Digital LED Belt project with Ethernet Shield & multiple LED belts

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi,

I'm new to Arduino and electronics so please pardon me if my question is confusing or weird.

I wish to create a multiple LED belts project based on Overview | Digital LED Belt | Adafruit Learning System, controlling it by a network ping via Ethernet.
Base on the tutorial, it's using Atmega32u4 processor as the brain, which is supported by Arduino Leonardo.

Question 1)
Reading up on the Ethernet Shield page at http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoEthernetShield, I don't see Arduino Leonardo being mentioned.
Is it compatible with each other?

Question 2)
If I wish to control 3 or 4 Digital LED belt, should I:

  • Have individual Arduino, with Ethernet Shield, for each LED belt?
  • Is it possible to control 3 or 4 belt with the Arduino, if I switch to another board such as Arduino Mega or Arduino Uno Ethernet?

Thank you all in advance.

2

Base on the tutorial, it's using Atmega32u4 processor as the brain, which is supported by Arduino Leonardo.

I don't know what you mean by "is supported by the Arduino Leonardo". The Leonardo has a 32U4 processor on board, but you can't use it. It's used for the USB to serial conversion process so that the Leonardo can talk to the PC.

Reading up on the Ethernet Shield page at http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoEthernetShield, I don't see Arduino Leonardo being mentioned.

I can't say for certain, but the shield fits, and the SPI pins (that are how the Arduino and the shield communicate) are the same.

If I wish to control 3 or 4 Digital LED belt, should I:

You should figure out if you can even control 1, first. Then, the answer to your question will be pretty obvious.

3

Assuming that the belt is something you wear around your waist, isn't an Ethernet connection going to be somewhat impractical? Whatever sort of interface you adopt, I'd have thought you would want to use one of the smaller clones rather than a full size UNO or similar, which will preclude using a standard Ethernet shield. If we knew what the Ethernet shield was intended to be used for, we might be able to suggest sensible alternatives. (Bluetooth would be the first obvious choice if it's a wearable device that you want to be able to control while it's being worn.)

4

Thanks both for your input.

@PeterH - Ethernet to toggle light patterns pre-built on the board. It's not going to be a belt, it's going to be a decoration. Like Halloween lighting.

5

You could have an arduino with an Ethernet shield and other arduinos as slaves connected either by wires or wireless. The slaves control the LEDs.