Hi all, I am new to arduino and i am doing a project to display images on 2 led strips. This is the strip i am using:
I have an ardumoto motor driver shield on top of my arduino uno. This is the shield:
The 2 led strip operates on 5vdc and are connected to the 5v pin. When I send 0xffffff to the strips, it seems that there is not enough power to display the full intensity. The ardumoto motor driver shield is able to draw a max of 4A and my sealed lead acid battery (6v 3.3Ah) has a max discharge or 32A. When the usb cable is plugged into my arduino uno for serial monitoring, everything works fine. But when i unplug it to let my robot function alone, I get this issue. Somehow, only 1.5A is being drawn from the battery. Also, when the 2 led strips are turned on, the robot is stationary. I am not sure where the problem lies. please help me or give me some advice. thank you!
Everlance:
Hi all, I am new to arduino and i am doing a project to display images on 2 led strips. This is the strip i am using:
The 2 led strip operates on 5vdc and are connected to the 5v pin. When I send 0xffffff to the strips, it seems that there is not enough power to display the full intensity.
384 LEDs need 7.6 amps.
Everlance:
The ardumoto motor driver shield is able to draw a max of 4A and my sealed lead acid battery (6v 3.3Ah) has a max discharge or 32A.
That doesn't mean it can sustain that output, or that it will provide 6V when it does.
Everlance:
When the usb cable is plugged into my arduino uno for serial monitoring, everything works fine.
I doubt it. Turning on those LEDs will severely overloads a USB port.
Everlance:
please help me or give me some advice. thank you!
You need to sit down and think about power usage.
Start by actually measuring voltages and currents at every point in your circuit with different power sources and different loads (LEDs on/LEDs off). See if 5V is still 5V when you turn things on.
Hi fungus, thanks for replying. I have done some current measurements. When the 64 leds(32x2) are off, the amount of current being drawn is only about 100mA. When the leds are at full brightness, about 1.5A of current is being drawn(note: the colour is not white due to insufficient power). I have tested it using a power supply, and still 1.5A is only being drawn. Can I conclude that it is the limit that the ardumoto motor driver shield can draw? Can I connect this high current step down voltage regulator to my battery to regulate 6v to 5v and power the led seperately? It can support up to 7A.
Pololu High-current Step-Down Voltage Regulator D15V70F5S3: