This is my first post. I recently ordered an Arduino Uno and my first project will be doing an outdoor lighting system for our patio and garden.
I have looked online and I plan to use 7 segments of 5 meter RGB LED strips (Like this one), which draws 1.2 amps per meter (so 42 amps 12V DC total). I plan to use a single 12V 50A DC power supply (like this) to power the seven LED strips as well as the arduino. I plan to use small LED amplifiers to power each set (like this).
Again, this is my first project and I don't want to blow myself up, burn down the house, or cause bodily harm in general.
I tried searching online for others that have done this but it seems like most people are using single LED strips or they are programming each strip to work independently.
Current goals of my project:
110 feet of color changing and fading LED strips.
They should all change color and fade at the same time.
Learn a little about electronics and programming.
Future plan is to make the program more robust to run specific lighting programs, maybe add and LCD to display program info, and a button or IR remote to cycle programs.
I have made a diagram of my planned schematic and I was wondering if somebody with more experience can look over it before I start the project. It's attached to this post.
Some questions I had:
Can I power the Arduino right from this 12V supply as I have illustrated?
Can a single pin output from the Arduino run all the single color LED Amps?
Can my 12V power supply be wired into all the LED Amps as I illustrated in the wiring diagram?
I am a complete novice and this is my first project. I have never programmed before but I have looked at simple code for controlling LED's and they seem to make sense. I don't have any background in electronics but I know that you shouldn't use the hairdryer while you're in the shower and that the "pointy end" of the soldering iron is hot. Thanks in advance! I promise to post pictures if I get this done and survive.
sourav1230:
Could you post which LED strips your using. I might be able to throw together a quick program for you
I have not bought any hardware yet (other than an arduino starter kit). I was thinking of buying this (http://www.ebay.com/itm/161065482025?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT) LED strip as it has RGB and has relatively low power per meter requirement. I plan to have 110 ft of led strips so supplying power is an issue. I want to utilize a 12V 50A power supply so it starts to get expensive if higher power requirements are needed.
I am not at the programming stage just yet as I wanted to make sure that I can do it on the hardware side. I have found quite a few program examples of RGB dimming controlled by 3 pins on the Arduino. I am concerned about the hardware side as I will be running a pretty high power system and don't want to fry anything.
Scaling up power requirements is not as easy as you might hope it is. That is a very lot of current. You can't use solder less bread board and even strip board will melt at these sorts of current. You will have to use strip board with solid copper wire solderd on the back to up the current capacity.
Then there is the decoupling requirements, you need a lot of high ripple current capacitors.
Finally power supplies of this power are very unforgiving of mistakes and wiring errors tend to be fatal to components.
Grumpy_Mike:
Scaling up power requirements is not as easy as you might hope it is. That is a very lot of current. You can't use solder less bread board and even strip board will melt at these sorts of current. You will have to use strip board with solid copper wire solderd on the back to up the current capacity.
Then there is the decoupling requirements, you need a lot of high ripple current capacitors.
Finally power supplies of this power are very unforgiving of mistakes and wiring errors tend to be fatal to components.
I was not planning to use bread board but running wires direction. So you're saying that this probably won't work?
I was really hoping that by independently wiring each LED strip (other than the low power control signal from the Arduino) I would mitigate the need for a lot of power control circuitry. I suppose I got but 7 seperate DC power supplies so that the only connection to the Arduino would be the signal wires from the pins.
Questions:
Would this setup work if I just had 1 LED strip?
If so, why can't I just multiply the number of LED strips with corresponding power supply increase?
Whether I run this system off one 50A DC power supply vs seven 10A supplies connected individually to each LED strip make any difference (each strip should have equal load demands)?
Imagin you make cookies in your kitchen. Then you suddenly have to scale up to make all the cookies for your state. You do not just replicate your kitchen several thousand times. It is the same in electronics as indeed anything else the techniques of what you have to do change.
I get what you are saying. I really thought that since the LED amps are designed to run strips with a simple power supply, I could use those internal electronics for all the power management, and then just use the Arduino for fading. The LED Amps I found were rated at 4 amps x3 (for each color) so I figured that would be an elegant solution to manage all the power handling. I guess I was wrong...
Well I would find yourself a project that is at your level. That one involves way too much knowledge that you don't have at the moment. You will get there but it will take experience.
Current over more than say 4 Amps bring you to a very different place, so try some low power stuff.
How about plating about with the WS2812b LED strips. They have individually programmable RGB LEDs on them and run from 5V. It you will also give you a chance to hone your programming skills.
I do appreciate you candor and honesty. It's unfortunate as I really had this specific "garden project" in mind. I'm sure I will have fun playing with the Arduino, but I was hoping to utilize it for a complete lighting control system.
