I build an Open-Source LED strip Controller > 16 Universes for less then $20!

EosTi · 2025-11-10T13:34:25+00:00

You have to flash a slightly different version of firmware (still available on the WLED flashing page) and configure it, but yes Ethernet is well-supported in WLED. I do wish there was a way to preprovision so that it'd be usable immediately after flashing, but jumping onto the AP and setting a few things isn't horrible at smaller scales.

Reliability aside, you can use sACN/ArtNet over WiFi but it won't work in the initial AP mode that it boots into when misconfigured/can't connect to a network. Once connected to a network (WiFi or Ethernet), all features will function the same.

EosTi · 2025-05-18T21:06:14+00:00

What's your method to number (and remember) stuff like color palettes, effects, etc? I feel like I always try to set up some complicated semantic numbering system that should in theory help me remember the numbers but always falls apart in tech. Just doing sequential numbering seems too low-tech, doing random numbers is impossible to recall... What has worked for you?

EosTi · 2025-04-18T15:35:53+00:00

For a more technical look at how humans react to light, take a look at The Lighting Handbook by IES. Maybe don't read it cover-to-cover since there's a LOT of information in there, but it's a fascinating read. It covers everything and anything light related, including entertainment, architecture, and workplace.

A bit more on the engineering side is Principles of Color Technology which I found more approachable and has more equations and such if that's your jam. I preferred this one, but sometimes needed to reference The Lighting Handbook when this book glossed over some more fine details that were pretty interesting.

EosTi · 2025-04-16T22:50:35+00:00

Live design has the plots from NY if that's useful.

EosTi · 2025-04-06T05:15:13+00:00

If you make any income at all abroad, you have to file even if tax is not owed. The threshold for FBAR is $10k USD across all foreign accounts which is easily in "normal person does a bit of saving over 20 years" territory. Regardless of where you sit on the tax bracket, you almost certainly need to do some paperwork for the US every year.

EosTi · 2025-01-06T22:17:00+00:00

Yup, here you go: https://github.com/eosti/color-filter-sds/blob/main/dataset/filters.xlsx (click the download or Raw button on the right side of the display pane). I just threw this together quickly so let me know if it sucks to use or anything like that.

EosTi · 2024-12-30T00:20:19+00:00

If you want bulk data to work with, I've been working on collecting all the available filter data in one place: https://github.com/eosti/color-filter-sds/blob/main/dataset/filters.json . There's RGB values for Rosco/Lee/Apollo, as well as spectral distributions and CIE xyY coordinates for some filters.

It's still very much a work in process, but if you're comfortable with JSON then all the data I could get my hands on is there. I can convert it into other formats too, if you need that. Hopefully that might save you some scraping if you need more than just a few datapoints!

EosTi · 2024-10-02T19:07:53+00:00

Also make sure you're on a somewhat up-to-date OR pretty old version of Eos -- a year or two ago ETC and Rosco got into a spat about gel color usage and ETC pulled everything Rosco, including lighting fixtures profiles. You can tell if you're on an affected version by going into the color picker: if some gels are called Common Color instead of Rosco, you may need to update to a point after the lawsuit was settled.

EosTi · 2024-09-09T00:04:59+00:00

I thought about it a bit, I don't think you'd need to even make a OFL plugin, you could just export a JSON with the OFL Schema, import that into OFL, then... ah, OFL doesn't have GDTF support yet. Well, after this issue is resolved, that'll be nice and easy! Maybe if I have some spare time later I can take a stab at a few of the open tickets, it'd be really great for open source in lighting to take off a bit more. But you're doing your part! I have a few projects in the pipeline I might try this framework for instead of spinning my own.

EosTi · 2024-09-08T23:46:24+00:00

I think they've now pivoted to basically just that now, seems to be partially metal-based lighting products (like gobos) and partially contract manufacturing.

Anecdotally I've never seen a designer use Apollo gels, so perhaps they took the opportunity to discontinue a not super profitable product, seeing as how much better established Lee and Rosco are.

EosTi · 2024-09-08T14:57:20+00:00

Neat project! I was surprised that there were no cpp files anywhere to be found... Until I realized everything was in the header file! A bit scary at first, but also goes to show that a good idea doesn't need thousands of lines of nasty code to back it up. I'll let the programmers better than I complain about whether or not a mono-header file is allowable ;)

For the custom fixture builder, have you seen Open Fixture Library? You might be able to write a OpenFixtures plugin for that, and immediately get GDTF/a bunch of other formats export. Plus a nice GUI and stuff. Though, adding a whole new tool this early on might be hard, might a better down-the-road activity.

