As mentioned in my description above, I am looking at driving LED strips with PWM dimming from Arduino.
I know its a pretty simple circuit but I am surprised that there is no pre-made shield available that does this.
I am currently looking at 2 channel so that I can drive 2 strips independently but ultimately I want to get to 6 channels so that I can do 2 RGB strips with one shield.
Please help me find it if such a shield already exists.
So you need 6 logic level, low Rds, N-channel MOSFETs and 6 gate resistors (to limit current from arduino pins) on a board? Hardly seems shield worthy, just wire them up on a protoboard.
with 150 ohm gate resistor. add a 10k from gate to Gnd to make sure the MOSFET stays off during reset when the arduino pin can float as an input before the sketch makes it an output.
Correct! I ordered the parts and plan to get it working on breadboard once they come in.
Why not do a shield for it? Thats the part I dont get.
I have a total of 3 RGB strings just in the kitchen for undercabinet lighting.
If there were such a shield that was stackable, I would just use 2 of those and call it a day.
Also, after looking at the results of kitchen cabinet I plan to do a wall washing light in a part of the house. Same setup driven from an Arduino with this if it were a shield.
Look at the cost of RGB LED strip at Amazon. Add in cost of Arduino and this sheild, for less than $100 you have professional looking home automation compatible dimmable RBG lighting.
activemind:
I know its a pretty simple circuit but I am surprised that there is no pre-made shield available that does this.
Probably because most people who want to do fancy stuff with Arduinos will be using one form or another of the WS2801 based strips with individual control. These require no shield at all, just connect the strip control lines to the Arduino, power from a hefty switchmode supply.
Naruto128:
what program you use to make the diagram?
I am guessing you mean the schematics and the pcb design... i was thinking starting off with fritzing and see if I need to use eagle.
just a sidenote, I have extensive PCB design help available if need be, though my goak is to do to by myself!