Ultra-Compact tiny-FX Board Uses an ATtiny10 to Drive Lights on Small-Scale Model Vehicles
Compact microcontroller lighting board is designed for small-scale models, and comes with a choice from three animation effects.
Model lighting specialist tiny-FX has launched an ultra-compact controller, built around a Microchip ATtiny10 microcontroller, which is designed to squeeze into models to drive animated light installations.
"I wanted to make life easy for the [average] modeler that just wants to focus on making his models shine," explains tiny-FX's Ashley Van Steenacker. Now they can do just that, and add some LED FX as well."
The board measures just 20×10×5mm (around 0.79×39×0.2") and offers on-board current-limiting resistors for driving LED lighting via JST XH connectors. The firmware pre-loaded on the ATtiny10 microcontroller offers the point-of-purchase choice between running-light and strobe effects for up to three LEDs, or an alternating left-right animation for two LEDs.
"It is easy to use with the included JST XH connectors," claims Van Steenacker. "Just connect the LED's with the JST cable (resistors are already mounted on the board) supply power. And off you go!"
The tiny-FX isn't the only microcontroller-based lighting kit for models we've seen in recent months: Late last year Laurent and Sébastien Grenier launched a crowdfunding campaign for the Perfect Coach Lighting XL board, an Espressif ESP32-based device for smart lighting in model railway carriages — but did not reach their funding goal.
Van Steenacker's tiny-FX, meanwhile, is available on the company's Tindie store at $27 with one of the three firmware options pre-loaded or a de-soldered ATtiny10 for personalized programming. Source code for the firmware, schematics, design files, and Gerbers have been published to Google Drive under an unspecified open source license.