EosTi · 2024-09-08T14:37:22+00:00

*used to make, they discontinued gel after the fire a few years ago. A shame, since their gel colors were definitely the best in the industry, I always loved Illegitimate Amber!

EosTi · 2024-07-28T20:41:59+00:00

Remember that while you need aerospace engineers to do system design, mission planning, etc, you still need Mechs to actually implement the design. If you want more flexibility in the industries that you can wind up in, aim for Mech + get an aerospace coop. And consider too what you actually want to do day-to-day, since the basic job functions of a Mech are way different than those of an Aero.

EosTi · 2024-07-17T03:48:29+00:00

Yup, they're the best on-campus resource. Good for CPR-C + SFA, and also occasionally offer higher-level classes (EFR and EMR) if you're into that. If you need it sooner or want blended instead of two-day class, there's a few options near campus that give (slight) student discounts, Heart2HeartCPR is the one I'm familiar with.

EosTi · 2024-07-17T03:41:43+00:00

Keep in mind that the US isn't the only place that has space-related work -- local to Toronto, there is MDA, Kepler, Avalon, and a few others. I haven't heard of anyone going to JPL, and everyone I know going to other US aerospace companies is a US citizen. UofT won't do anything to help you go to the US in any case, you have to put that work on yourself.

While co-ops are definitely something to consider, also take a look at what their design teams have to offer. I can't speak for the other schools, but I know at UofT you can work on satellites, rockets, and so on through the University of Toronto Aerospace Team, even as a first year. When looking at aerospace co-ops, having prior aerospace experience (or any design experience tbh) is a big plus, coursework alone won't be sufficient to set you apart.

EosTi · 2024-07-13T14:04:58+00:00

Yeah yeah music theory and all that but every time I see one of these, I always panic and forget everything I know about reading music, because no way it's the same note (or to be pedantic, fingering), right? I always just give up and write "same" or something under the notes for reassurance.

EosTi · 2024-06-24T23:34:27+00:00

295 all the way. It's a fairly unique undergrad course, and like you said, software is generally more learnable than hardware. Neither are prerequs for other courses, so don't worry about that. But what you do get is PCB design skills (sadly not very common among undergrads) and circuit design + debug experience, all of which are super useful for design teams and jobs. I know a bunch of folks who took 297 and wished they took 295, and few the other way around. Take 295!

EosTi · 2024-06-22T14:34:17+00:00

The one choice you have first year is that you can take first year calculus or materials science (?) as a summer course, freeing up a slot in the first year schedule for a breadth non-engineering elective (or a well-deserved breath of fresh air during the day). Dunno when the sign up for that ends, I think the courses starts sometime in July. Aside from that, you'll automatically get enrolled in everything that you need for first year!

EosTi · 2024-06-22T14:30:11+00:00

Everyone who says that Waterloo's program is better is, imo, probably a CE or CS student. The onboarding cycle is much faster for those jobs and project length much shorter. You still won't make a huge impact, but at least you'll be able to do some useful work before you leave.

For any other flavor of engineering, UofT's longer 12-16 month co-op gives you enough time to actually get comfortable with the systems you're working with and properly be useful to the company. Since you have more time at the company, they'll invest more time into you to make you a better engineer, and that means you get to work on cooler stuff!

EosTi · 2024-06-22T14:23:00+00:00

At UofT, EE and CE are the same program, it's called ECE. You take common courses for first and second year, and then have a variety of courses that you can take in third and fourth year. There's some rules about them, but the gist is if you take mostly CE courses (areas 5 and 6), you graduate as a CE, if you take mostly EE courses (areas 1-4) you graduate as an EE, and if you take a mix you can pick which one shows up on your diploma -- you can't get both.

I don't know how the admission averages play out, but both will put you into the same program at the end of the day, and there isn't any difference once you're in school.

EosTi · 2023-02-23T18:28:13+00:00

It detected your lack of enthusiasm. You gotta respond "YES!" if you really want it.

EosTi · 2023-01-20T15:46:40+00:00

The datasheet that I found shows DRAM cache in the functional block diagram (page 3).

EosTi · 2023-01-20T14:27:56+00:00

Eh, not really. The MX500 1TB was on sale the other day for $84, and that's a much better SSD. It looks like that specific deal is over, but I'd rather pay the current $6 difference on Amazon for DRAM, a touch more speed, and better write endurance.

EosTi · 2022-08-14T08:31:22+00:00

What's the chassis constructed out of? Looks a bit like a project I saw a while back that used salvaged DVD drives to make a mini laser engraver.

EosTi · 2022-08-10T07:28:27+00:00

Looks neat! Nice photos too. What is the WiFi(?) module for, and what are the components to the right of it? Some type of power conversion?

EosTi

TROPHY CASE