Section 3: Electronics
When it comes to the electronics of a protogen helmet there is a lot that can be done! All types of different displays, sensors and features to choose from. However for the sake of this guide we will be covering the basic MAX7219 and the HUB75 set up as these are the most commonly used for Protogen Helmets and both are available for a FurBitten Studios Kit.
MAX7219
Materials/Tools
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Solder Iron
Solder
Wire Cutters/strippers
20AWG Flexible Stranded Wire
Small needle nose pliers
Hot glue gun + Glue
FurBitten MAX7219 Frame
FurBitten Nano Style Cheek Caps
Helping Hands Soldering Aid (optional)
Soldering Flux For Electronics (optional)
Cable Management items (optional)
Hardware
Nano V3.0 Board
MAX7219 14 String Kit ( FurBitten Studios)
Led Strip Lights, 5V
12mm Momentary Push
JST SM Connectors Plug (optional)
Female Connector Wires (optional)
The instructions below are how FurBitten does their wiring for a clean managed look. You are not required to do your set up the same way. As long as things are wired correctly however clean it is at the end is entirely up to you.
Select your code
Before you start anything you need to choose a code you want to use or write your own. FurBitten Studios DOES NOT offer a free code for you to use.
Free open-source code options:​​​​​
Please carefully study the code you have selected and the information relevant to getting your displays to work with your chosen coding. If you are having trouble getting things to work consider reaching out in Protogen chats to get help as these codes are both commonly used and several would be willing to help you sort out your issue. There are a number of issues that could arise that I can not cover them all. Be patient with yourself if this is your first time doing this.
Main Face assembly
Step 1:
Grab your displays, MAX7219 Frame, and hot glue gun. We will be gluing the displays to their designated spots. Be sure your displays are placed correctly! If Ragnar is upside down, so is your display.
I recommend glue in your displays in this order
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Maw boards → Eye boards → Nose Boards
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NOTE: You do not have to glue in the displays and then wire them. FurBitten Studios does this to keep wires as short and managed as possible. You can wire them together first and then glue the setup into the frame if you wish.
Step 2:
Open the wiring schematic of your chosen code. For the sake of this guide, I will be using Feronium 5.3 code in this example build.
NOTE: In Feronium wiring schematic please note that CS and CLK are swapped! This will be important later when we wire the string of matrices to the Nano. There are extra sensors in this schematic that if you wish to learn and use them you may. But in this guide, I will only cover the basic face.
Step 3:
Wire Prep! We are going to measure and cut all out needed wires for the displays.
List:
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1 size- Eye to mouth X10
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1 size- Mouth to nose X10
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1 size- nose to nose X5
You will measure your wire from the OUT of one board to the IN of the next board; make sure you are going to the correct connections, VCC to VCC, CL to CL etc. You only need to measure once for each needed size and then duplicate your wire size using your first one as a measuring guide.
You may run your wires however you wish. As long as the connections are correct.
FurBitten Studios simply tries to keep things as tidy as possible.
Step 4:
With your matrices in place and your wires cut, it's time to grab your wire strippers and heat up your soldering iron! Start with stripping the ends of your wires and applying some solder to the stripped ends
Step 5:
Prep all the pads on your matrices with solder
Step 6:
Begin attaching your wires to your matrices working your way around LEFT TO RIGHT. Wires will not cross! VCC goes to VCC, GND to GND and so on. Since both the wires and your pads have solder on them you simply need to place your wire on top of the pad and heat up solder. With some light pressure, push the wire into the soldered pad and the two will bond. Once you feel the wire drop remove your iron but DO NOT move your hand right away. Allow for a few seconds of cooling. Once cool your joint is complete
NOTE: The wires for the nose to nose are very small and will heat up very fast. I recommend holding the wires with your needle nose pliers.Your soldier joints do not need to be pretty, just strong and complete.
Once you have made your way all the way around your Displays are now all strung together!
Cheek Cap Assembly
Set aside your assembled MAX7219 Frame and grab your 2 cheek caps. You will also need your nano, and 5v LED strip.
Step 1:
Begin with the RIGHT panel that only holds 2 led strips. Cut the LED strip to fit the length of the channel. Be sure you cut the LED stipe in the designated cut points! Remove the tape from the backing and place the LED strip in the channels (this will be a tight fit).
Step 2:
Wire together your LED strips like the photo below. One set of wires to connect the two LED strips and one set of longer wire leading from one LED strip through the hole and out the back. Once completed, set this piece aside.
Step 3:
Prepare your button and Nano.
