Polaris Family Overview
NORTHSTARSHOW SYSTEMS
Polaris Family Overview
The Polaris node family and its five variants
| Document Number | Revision | Date | Platform Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSSS-DOC-0050 | A | 2026-05-20 | 1.0 |
Hardware Baseline
Every Polaris device — regardless of role — uses the same hardware: the Arduino UNO R4 WiFi. The board provides:
- Renesas RA4M1 Arm Cortex-M4 main processor at 48 MHz
- Embedded ESP32-S3 Wi-Fi co-processor for 802.11 b/g/n connectivity
- 256 KB dual-bank flash supporting safe OTA updates
- 32 KB SRAM
- USB-C connector for power and initial firmware upload
- Arduino UNO-form-factor headers exposing digital pins D2–D13 and analog A0–A5
The Five Variants
| Variant | Type ID | Outputs | Inputs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polaris GPIO | gpio-trigger | Up to 10 digital outputs | Up to 10 digital inputs (shared pin pool) |
| Polaris Video | video-trigger | 1 HDMI trigger (pin D2) | None |
| Polaris Audio | audio-system | 1 or 2 stereo audio triggers | None |
| Polaris Bridge | bridge | 5 LED indicators | 4 buttons + 1 key switch |
| Cuemaster | cuemaster | Browser dashboard (logical) | Operator inputs (logical) |
Variant Selection at Compile Time
Compose generates one .nsss.ino source file per node, with the variant determined by the node's type ID. At Build Firmware time, Compose compiles one .bin per variant present in the project. A board's "role" is therefore set entirely by which firmware was flashed; the hardware is identical.
Mounting and Power
- Mount the UNO R4 in a small NEMA-rated enclosure near the effects it drives
- Power via 5 V USB-C from a wall adapter or PoE-to-USB-C splitter
- Wire effect interfaces (relays, audio modules, HDMI triggers) to the appropriate digital pins
- Do not use the UNO R4 to drive heavy loads directly — use relay modules or dedicated drivers
Wiring Per Variant
See the individual variant datasheets for pin assignments:
- NSSS-DOC-0051 — Polaris GPIO Datasheet
- NSSS-DOC-0052 — Polaris Video Datasheet
- NSSS-DOC-0053 — Polaris Audio Datasheet
- NSSS-DOC-0054 — Polaris Bridge Datasheet
Related Documents
- NSSS-DOC-0045Polaris Firmware Bootstrap
Revision History
| Revision | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| A | 2026-05-20 | Initial publication |