I recently bought a bunch of WS2812B RGB LED's on eBay after seeing a few Adafruit neopixel projects. Heres the data sheet http://www.mikrocontroller.net/attachment/180459/WS2812B_preliminary.pdf . The plan was to use the breakouts on Adafruits site, but it turns out that the LEDs used in the neopixel projects are not WS2812B LED's, but rather the older WS2812 LEDs (no B). Apparently the LEDs I bought are newer and brighter, but the thing is they only have 4 leads instead of six. You can read about the differences here: http://www.rgb-123.com/files/WS2812B_VS_WS2812.pdf. So my question is, is there a breakout that I could use for these? Would it be easier to just order simple 4 lead breakout board? I really want to use these guys, but they Obviously don't just plug in like normal LED's.
The WS2812Bs are pretty new, I don't know of any breakout boards for them yet.
How many LEDs are you going to use? If it's just a few, they're not too bad to hand solder onto a prototype board like one of these: http://www.futurlec.com/ProtoBoards.shtml.
If you're going to use a lot, it's pretty easy to design a board with them with Eagle etc., just tie all the +5Vs and GNDs together, give each one a decoupling capacitor, and daisy chain DOs to DIs.
I want to use a bunch of them, but im not sure how many im going to end up using. What I really want to do is be able to make 2 custom boards. One version would hold 4 leds, while the other would only hold one. 2 problems I have no idea how to design a pcb, and secondly I cant read a data sheet. I can write code, but im new to all the electrical stuff.
Hey, so I bought a new RGB led and I'm having trouble hooking it up to my Arduino! The led I'm using is a brand new version of the led used in Adafruits Neopixel line and it's called the WS2812B. This new version is brighter and more efficient than the older model that Adafruit uses. The problem is that its a surface mount component, so its impossible to use with a breadboard (or perfboard)! Would anyone like to help me create a simple board for this led on eagle, one that I can send to a company and print? I would even be willing to pay a little bit of money! Here's the datasheet http://www.mikrocontroller.net/attachment/180459/WS2812B_preliminary.pdf . This should be really easy someone who uses eagle!!
Wow! thank you so much! Can I just send this image to a company online and they'll print it? Or do I need some sort of other file? Also i found the breakout for the older version of this, and i realized that most people use tiny capacitors on these type of LEDs: Heres a breakout from the older WS2812 (mine is WS2812B).
Need to send Gerber files to a company to have boards made.
Cap can be added.
Was thinking after I posted that some additional points to pass along power/gnd connection might be handy too, and rearranged pins to allow easy daisy chaining from 1 card to the next: Vcc/Gnd/Din on one side, VCC/GND/Dout on the other.
Just what the PDF you posted has.
Do it as a 4-pin ribbon cable connector, if a crimp-on 4-pin IDC connector exists, other wise use a 6-pin with dual power/gnd contacts.
