Even though free, they might not be worth using. Or, maybe you can look for a matching Phillips controller.
Most likely they are not addressable, so you can't directly drive them from the Arduino (which can only put-out a few milliamps from an I/O pin).
...Addressable LED strips have built-in drivers for each LED. so they just need power and a (low-power) "data" signal from the microcontroller, and sometimes a clock signal.
5 wires/connections is "unusual" Typically, you'd have one connection for each color, plus a common ground or a common positive voltage.
I'd guess they are 12V, and you need a MOSFET driver for each color. (Or if you don't need PWM dimming, a relay for each color, or just one relay if you don't need to change colors.) Relays need a driver too, but you can buy a "relay board" with a driver included.
So you might want to directly-hook-up 5V or 12V to see what happens...
That library seems to be to control the led strip over the network.
That would work if I wanted to purchase the base controler from Philips.
What I am trying to achieve is totally different:
Control just the extension light strip but connecting its wires to an arduino or esp32.
And my problem is that I am not finding the documentation for that. So I'm turning to the community to see if someone has reverse engineered what those pins do, how to drive them etc...
Just so you know, I got those 5 ledstrip for free, and I don't intend to purchase the highly expensive and proprietary Philips controlers.
Thanks Doug, the controllers I've found online cost about 5 times the price of an ESP32.
So I'm not considering that (I'd rather buy cheap led strips and sell on ebay the Philips ones).
I'll experiment with connecting power directly to the pins in the hope that it start lighting things up and I can start to reverse engineer them.
Just make sure they are well documented with datasheets or application notes. Beware of stuff on eBay, AliExpress, or unknown Amazon suppliers, etc.
Adafruit features WS2812 addressable LED strips which they call NeoPixels. They've got TONS of application notes & hints. They are super-easy to use. (The coding is complicated but there are libraries that do most of the "work" so your you don't have to write a complicated program).
I think the ESP32 is a 3.3V device so you might need a 5V level booster for the data connection (Adafruit explains that) and you'd need to make sure the library works with the ESP32.
@georgesdev
If it's like the strips I've fiddled with, along with the Cool White "C" lead there was a Warm White "F" lead plus the RGB leads and it ran off 24VDC.
so, these are Hue lights not addressable , which means individual leds won't be configured if you want , for that you will require addresable/programmable led strips to individually address them
here all the LEDs will show same color and pattern given
C - Common cathod (-)
B - Blue - - any digital pin
G - Green -- any digital pin
R - Red -- any digital pin
W- White -- any digital pin
VCC - (12-24 DC supply)(+)
RGBW put digital write upto 0 - 255
you will have to use external PW for it as uno mega or any other dev board don't provide more than 5v , Hope this helps
with in void loop() you can define the pattern for all the Leds at once
also prigram you can use a simple digital write to turn a pin HIGH and LOW
// Define the pins for the RGBW LED strip
int redPin = 3;
int greenPin = 5;
int bluePin = 6;
int whitePin = 9;
void setup() {
// Set the pins as outputs
pinMode(redPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(greenPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(bluePin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(whitePin, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
// Example: Fade through different colors
for (int i = 0; i < 255; i++) {
digitalWrite(redPin, i); // Red
delay(10);
}
// Repeat for other colors (green, blue, white) following the same structure
}
to identify color if VCC if red then 5v if yellow then 12-24v if voltage not given on LED strip
I'm not good with external power, so I have this question/doubt:
VCC needs to be connected to + of external power. That one is clear.
C needs to be connected to - of external power. Right? My question is: should C also be connected to ground of the Arduino?
When proving external supply C should be to PS -ve and VCC PS +ve only data pins will run from arduino , though arduino should be powered on from PC/laptop or adapter
arduino pins connections
int redPin = 3;
int greenPin = 5;
int bluePin = 6;
int whitePin = 9;
does this mean the RGBW-pins are PWM-controllable pins.
And the power electronics to switch the large current of the LEDs is located on the LED strip itself?
Are you sure that the power-electronics is not located in the Phillips controller?
No. There is no need for a ground. Each LED channel is switched via a low side driver and VCC.
Therefore it will more likely be an LED channel. However, you will quickly see the mistake if you connect to ground, because one LED channel will always be on.
Or, maybe you can look for a matching Phillips controller.