Modifying analogs with a right mouse click........! Cut, Copy and Paste, just like a word processor........! Paste something a bunch of times........! Cut, Copy and Paste to a file........
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 EC DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY! HEXadecimal to Decimal to ASCII to Percentage! Br-miniBrick8 v3.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 A note about this manual: This manual covers the specifics of the BrminiBrick8. To program the Br-miniBrick8 you will also want to refer to the PC•MACs manual sections that cover the PC•MACs software. The Br-miniBrick8 is typically programmed in ʻSoftware-onlyʼ or ʻHardwareless Realtimeʼ mode.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Br-miniBrick8 Overview The Br-miniBrick8 can be used to control animated shows and displays, fountains, fireworks, lighting, sound systems, simulators, slide and movie projectors, fiber optics, window displays, motors, pneumatic and hydraulic systems, special effects, signs, machines and machine tools in process control, or anything else that can be controlled by an electrical signal.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 PC•MACsʼ editing tools to perfect the sequences you have programmed in RealTime. When you have all of your shows completed, you can download them to a BrminiBrick8 through the standard RS-232 serial port on your PC. You can then make additional changes and download again and again until your show is perfect. The PC can then go away. The Br-miniBrick8 will run by itself.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 • The Br-miniBrick8 supports update rates from one frame per second to a maximum of one hundred frames per second when using the PC•MACs software. Different shows can each be programmed at different frame rates. This allows you to program a ʻdelayʼ show that ticks along at a low frame rate between your main shows.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Br-miniBrick8 LEDs, Switches and Connections There are only a small number of connections on each Br-miniBrick8. You will need to attach a power supply, whatever you are controlling, and (optionally) a switch (or two) to start the Br-miniBrick8: LEDs: 1. Eight red LEDs show the status of the eight outputs.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Green ʻGoʼ button: The green ʻgoʼ button is used for programming the Br-miniBrick8 without a computer. See the ʻProgramming without a Computerʼ section of the manual for details on the use of this button. The green ʻgoʼ button will start the Br-miniBrick8 as though the trigger input ʻaʼ had been activated. Typically, this will start the first show playing.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 1. Connect the DMX-512 shield to the Br-miniBrick8 power supply ʻgroundʼ. This signal is normally found on pin #1 of a standard DMX-512 XLR-5 connector. 2. Connect the DMX-512 negative data to the DMX-512 ʻ-ʼ input. This signal is normally found on pin #2 of a standard DMX-512 XLR-5 connector. 3. Connect the DMX-512 positive data to the DMX-512 ʻ+ʼ input.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 external source of power for these two inputs, you can ʻstealʼ some juice from the BrminiBrick8ʼs power supply connections. Power Supply: The Br-MiniBrick8 will run on any voltage from 9 through 24 VDC. Whatever voltage you use will also be used to run the relays, valves and whatever you will be controlling. If you are controlling 24 VDC loads, you will want to use a 24 VDC power supply.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 on the wires to determine the proper orientation for these connectors: The ʻ-ʼ wire is usually brown or black. Note that most ServoMotors wonʼt be damaged by temporarily being plugged in with the wrong orientation.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Wire # Color Function 1 Brown Circuit Ground 2 Red Data bit 7 3 Orange Data bit 6 4 Yellow Data bit 5 5 Green Data bit 4 6 Blue Data bit 3 7 Violet Data bit 2 8 Gray Data bit 1 9 White Data bit 0 10 Black 9-24 vdc Power (PTC fused for 1 Amp) Any eight digital devices or one eight bit analog device can be connected to any 1/4 J-6 cable as shown.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 3. DRV-05: This is a specialty solid state driver board for use with up to eight PEM Leapfrog Fountain jets. It has eight outputs, each rated for up to 5 amps at 24 vdc. It runs on 9-24 VDC, and reverses the flow of current at the output when each is activated. It can also be used to reverse the running direction of small DC motors. 4.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Configuration Menu If you arenʼt using the ServoMotor outputs, you will not need to configure the BrminiBrick8. Even if you are using the ServoMotor outputs, you will only rarely need any changes to the configuration. Using GIlderTerm, plug in the serial cable to the BrminiBrick8. Press the ʻconfigureʼ button to bring up the following menu: Gilderfluke & Co.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Set ServoMotor Endpoints These two commands are used to set the endpoints for the two ServoMotor outputs. By adjusting the endpoints, you can set how far the horn of your ServoMotor will rotate. These commands will bring up the following menu: Gilderfluke & Co. Burbank, California * Br-miniBrick8 * v3.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 DMX-512 The DMX-512 input on the Br-miniBrick8 is active ONLY when the RS-232 serial cable is not connected. The DMX-512 output is disabled if the RS-232 serial cable is attached AND you send any serial command to the Br-miniBrick8 that generates a serial response (requesting ʻstatusʼ or entering configuration).
