Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Table of Contents
Step 1: Analog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Step 2: Digital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Step 3: Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Step 4: Cutting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
File Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
http://www.instructables.com/id/Intro-to-LED-Strips/
Author:push_reset author's website
Specializing in sewing, soldering and snacking. More stuff I do... I teach an interactive fashion and textile class called Wearable and Soft Interactions at
California College of the Arts and am the Fashion Technologist at Switch Embassy.
Step 1: Analog
There are two basic kinds of LED strips, analog and digital. They are controlled differently, so it's good to know which one you need for your project.
Analog strips come in mono (one color) or RGB (full color spectrum). They are sold on reels and can be cut into small segments. The segments are marked by metal
contact pads and sometimes have a scissors icon screen printed right on them (love those!). The strips shown here are segmented in 5cm and 10cm lengths, each
segment containing 3 LEDs. Usually strips use 30, 32, 60 or 120 LEDs per meter, which will change price and power consumption.
For each segment the LEDs are wired in series, which means the operating voltages are added up, giving the higher voltage needed. All of the segments are wired in
parallel, so they get all get the same amount of voltage all the way down the strip, but the current draw adds up depending on the length of the strip. For more information
on how to power your strip, skip to step 3.
Behavior
The LEDs that fade and blink together, stay together. All the LEDs on the strip will act as one, they are non-addressable. One way to tell by sight is that they do not have
any driver chips that you can see on the strip (that would be digital!).
http://www.instructables.com/id/Intro-to-LED-Strips/
Step 2: Digital
Digital strips come with RGB LEDs and have a driver chip on the strip that control the LEDs individually. These are also called individually addressable or just
addressable.
Shown here is a strip using the LPD8806 driver. Other popular ones you will see are using the WS2801 driver and strips using WS2812 RGB LEDs, which have the
drivers build right in the LED package! They too come segmented, where they can be cut down to bite-size lengths.
These strips take 5 volts, so they can run straight off a microcontroller. They will power up when attached to 3.3 volts, just not as bright.
You will want to use a microcontroller with these to program cool patterns and make them reactive to sensors and switches. Most of the work is in the software, the
hardware set up is simple and will be gone over in a later step. Digital strips get their information from one data-in pin or two data-in and clock-in pins, dependent of what
strip is used. Make sure to check the datasheet for the pinout diagram, voltage ratings and other useful information.
Behavior
The neat thing about addressable strips is that each LED can do it's own thing. It can be any color it wants at any time. The makes blinking patterns and color swirls
possible, and so much more.
Step 3: Power
To keep your LED strip project glowing brightly with the appropriate power, you will need to know how much current your project draws and it's operating voltage. Once
you know those two things, you can choose a power supply. Keep in mind that current draw can be a tricky thing to figure out. Here we will take information from the
datasheet and plug it into some simple equations to get the max current needed, since the information from the datasheet are if the LED is on at full brightness.
To calculate the needed power supply, we will need the following info:
length of strip
number of LEDS per meter
current draw per LED OR power consumption per LED
operating voltage
LED strips are commonly powered on 5V, 12V and 24V. The number of LEDs per meter (lpm) factors in the power calculation as well. Strips can be 30, 32, 60, 144 or
more per meter.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Intro-to-LED-Strips/
As an example let's look at the white strip's datasheet. We can see the operating voltage is 12V, which should also be screen printed on the strip itself at the cut line of
each segment. What we are looking for is the current draw measured in milliamps (mA). It tells us that each segment made up of 3 LEDs draws 60 mA. To make the
calculations easier, the current draw can be divided by 3 totaling 20mA per LED. If one meter is being used with 60 LEDs per meter we have this information:
Equation:
Plug in info:
Another way of calculating current draw is using the power consumption per LED. The power consumption can also be used to find current draw if the power
consumption, measured in watts per LED is known instead. The datasheet tells us .72 watts for 3 LEDs. First divide .72/3 = .24 watts per led
Equation:
Plug in info:
(1 x 60 x .24) / 12 = 1.2
We now know that we want to use a a power supply that can provide 1.2 amps and 12 volts. Keep in mind that the current draw per LED is at full brightness. If the strips
are dimmed through a PWM pin on the Edison, it will take less current. Going by the max amount is still a good guide to know if you have enough to begin with.
Battery Life
Battery life is based on current draw of, again it will fluctuate, especially with the digital RGB strips when patterns and colors are dancing along it. Current draw will
fluctuate dependent on the color and brightness the LED is outputting. The way to accurately get the current draw is to hook it up to a multimeter and watch the amps
change per pattern cycle, take note and do some calculations.
Another way to find out battery life with a dynamic project, hook up a battery at full strength and see how long it takes to drain.
This aside a general calculation can be made by looking at a batteries mAh rating. Let's stick with the white strip, 6 AA batteries are being used to power the example
circuit. AAs roughly have 1500mAh, the 8 batteries are in series so the current stays the same at 1.5 amps. Divide this with the current draw of our project, which is 1.2.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Intro-to-LED-Strips/
Step 4: Cutting
When a specific length is needed LED strips can be easily shorted or joined using wire. Cut where marked with a line with contact pads on both side of it.
Waterproofed Strips
If the strip is waterproof, it will be coated in clear silicon. Before wires can be soldered to the pads, the coating needs to removed. Using a sharp blade carefully cut
through the coating, go slowly so the blade does not cut the circuit board. Once it's cut the coating can be peeled off easily.
