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[on:]

Im new to Arduino and was wondering if it could control 100 - 200 different LEDs individually . Ive seen arduinos that can control 8 leds  but nothing as big as i was thinking.

Also are there any programs that will simulate the arduino software and/or hardware, where i can maybe draw out plans and programming to test without having the physical parts.



Thanks for all the help in advance.

[Reply #1 on:]

Welcome
Yes you can control almost as many LEDs as you wish, you can use shift registers ( 595s ), run through the examples, and look at sites such as tronixstuff to learn the basics.

[Reply #2 on:]

thanks for the fast response and info i will read through tronixstuff and post if i have any other questions.





Thanks again

[Reply #3 on:]

Example of controlling 32 LEDs:



http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=11518

You could do more by adding more shift registers in sequence.

[Reply #4 on:]

Example of controlling 32 LEDs:


http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=11518

You could do more by adding more shift registers in sequence.

Could this be done with another shift register with more outputs while using the same amount of power?

also i saw that you have done this with your bare bones board with 3 AA batteries, and was wondering how long the battery life was with it flashing and constantly on.

thanks for the help.

[Reply #5 on:]

The power you have to worry about is the LEDs, not the shift register. You can probably get ones with more outputs, but bear in mind that 40 pins is generally the max for non SMD devices.

also i saw that you have done this with your bare bones board with 3 AA batteries, and was wondering how long the battery life was with it flashing and constantly on.

Not long, I imagine. That was a demo. If I wanted to flash dozens of LEDs I would be running off mains power.

[Reply #6 on:]

Would Arduino be the most cost efficient way to power 132 leds?

[Reply #7 on:]

Would Arduino be the most cost efficient way to power 132 leds?

You can't power them from the Arduino ( unless they timeshare the 40mA available, which would make them dim )

You can power them via some sort of driver, a shift register or a multiples driver, which handles the current switching.

[Reply #8 on:]

Could also use a couple of MAX7219s, each one controlling up to 64 LEDs. MAX7219 handles the multiplexing of the LEDs for you, you need only perform a write to one of 8 registers to control 8 LEDs in a column.
$1.25 each at taydaelectronics.com
http://datasheets.maximintegrated.com/en/ds/MAX7219-MAX7221.pdf

[Reply #9 on:]

* would arduino be the best way to control 132 leds?

[Reply #10 on:]

* would arduino be the best way to control 132 leds?

It is as good as anything else, so not the best.

[Reply #11 on:]

If you are not experienced at programming, then I would say definately Arduino.

[Reply #12 on:]

Here is an older Arduino controlling 4x MAX7219 to control 256 LEDs.  So there are many ways to control large #s of LEDs.

[Reply #13 on:]

Thanks for all the help and will look into different  shift registers to use.

Does anyone know about an emulator or simulator like Virtual bread Board that can simulate arduino programing and a bread board at the same time?