You may choose to use pins and female connection wires for your nano to first eye connections or solder directly to your nano. In this guide we will be soldering our connection wires to our nano. Prep the connection points you need. Since in we are using Feronium 5.3 code you will prep your nano as shown in this photo
“This isn't like the wire schematic though?”
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You are correct! Ground (GND) and Power (VCC) will be different then the schematic from Feronium. Your setup will work I promise. Just stick with me here!
For the button you can choose to use JST SM connectors or use female connecting plugs. The choice is up to you. Since we are using the 5.3 Feronium code in the example build the button will be connected to the GND and D2 on your nano (they are next to each other, and it does not matter which way you plug the button into these two points)
With either option you do want to keep your wires as short as you can giving just enough room to reach in a plug in or out the button but not so long the wire will bundle up and be seen from your cheek screen (cheek screens covered in the next section).
JST SM
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With this option you will trim down the wires and solder one side of the connector to the Nano and the other side to your button. It does not matter what side the male or female side of the connector goes to the nano or button.
Female Connection Plugs
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This is the way FurBitten does their button. Using the prongs that came with your nano cut 2 off (2 together not individually). Solder the prongs to the nano and then solder your wires with the female connectors to your button
With your button prepared you can now drop your nano into the left cheek cap.
Step 4:
Assembling the Left Cheek Cap. You will now cut two more LED strips for the two channels on this panel and insert them. However, the wiring here will be a little different. You can choose to do what you did on the right panel or you can splice the wires. As long as both LED strips are getting power with connection to the nano you're good to go. Your left cheek cap will now be at this stage.
Step 5:
Cut 5 wires about 6in long. Strip and solder prep ONE side. Then grab your assembly MAX7219 frame and connect those wires to the Left eye. Once they are attached grab your left cheek cap with your nano and run the wired through the slot. What we are doing here is measuring the wires from the left eye to your nano. Given the wires are going to different locations with each connection we are going to mark with a sharpie the wires at the insert hole.
This will help us keep the wires as close to the idea lengths as possible using this mark as a reference point. As we cut each wire, we want to keep that sharpie mark at the insert hole.
NOTE: Be sure to hold the cheek cap about 1/4in away from the MAX7219 frame to account for the cheek hub thickness
Step 6:
The final wiring step on the left cheek cap is to cut, strip, and prep each wire and connect it to the correct location on the nano. Again as this example is using Feronium 5.3 code. BUT as you recall from Step 3 we did change things with power and ground. So with everything soldered on your nano should be connected like so:
Step 7:
Grab your right cheek cap and you can now solder your GND wire to the GND to the RIGHT eye and same gain with your VCC/power wire.
NOTE: Be sure to hold the cheek cap about 1/4in away from the MAX7219 frame to account for the cheek hub thickness
Step 8:
It's now time to plug in your setup to your pc and upload the code. You WILL need to install the libraries found inside the code file, without it your code will not be able to upload
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Here is a link to help you with installing any needed libraries:
You can play with the code at this time or do it later. Once you have verified your setup is working properly you can now unplug it.
RECOMMENDED: I do suggest getting a more flexible cable for your nano as the cable out hole needs a tight bend that the standard blue cable that comes with the nano will struggle to make.
Step 9 (optional):
Now that we have our setup working, we can heat up our hot glue gun and apply hot glue to all our solder joints. This does not help with holding the wires to the boards but the hot glue will help in acting as a moisture barrier. The hot glue seals but does not stick heavily meaning if at any point you need to remove it for a repair you can do so without much trouble.
Step 10:
You can grab your LED strip diffusion covers and your super glue and glue on the covers. You only need a small dab in the corners.
You're all done with a basic MAX7219 Protogen face set up!
If wanted or needed, you can use any cable management items to contain your wires and clean things up.
If you wish to add more features to your set up such as additional sensors, mic, etc. you will need to do your own research from here
HUB75 P2.5
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This section is going to be brief as this setup is not used by FurBitten Studios. A Lot of your own research will be needed should you wish to do anything more complex.
Materials/Tools
Screw Driver(s)
FurBitten HUB75 Frame
Blank Cheek Caps
Hot Glue Gun + Glue
Hardware
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P2.5 160x80mm
HD-WF1
Micro USB Cord
This guide produced by Jtingf pretty much covers what you need to do for a HUB75 set up. So I see no need to restate what has been said here.
More advanced options are out there such as the Prototracer by Coel Can’t as well should you wish for a challenge or more complex setup.
Your HUB75 panels will come with a bracket frame. You will have to remove it in order for it to hit in the HUB75 frame. There are 6 small screws on each panel you will take out to remove the bracket.