pixel-mixer

pixel-mixer

Open Pixel Control Mixer

pixel-mixer allows you to run multiple OPC generation scripts and fade between them. It is controlled via MQTT messages and conveniently works well as a Home Assistant MQTT light.

Setup

git clone https://github.com/heathbar/pixel-mixer.git
cd pixel-mixer
go get github.com/kellydunn/go-opc
go get github.com/eclipse/paho.mqtt.golang
go build
./pixel-mixer

Configuration

A configuration file can be specified with the -c config.file.json argument or ./config.json is used by default.

Configuration Sections

pixel-count is simply the number of pixels that should be expected to be received and sent from pixel-mixer.

The mqtt section defines how to connect to the MQTT server that will control pixel-mixer and the topics that will drive various functionality.

The inputs section defines which inputs should be available on the mixer.

The opc section defines the size and target of the output. Typically this would be a fadecandy server.

Extremely basic example configuration

Without defining any inputs, the mixer can only fade between solid colors using the built-in solid color generator

{
    "pixel-count": 30,
    "mqtt": {
        "server": "tcp://mqtt.example.com:1883",
        "topics": {
            "power": "pixel-mixer/switch",
            "input": "",
            "color": "pixel-mixer/color"
        }
    },
    "inputs":[],
    "opc": {
        "destination-server": "localhost:7890"
    }
}

Using this simple configuration pixel-mixer has limitted functionality

# mosquitto_pub is a utility from the mosquitto-clients package.
# mosquitto_pub is not required, but useful for working with MQTT.

# RGB colors can be set via MQTT message to the `pixel-mixer/color` topic:
mosquitto_pub -h mqtt.example.com -t pixel-mixer/color -m "255,0,105"

# Output can be disabled/enabled using the `pixel-mixer/switch` topic:
mosquitto_pub -h mqtt.example.com -t pixel-mixer/switch -m "OFF"
mosquitto_pub -h mqtt.example.com -t pixel-mixer/switch -m "ON"

Example configuration for two OPC inputs

This example assumes you're running pixel generation scripts from the openpixelcontrol python examples folder.

{
    "pixel-count": 30,
    "mqtt": {
        "server": "tcp://mqtt.example.com:1883",
        "topics": {
            "power": "pixel-mixer/switch",
            "input": "pixel-mixer/input",
            "color": "pixel-mixer/color"
        }
    },
    "inputs":[
        {
            "type": "opc",
            "mqtt-message": "raver_plaid"
            "port": 7891
        },
        {
            "type": "opc",
            "mqtt-message": "conway"
            "port": 7892
        }
    ],
    "opc": {
        "destination-server": "localhost:7890"
    }
}

After starting pixel-mixer, start your pixel generation scripts.

raver_plaid.py localhost:7891 &
conway.py -s localhost:7892 &

These example scripts will now connect to pixel-mixer instead of directly to your OPC device. Using the MQTT topic and messages defined in the config, you can now fade between the two inputs as follows:

# mosquitto_pub is a utility from the mosquitto-clients package.
# mosquitto_pub is not required, but useful for working with MQTT.

# Fade to port 7891 where raver_plaid is sending pixels
mosquitto_pub -h mqtt.example.com -t pixel-mixer/input -m "raver_plaid"

# Fade to port 7892 where conway is sending pixels
mosquitto_pub -h mqtt.example.com -t pixel-mixer/input -m "conway"

# Fade to solid blue
mosquitto_pub -h mqtt.example.com -t pixel-mixer/color -m "0,0,255"

# Disable/Enable output
mosquitto_pub -h mqtt.example.com -t pixel-mixer/switch -m "OFF"
mosquitto_pub -h mqtt.example.com -t pixel-mixer/switch -m "ON"

Special Inputs

If an external pixel generator is not available, pixel-mixer includes a few built-in inputs to test your setup.

Solid Color

RGB colors can be set via MQTT message to the MQTT topic specified in configuration under mqtt > topics > color:

mosquitto_pub -h mqtt.example.com -t pixel-mixer/color -m "0,25,205"

Channel Walk

This input can be enable by first including it in the config:

```JavaScript
{
    "inputs":[
        {
            "type": "channel-walk",
            "mqtt-message": "channel-walk"
        }
    ]
}

To activate it, send the appropriate MQTT message.

mosquitto_pub -h mqtt.example.com -t pixel-mixer/input -m "channel-walk"

Rainbow

This input can be enable by first including it in the config:

```JavaScript
{
    "inputs":[
        {
            "type": "rainbow",
            "mqtt-message": "rainbow"
        }
    ]
}

To activate it, send the appropriate MQTT message.

mosquitto_pub -h mqtt.example.com -t pixel-mixer/input -m "rainbow"