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Br-miniBrick8 Serial Port Commands The Br-miniBrick8 can be accessed through the serial port from any computer running just about any modem program. The computer you are using doesnʼt even need to have any PC•MACs software installed on it. This is a feature that most users should never need to use. We prefer to use our own ʻmodemʼ program, GilderTerm.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 The Hyper Terminal program that comes with Windows ʼ95, ʼ98, W2K and XP will not work for sending AutoDownloads. For some strange reason it has been written to randomly change any binary value that is larger than one hundred twenty-seven. Start Global ʻuʼ This command is available ONLY firmware revisions 3.07 and later of the BrminiBrick8.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 START or LOOP command. If a show is currently ʻloopingʼ, the requested show will be played at the end of the next ʻloopʼ. If a show selection has been made inadvertently, it can be cleared by sending a request for show number ʻ00ʼ. Pause Show ʻ<00ʼ Continue Show ʻ>00ʼ These commands are available ONLY firmware revisions 3.07 and later of the BrminiBrick8.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Programming the Br-miniBrick8 without a Computer The digital outputs of the Br-miniBrick8 can be ʻProgrammed in Placeʼ using only the three buttons on its top, or by connecting a RS-232 serial port and using Gilderfluke & Co.ʼs PC•MACs software. The instructions in this section cover ʻPrograming-In-Placeʼ using the buttons on the top of the Br-miniBrick8.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Setting Operating Modes: Press and hold the red ʻRecordʼ button. Press the red ʻRecordʼ button nine to twelve more times, until you see the green ʻtriggerʼ LED and one of the four output indicators flashing a two short / one long pattern: a. b. c. d.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Programming the Br-miniBrick8 with a Computer This section of the manual is for those of you who arenʼt installing the MACs-USB Smpte Card in their computer. If you do have a MACs-USB Smpte Card installed in your computer, please refer to the appropriate sections of this or the PC•MACs manual. All of the real-time features of PC•MACs are covered there.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 You will be able to access every feature of the PC•MACs program except for the real-time commands (Play, Record, Rehearse, Single Step, etc.). Select the serial port........ If a serial port has already been selected, or you arenʼt going to be downloading anything, you can skip this step.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 You can modify any FigureName by selecting it and choosing Channels pulldown/ ʻModify' command or by simply double clicking on the FigureName you want to change. Creating some output channels........ If you donʼt foresee ever using analog functions, then only create the digitals. If you donʼt foresee ever using digital functions, then only create the analogs.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 OffLine button on the main window, or using the OffLine pulldown/ʻShow OffLine...' command. PC•MACs will always remember the last channels that were edited for a given site file. Moving channels to the OffLine Editing window........ Now that we have some channels created, we can start editing them. Open the OffLine pulldown/ʻMove to OffLine...' dialog. This dialog has two columns on it.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Rules to remember........ a. Channels are selected by clicking with the left mouse button. b. If you left-click ON a channel, that ONE channel will be selected. If you click any where BUT on a channel, ALL of the channels on the OffLine Window will be selected. c. Channels are modified by using the right mouse button. d. Only the selected channels will be affected by any editing command.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 If you press down the on your keyboard and right mouse click on a digital, you can then ʻshiftʼ it left or right without changing its length. Modifying analogs with a right mouse click........ Before trying this, make sure that the Preferences pulldown/Rubberbanding.... dialog is set for ʻSplineʼ, with a default number of frames set to twenty.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 pulldown/ʻReverse' command. The selected stairway will now be reversed. This is useful for programming chase sequences. Stretch and compress time........ With one or more channel selected, you can then change the amount of time it takes for the movement to take place. To do this, move the cursor up into the time bar. As you do, you will see the cursor change into an ʻIʼ beam.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Select one or more analog channels for one or more frames worth of time. Under the Edit pulldown you can select the following commands to: a. 'Clear to Default Values':! Sets any selected analog(s) back to their default values (set for each channel under the Channels List). You can also use the ʻDeleteʼ key on your keyboard as a shortcut to this command. b.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Programming a Br-miniBrick8 with a RealTime License This part of the manual is for those of you who arenʼt installing the MACs-USB Smpte Card in their computer, but will be licensing the ʻHardwareless RealTimeʼ mode. If you do have a MACs-USB Smpte Card installed in your computer or arenʼt licensing ʻHardwareless RealTimeʼ, you can skip reading this section of the manual.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 The MACs USB RealTime Dongle can freely be moved between any number of computers. Only the computer that has the MACs USB RealTime Dongle installed at the time will have access to the RealTime features of PC•MACs. Select the serial port........ If a serial port has already been selected, you can skip this step.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Popup the analog ʻassignʼ popup and select one of the analog channels you created. Repeat this for the second analog input. If you have ServoMotors attached to the outputs, you probably want to pick a channel that will be displayed on the outputs. The analogs can be moved by clicking anywhere on the Soft Console and sliding the mouse left and right, up and down.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 Saving your show (again)........ At this point it is time to save the work you have done so far. Use the File pulldown/ ʻSave' command. If you want to save any show under a different name, you can just use the File pulldown/ʻSave as...' dialog. One step forward, three steps back........ Now that you have done a pass or two, you can move on to programming some other output channels.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 dow. Now when you start a ʻPlayʼ, PC•MACs will playback the area displayed on the OffLine window and then stop. Single Step Playback........ You can enable Single Step Playback or Single Step Record using the commands found under the OffLine pulldown.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 AutoDownloading Your Shows to your Br-miniBrick8 This section of the manual is for those of you who are downloading your show(s) to a BrminiBrick8 for the first time. It will lead you through all of the steps necessary to send your show(s) through the serial port for permanent storage on a ʻBrickʼ.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 At this point you probably only have one show to download. This would be the one you have been working on. Just leave this one show on the list of shows to be Auto Downloaded to the Br-miniBrick8. How many channels to send to the Bricks?........ You can now select the number of the channel to be downloaded to the Bricks.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 What will happen at the end of each show?........ Select any file in the list of shows to be Auto Downloaded. You can then use the popup at the bottom of the AutoDownload window to set what will happen at the end of each show. If you set it to jump immediately back to itself, the show will loop back on itself until another show is started.
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485 FCC and CE Compliance: Br-miniBrick8s which are hardware revision 3.0 or later have been tested to comply with FCC and CE requirements. Revisions earlier than this may have passed testing, but were not certified at the time of manufacture. Because Br-miniBrick8s are low voltage DC devices, neither UL or CE require safety testing.
Gilderfluke & Co.
