Miauwceiver Syncs Stage Lighting and DIY Robotics

In the world of professional stage lighting and immersive theater, the divide between high-end industrial control systems and DIY maker solutions is vast. Professional productions rely on DMX and its wireless counterpart, CRMX, for rock-solid reliability and low-latency control. However, these systems are generally proprietary, expensive, and difficult to interface with custom robotics, kinetic sculptures, or interactive installations.

For creators working in the arts, the challenge is often how to trigger a motor or an LED strip from a professional lighting console without a tangle of signal converters and cable clutter. If a designer wants to synchronize 16 servo motors with a lighting cue, they are typically forced to choose between unreliable Wi-Fi-based hobbyist solutions or prohibitively expensive industrial controllers. But now, there is another option called Miauwceiver. It is an ESP32-powered multitool and development board for CRMX, with a modular shield system for expansion.

Miauwceiver acts as a highly flexible bridge between CRMX wireless signals and a wide range of digital and physical interfaces. Built around an ESP32 and a LumenRadio TimoTwo CRMX module, the device can operate as either a transmitter or receiver, converting lighting control data into protocols such as Art-Net, sACN, OSC, and MIDI over WLAN or USB. It can also interface directly with hardware through I2C, UART, SPI, and GPIO, making it far more adaptable than traditional lighting gear.

Rather than being locked into a single function, users can expand the device with purpose-built add-ons for specific tasks. A servo shield enables control of up to 16 motors, while a stepper shield integrates four TMC2209 drivers with advanced features like current control and sensorless homing. Additional options include an H-bridge shield for DC motors and a dimmer shield capable of driving multi-channel LED strips with high-frequency PWM and per-channel current monitoring.

This flexibility makes the platform particularly appealing for multimedia artists, stage designers, and experimental performers. A single device can sit at the intersection of lighting control and motion systems, allowing complex choreography between light, sound, and physical movement—all synchronized through standard CRMX signals with latency as low as 5 milliseconds.

The firmware is Arduino-based and open source, lowering the barrier for customization. Users can configure the device through a built-in web interface, a mobile app, or an API, making it accessible to both programmers and non-programmers alike. Out of the box, it already supports features like RDM for addressing and device feedback, further aligning it with professional workflows.

Schematics, firmware, and enclosure designs will ultimately be released under permissive licenses, encouraging modification and community-driven development. Miauwceiver will be launching soon on Crowd Supply. You can sign up for notifications if you are interested in picking one up.