Arduino based DMX ArtNet-Node

Or how make an Art-Net node for less than $ 60


In this post we show you how to build an Art-Net node based on Arduino Mega with four output DMX universes.
This node answers to the basic messages of the Art-Net protocol, so that any controller that meets the protocol
will be able to detect it and use it as DMX output.

What do we need?

- A mega Arduino Mega 2560. The assembly and the code has been tested with Arduino Mega 2560,
  should work without problems in 1280 if you use only two universes.
- A shield-based ethernet Wiznet W5100 (Arduino ethershield)
- The DMX shield based on included schematic.
- Library Deskontrol 4 DMX universes v.03 (included in package)
- Arduino IDE v0023 (The code for the Art-Net node does not work for now with higher versions)
- Optional: Any 2x16 LCD compatible with the Hitachi HD44780 driver. Read notes at the end of this file


Installation Instructions:

Copy the folder "Dmx" included in the package to the folder arduino-0023/libraries/
Copy the folder "artnet_node" to Arduino sketches folder, in my case "Arduino"
Now we can open the sketch of the "artnet_node", compile the code and upload to Arduino.
To test the performance I have used the software "MADRIX", the utility "DmxWorkshop"
of Artistic license, and the utility "artnet-discover" that is part of the library libartnet of Simon Newton.
All these programs are for windows, if you want to try Linux you can use "Q-light." (Configure your computer
with the IP 2.0.0.1, subnet-mask 255.0.0.0, gateway 2.0.0.1)

I hope to share your experiences in the Blog.


*** Notes relative to the LCD display ***

Use of the LCD Display is optiocional. If you don't want to it, please edit the artnet_node.pde file,
and comment only the 3 lines at the begining of the code.
These lines are clearly commented. Doing it frees you some memory.

What are the main advantages of using the LCD display?

1 - During initializacion of the device (start up) display shows you the configured IP address of the ArtNET Node.
    This can be usefull if you forget it since last use, and want to configure your control device to unicast to
    this ArtNET Node

2 - After initialization, LCD display, permanentely shows you active universes, and the number of channels active
    for each of the active universes according to the DMX mode sellected (512 channels for DMX512 mode,
    1024 for DMX1024 mode, 2048 channels for DMX2048 mode).
    As modes DMX1024 and DMX2048 are not standard, when selected for any universe, the display shows you a "!"
    symbol before the number of active channels. 

Important: If you want to use the LCD Display, to avoid conflites with the Ethernet Shield,
           connect the LCD pins (Enable and R/W) to Arduino pins 6 e 7.

