No i was hoping to get around that by using the protocol directly from a raspberry pi, haven't looked into it yet. My Chips are due September so i've got a little while.
If it looks easier (and not too expensive) to make the controller rather than messing about with odd libraries I'll go ahead and etch the controller

And by etch i mean, "have the 4 layer pcb's professionally produced, cnc'd and silk screened" at hackvarna or i may use seeed who i'm use to dealing with.