RGB LED Strip Control

[Sebastian Kurpiel]

Hey guys,

I just watched the Deadmau5 video and it got me pumped to build a mau5 helmet. I'm not so familiar with the RGB strip controls and was wondering if it's possible to control the individual lights on the strip or would I have to buy single modules and wire them separately.

Thanks for the advice and help in advance 

[HunterSkater429]

I have not seen one that does single led but there might be one out there 

[Aelita Sophie]

19 minutes ago, Sebastian Kurpiel said:

Hey guys,

I just watched the Deadmau5 video and it got me pumped to build a mau5 helmet. I'm not so familiar with the RGB strip controls and was wondering if it's possible to control the individual lights on the strip or would I have to buy single modules and wire them separately.

Thanks for the advice and help in advance 

Actually it's totally doable! And not for to much money as well. (Depends on what functionality u want really).

Though it will require some basic skill of programming, soldering and wiring.

First of all, you need something to control it. An arduino could work, or any clone would work as well. If you want wifi to connect to it, then use an ESP-12. If you also need bluetooth, use ESP-32. For the LED's, you'll be needing a WS2811 based strip. They are individually addressable. Meaning, you can control the RGB light per led.

Depending on your needs you need something to power them all. In general, ESP-12 chips or ESP-32 chips work on a usb micro, just like a phone or a Raspberry Pi. The WS2811 Leds work on 5v as well, though there are 12volt versions out there. Which means they put 3 leds in series. Making you only able to control the colors etc per 3 leds. Its a huge cost saver, but keep it in mind if you don't want that result.

 

Then just simply use the Arduino IDE to program the ESP12 or ESP32. There are plenty of free available source codes out there to get you started. It's also fairly easy to make it all work.

[Hackentosher]

^^^ What he said. Also check these out https://www.adafruit.com/category/168.

 

Only thing with neopixels is I think there's a limitation to how many you can control per analog pin on an arduino based micro controller. I think it's 255 LEDs? I might be full of shit though.

 

[Sebastian Kurpiel]

13 hours ago, Aelita Sophie said:

Actually it's totally doable! And not for to much money as well. (Depends on what functionality u want really).

Though it will require some basic skill of programming, soldering and wiring.

First of all, you need something to control it. An arduino could work, or any clone would work as well. If you want wifi to connect to it, then use an ESP-12. If you also need bluetooth, use ESP-32. For the LED's, you'll be needing a WS2811 based strip. They are individually addressable. Meaning, you can control the RGB light per led.

Depending on your needs you need something to power them all. In general, ESP-12 chips or ESP-32 chips work on a usb micro, just like a phone or a Raspberry Pi. The WS2811 Leds work on 5v as well, though there are 12volt versions out there. Which means they put 3 leds in series. Making you only able to control the colors etc per 3 leds. Its a huge cost saver, but keep it in mind if you don't want that result.

 

Then just simply use the Arduino IDE to program the ESP12 or ESP32. There are plenty of free available source codes out there to get you started. It's also fairly easy to make it all work.

 

9 hours ago, Hackentosher said:

^^^ What he said. Also check these out https://www.adafruit.com/category/168.

 

Only thing with neopixels is I think there's a limitation to how many you can control per analog pin on an arduino based micro controller. I think it's 255 LEDs? I might be full of shit though.

 

5

Thanks for the tips, I want to improve my soldering and I'm already software developer so this sounds like a good project. Should I avoid ebay led strip or are they alright to use.

[You_are_a_cunt]

19 minutes ago, Sebastian Kurpiel said:

 

Thanks for the tips, I want to improve my soldering and I'm already software developer so this sounds like a good project. Should I avoid ebay led strip or are they alright to use.

They're just fine. Been using eBay-grade strips for years now and (almost) none of them caught fire.

[Brianyu]

On 06/07/2017 at 11:33 PM, Aelita Sophie said:

Actually it's totally doable! And not for to much money as well. (Depends on what functionality u want really).

Though it will require some basic skill of programming, soldering and wiring.

First of all, you need something to control it. An arduino could work, or any clone would work as well. If you want wifi to connect to it, then use an ESP-12. If you also need bluetooth, use ESP-32. For the LED's, you'll be needing a WS2811 based strip. They are individually addressable. Meaning, you can control the RGB light per led.

Depending on your needs you need something to power them all. In general, ESP-12 chips or ESP-32 chips work on a usb micro, just like a phone or a Raspberry Pi. The WS2811 Leds work on 5v as well, though there are 12volt versions out there. Which means they put 3 leds in series. Making you only able to control the colors etc per 3 leds. Its a huge cost saver, but keep it in mind if you don't want that result.

 

Then just simply use the Arduino IDE to program the ESP12 or ESP32. There are plenty of free available source codes out there to get you started. It's also fairly easy to make it all work.

Does it have to be a WS2811 led? i have 5050 PLCC-6 SMT SMD LEDS and i wish to use these. the strip is in 3 leds before you can cut, and that makes me think i cant do this.

[Aelita Sophie]

12 hours ago, Brianyu said:

Does it have to be a WS2811 led? i have 5050 PLCC-6 SMT SMD LEDS and i wish to use these. the strip is in 3 leds before you can cut, and that makes me think i cant do this.

Well, it has to be a individual addressable led strip. The 5050 SMD's aren't addressable. As you can only push a color to all of them. As the pin out correspondents to Red Green and Blue. Instead of VCC, Data and GND. The 5050 are.. Analog signals if you will. Where the WS2811 uses a digital signal. (WS2812 or WS2812B would also work). These for example are individual adressable https://www.banggood.com/5M-36W-DC-12V-WS2811-150-SMD-5050-LED-RGB-Changeable-Flexible-Strip-Light-Individually-addressable-p-1035643.html

As you can see they use the SMD 5050 Leds, but they use a WS2811 chip per 3 leds to control them. This is one of the cheaper rolls I've seen on the internet. Not a huge density of leds, but you can get them crammed with more leds per meter, or even controllable per 1 led instead per 3 leds. You simply use an arduino or a raspberry pi of some sorts to control them. Code and tutorials are widely available online.

[Brianyu]

1 hour ago, Aelita Sophie said:

Well, it has to be a individual addressable led strip. The 5050 SMD's aren't addressable. As you can only push a color to all of them. As the pin out correspondents to Red Green and Blue. Instead of VCC, Data and GND. The 5050 are.. Analog signals if you will. Where the WS2811 uses a digital signal. (WS2812 or WS2812B would also work). These for example are individual adressable https://www.banggood.com/5M-36W-DC-12V-WS2811-150-SMD-5050-LED-RGB-Changeable-Flexible-Strip-Light-Individually-addressable-p-1035643.html

As you can see they use the SMD 5050 Leds, but they use a WS2811 chip per 3 leds to control them. This is one of the cheaper rolls I've seen on the internet. Not a huge density of leds, but you can get them crammed with more leds per meter, or even controllable per 1 led instead per 3 leds. You simply use an arduino or a raspberry pi of some sorts to control them. Code and tutorials are widely available online.

Ill check it out! Thank you!

[Ahoy Hoy]

Just build a led arrary which can be controled by DMX, then you can easily control the visuals from resolume.

[jacksh]

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