i'm a noob at this and need help!!!

[kendlock]

So i have a project in mind but don't know where and how to start.

I have a schematic drawing. so my plan is to create something that can control an rgb led strip.
I have 2 tactical buttons, for on and off and color change, a pod meter or a decoder for brigtness control and the guide bar itself. I also need to connect this to a 12v power supply since my plan is to have this in my car. This is all I have and I don't know where to go from here. can i get some help?

[Grumpy_Mike]

Please read the how to use this forum sticky post. It will tell you about posting images. We don't like going off site to spam ridden mysteries pages.

[saildude]

Start by learning basic Arduino programming and design - I got a starter kit and worked through the tutorial, I got mine from Sparkfun but there are many starter kits out there

This is a good place to get help, but you are expected to do the bulk of the work, i.e. for starters a real design including where the power is coming from and the pins in use, etc.

[Grumpy_Mike]

Thanks for posting the picture correctly
Here is is for others



You can't just connect those LED strip outputs direct to an Arduino because you will fry it. You need to use a logic level FET on each of those three RGB lines. Like this https://learn.adafruit.com/rgb-led-strips/usage

The brightness control has three wires and not two. Here are wired to 5V analogue input and ground or negative.
You don't wire buttons up between the positive and negative. You wire a button between the input and ground and then enable the internal pull up resistors in the setup function using the pinMode call.

[PerryBebbington]

I also need to connect this to a 12v power supply since my plan is to have this in my car.

Please be aware that car electrics are not 12V. They are anything from about 11.5V is the battery is pretty much flat to around 14V when the engine is running and the alternator is charging the battery. You need a buck-boost converter to take the range of voltages and output a steady 12V. LED strips are very fussy about the exact voltage.

[Robin2]

You have marked your red and black wires as 12v. You CANNOT connect 12v to an Arduino I/O pin. 5v is the max.

...R