I have a 4x4 rack with 16 slots. At each slot, I want to display certain color of LED based on a business process status , and manually turn-off/set a new color to reset the status. As these racks are 30-50 inch size, grouping of LEDs is also fine. How to add and control the LEDs using a manual push buttons in all the 16 slots?
How many buttons will you use? What is a business process?
4x4 = 16 buttons to reset at each slot.
Business process produces the file output with values PASS or FAIL.
Will PASS or FAIL be the color of the LED panels? Would you draw a picture?
y
yes.
PASS => Green
Fail => RED
In-process => Yellow
Reset /Not started/Initial => OFF
How will the four states (blank, yellow, green, red) be selected with one button?
with one button => blank. This is a manual reset using push button, at each slot.
Program reads file and based on PASS,FAIL, IN-process (3 different states) => 3 different colors
File has pass/fail/in-process for all 16 panels.
16 buttons are to reset/blank.
Correct.
From where does the data originate?
Data comes from the business processes and stores in the SAP Database. I will take care of reading the SAP table from Arduino. I need, how the physical LED setup with reset button at 16 slots can be achieved?
N450/SLOT-1 SERIAL-1 PASS TIMESTAMP
N450/SLOT-2 SERIAL-2 FAIL TIMESTAMP
N450/SLOT-3 SERIAL-3 In-Process TIMESTAMP
N450/SLOT-4 RESET TIMESTAMP
I have no clue about the file handling. Someone else will see this and have advice. LEDs and buttons I can help with...
If I have this right, you have 16 RGB LED's and 16 switches.
You can control the LED's by setting up a 4x4 matrix with two 74HC595 shift register (very common LED circuit). The 74HC595 requires 3 data lines.
You can also set up the switches in a 4x4 matrix and decode each switch press. This requires 8 data lines and the controller can decode which switch was pressed. A switch press triggers a function to reset the appropriate LED and commence the process.
All these buttons can't be at one place, like in a keypad or remote. Every reset button should be physically located at a particular slot-ID. Any LED strip with push button functionality? sorry, I'm not from electronics background.
Is it like one switch and one LED at one location, with 16 individual stations?
correct. one switch and one LED at one location, with 16 individual stations. Each station/rack/slot are 40-50 inch in size.
Could you run WiFi and network each station? What is the working environment like? Industrial?
Warehouse. We want to extend the stations to 64. So, want to automate the process. We have wifi in the warehouse. how expensive are these wifi devices ?
@amar24x7 you're dripping information. Maybe take a step back and offer information such as: how many LEDs in total you need to control (64? or 64*16?), what the distance between them and the arduino will be, and if you have a target cost for all this.
In my experience, people tend to forget about the cost of wiring and installation, and that can often be more expensive than the electronics.
Answering your immediate question, addressable LED strips and possibly shift registers to manage a large number of switches make it easier. But there's a good chance that taking the Wi-Fi approach will be simpler overall and have a lower installation cost, although there may be other "hidden" costs with this approach.
Note: it occurs to me that MODBUS may be a good solution here.
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You are on a hobby forum, asking for a custom electronics solution for a business (when you say you do not have an electronics background): we haven't got all the information we need yet, so I'm not going to guess yet. You've done well to talk out the issues, so let's finish this.
- How will you power each device?
- What country are you in? (this is for clarification, for currency and where you may order parts from)