Afternoon all.
Im new to arduino and am looking at project using the led strips to make a light painting tool. This has the arduino code written and I get ask and get help on the site it needed. I have this other project where I would like to use either 1 x 3-5 meter led strip or maybe 2x back to back to go on a flag pole. I have seen things like what im after from maplin and other shops but dont think they are waterproof and they are locked with the patterns built in.
Here are 2 links with the kind of things I would like it to do.
Probably just have it on a random loop for the patterns and change this later when I know more about programming the arduino. Could any of you please point me in the right direction to start with this. The light painting tool uses a mega but im hoping my uno will be good enough for this. I will have to use an external power probably from a small 12 lead acid and use a dc dc 5 volt regulator.
As to what strip type I have not decided between the WS2812B or lpd8806
Many thanks
you can buy weather proof (not strictly waterproof) strips from uk ebay suppliers from between £10-£40 per metre depending on number of leds per metre. Cheapest are the 30 per metre going up to 144 per metre. The 5V power supply is also going to be a significant cost, these things draw a lot of current. An Arduino Uno/nano 3/pro micro/pro mini will be needed to control, there's no point getting a mega/due for this task.
I have not come accross lpd8806 but have used ws2812b with Arduino.
Paul,
Thanks for the info. I have seen the weather proof stuff and was considering it for my light painting tool but will go with normal for that. I think im only going to want 30 or 60 per meter. The problem is the code. I've had the arduino a while but just not had the time to play with it. Any ideas how to do it or link to any sites that be have examples.
I was looking though the code for the light wand but it reads a bmp from SD and displays that to allow the picture to be drawn in the air.
Thanks
Lee
Hi paul
Thanks for that info. Did not know that.
I may of confused things slightly. I have 2 projects I want to do. One being the light painting which is on hold at the moment but I will look into the strips and make sure they work ok first.
The second project which is what I need help with will use any 30 or 60 strip of 2-3 meters for a flag pole when we go camping. Other people have led lights etc wraped round the poles. I just want somthing different. The idea is like the item maplin sell but made with waterprof strip but need to program the arduino for the paterns which is where im stuck. Electronics are fine but programing is not
Ive been lopking aroind the web and can find things kinda what im after but no info on how its done or pre made but inside use only and from us or china.
Hi Lee, there are a couple of Libraries that make using the ws2812b strips easier to write a script for. I have used the Adafruit Neopixel library. The other one is called FastLED . I've not tried that but it sounds similar. The Neopixel library download package includes some demo programs which may be all you need. You can take the "strand test" sketch and modify that for the effects you want.
Problem you may have is powering 3m of these things while camping. They need 5V supply and 3m @60 LEDs/m is over 10A!
Paul.
I have the adafruit lib but not really had a good look at it yet. The power is something I need to think about. When I say camping I mean caravan. Im thinking of using a 12V lead acid and a 12-5v converter at 10A, although finding one of that size is not easy unless you want it from China. Then have a solar cell to charge the battery during the day. If we are on a site with mains then just use a mains to 5V adapter.