Tin the pads with some solder and do the same to a stripped piece of wire. Cut a piece a heat shrink tubing and slip it over the strip before attaching the wires. Lay the
wire on top of the pad, come in with the soldering iron and heat the wire and pad up until the solder flow joining the two.
LPD8806
On the LPD8806 the pins are labeled DI and CI for Data and Clock In, this the side wire should be soldered to. Data Out (DO) and Clock Out (CO) can be used to daisy
chain strips togeth
http://www.instructables.com/id/Intro-to-LED-Strips/
Step 5: Wiring - 12 Volt Strip
Requiring 12V, these strips need more than what the Intel Edison pins output, which is 1.8V.
This can be dealt with by using a high power NPN or N-Channel MOSFET, such as an IRF510 used here. This MOSFET is rated for 5.6 Amps which is enough to power
about 9 meters with 30 LEDs per meter. The MOSFET acts as a switch which that is opened to all the higher voltage flow to the strip. For more details on how a MOSFET
works check out bildr's tutorial. It allows control signals to be sent from the PWM pins on the Edison and for it to be turned on or fade when the Edison tell's it to.
Let's build the basic circuit needed to control it with a microcontroller. An RGB strip will be used which needs one MOSFET for each color channel, making three total.
For mono strips only one MOSFET in needed, so just remove two. An external power source is needed, 8 AAs work well. If using another kind of transistor check out
the datasheet for the pin out diagram. Findchips.com is a great source for looking up components and datasheets.
List of Materials
(1) Breadboard
http://www.instructables.com/id/Intro-to-LED-Strips/
Step 6: Wiring - 5 Volt Strip
No need for a transistor since this strip is powered with 5 volts. The Arduino shield has a 5V output pin that you can connect straight to the strip. If using the mini
breakout board you can power it from the 3.3V at J18-3 for slightly dimmer LEDs or use an external power source like a 5V wall adapter power supply.
List of Materials
(1) Breadboard
http://www.instructables.com/id/Intro-to-LED-Strips/
Step 7: Add Inputs
Now that you know how to connect the strips to the microcontroller, let's add some inputs!
In order to get analog input using the Edison, the Arduino shield needs to be used since it supports ADC (analog to digital conversion). The mini breakout board needs
external hardware in order to support analog in pins.
Below are the material lists with demo code based on what strip you want to work with. Feel free to hook up two or all three strips!
LPD8806 Digital - Push button 1 for a color chasing effect, push button 2 to populate the strip with 3 different colors. Use the materials needed to hook up this 5V strip
plus:
(2) switches
Analog Mono - Fade on and off with a push of a button. Use the materials needed to hook a 12V strip plus:
(1) switch
Analog RGB - Use 3 potentiometers to control the brightness of each color channel. This makes a simple color mixer, allowing you to control what color the strip is by
tuning the channels.
(3) MOSFETs
(3) potentiometers
(8) AA batteries
If running both 12V mono and analog strips they can both be powered off of one supply.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Intro-to-LED-Strips/
File Downloads
analog_RGB.ino (1 KB)
[NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'analog_RGB.ino']
mono_LED_strip.ino (1 KB)
[NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'mono_LED_strip.ino']
http://www.instructables.com/id/Intro-to-LED-Strips/
Step 8: Uploading to Edison
The Edison can be programmed via the Eclipse and Arduino IDE. Languages that can be used are C/C++, Arduino language and Javascript.
Intel has extensive documentation on their website for the Edison and Galileo. Below are listed some of the main steps to be aware of when preparing to upload a
program to the Edison board with links to relevant pages. For more details and documentation, begin at Intel’s Get Started page. There you will learn how to assemble
hardware, download software and find demos and links providing example code.
Arduino
Get your Edison flashed with the latest firmware and learn how to connect to it through the USB serial port. To upload Eclipse you will also need to connect it to a WiFi
network, with Arduino it’s not necessary.
Download Intel’s Arduino IDE , when you open it you will see the Intel Edison and Galileo boards under the Tools menu. An understanding of Arduino is recommended
before getting started with Intel’s version. Recommended reading:
Eclipse
To upload a program via Eclipse, the Edison board needs to be connected to a network and your computer needs to be connected to the same network. After flashing the
latest firmware and connecting to the USB serial port, visit Intel's Get Started page and choose how you want to get your board online.
If programming in C/C++, Intel provides example code on their Github MRAA and UPM library pages.
Follow the steps on Intel’s website for how to install the Eclipse IDE and how to create a new project, which shows how to upload the blink program via Eclipse.
If you get stuck, the best place for help with troubleshooting is Intel’s forum.
Resources
Learning
http://www.instructables.com/id/Intro-to-LED-Strips/
MOSFET + Arduino Tutorial
Materials
Adafruit
Sparkfun
Related Instructables
Intel Edison
Make an WiFi Network edison protect Glove Coach - Intel IoT Edison
Intel Edison and intelligent desk Scanner by The internet web controlled
us~! by Rosa Ko
Addressable clock, written in DangerousTim connected LED by
LEDs by danasf JavaScript, glove for techprolet
powered by the maximising
Intel Edison by your gym
karma-laboratory training
sessions
powered by
Intel IoT by
tiernanmac.
Advertisements
Comments
1 comments Add Comment
http://www.instructables.com/id/Intro-to-LED-Strips/