As a long-time programmer, I still appreciate learning your thought processes around why you coded something in a certain way (as opposed to some other way). Keep your videos coming and I also REALLY appreciate when you include reference materials (annotated) like in your "Best pins to use for ESP8266" video. I started downloading those so that I can find them faster during my projects! Please, please, please continue to explain hardware too! It's one thing if I have to tinker-around with code to get it the way I want, but knowing when I'm supposed to solder-on some kind of resistor or something like that is not the kind of thing I have the background to know without some guidance.
I have tinkered with Arduino a little, but I will be honest, the addressable LEDs have been a bit beyond my comfort level. I loved how you stopped to explain how the LEDs work, and the differences between the strip LEDs and the individually addressable LEDs. Keep it up! Awesome stuff. Thanks!
98% of UA-cam videos about LED light strips basically explain nothing, never anything that helps us make better choices when buying or using. Many videos "testing quality" of strips never find a criticism.. because its all done so people click the affiliate link to buy strips... Thank you for being the very rare exception.
This video and the ease of finding it is proof that we didn't screw up *everything* about the internet. I am so thankful that you do what you do. You're making the world a better place.
I'd love to see more explanation videos, it really helps me to understand exactly why and what something is in the code, keep up the great work, looking forward to see what comes out in the future
Can't wait for the expansion on the holiday lights. Ben's videos were great, but we needed more real life examples to help hook up our lights and get them to work. Keep it up!
Thanks for another great video. My preference is that you follow this format and explain the code in the video. Your students are lucky to have you as a teacher.
I didn't see any comments regarding this, so I'll throw it out there. The brightness of the LEDs are controlled via pulse width modulation, whereby you change the percentage of the time that a signal is on, with respect to the period of the signal. All LED strips (that I'm aware of) have current limiting resistors built in and will have a constant brightness when the nominal voltage is applied, usually 12V. Hope this helps!
Ahhh! You're a chemistry teacher. That explains why your explanations and pacing are really effective. My high school chemistry teacher was so good that I choose Chemical Engineering as a major! I hope your students appreciate the efforts you make.
Both. I want to make a set of chaser LEDs for the turn-signal indicators of my car. Myb1st project and seeing the actual code with a supportive explanation would really help.
Great series of videos on RGB strips. I would like to note a correction in this one, @1:25 regarding the statement "by changing the resistance...", virtually all controllers use PWM, not "resistance". Also possible to adjust them using variable voltages on each channel.
Spot on. Sometimes I’m disingenuous to be able to explain a topic a bit quicker. My dimmable ceiling light video has a full explanation of pwm led drivers.
Thanks Professor Rob....excellent explanation of the code. and YES to projects with code explained...... a tip....for those who think its boring, add a time bookmark so they can skip forward....But there are too many yt videos that show a project and provide the code, so explanation and the though process helps in tweaking the project for individual needs. thanks
Thank you for this video! You are a great teacher and that countdown lighting you used in your classroom was ingenious! I am ordering the 5v led lights now and can't wait to start learning this. I hope in the future you will consider making a video of how to connect the 12v led lighting. You mentioned a voltage regulator would be needed, but I am unfamiliar with that. I'll start with baby steps and learn how to work with the 5v version. Thank you again very much Sir.
Dudeeeeeeee!!!!! I love this video!!!! Now, I can says that I truly understand how to work with addressable LEDs!!! I like the way that you explain your code, that is simply awesome!!! Is noted that you are a teacher (a really Good one)!!!! I subscribed to your channel... Again, the video is awesome and your way to explain it is even more!!! Thank you!!
I'd like to see a video where you have all the hardware and connect it all together. Then you show how you're entering the code into your computer and how it communicates with the board that runs the lights. Soup to nutz for super noobs. This video is certainly starting to part the clouds. Thanks for making great, professional content. It's obvious you put time and effort into your videos.
I love your videos, so thank you. It's because of yours and Dr. Zzzs videos that I have started tinkering with Arduino, tasmota, D1mini, NodeMCU, and LED Strips. I haven't looked through all comments, but I would like to make a suggestion for the timer. For the mappedTimer, I would use this instead: "mappedTimer = (totalMinutes * 1000) / NUM_LEDS;". This makes it useable with strips using more than 60 LEDS and also wanting access to a shorter timer like 1 minute.
I have to agree with the other commenters that both aspects of your videos are extremely valuable. I came here not really that interested in doing the project, but I enjoy your vids so I watched it anyway. And in the end I came away with a much better understanding of programming functions, which was an unexpected bonus. Keep up the excellent work! (And more node red vids please!!!)
This video is one of the very best videos I have ever seen on the internet. Don't change anything. The way you describe stuff is perfect. Keep doing more and tell if you need money or any type of contribution :-)
Your'e a good teacher mate. I've never forgotten my maths teacher from uni. She made everything id found too much for my brain to why did i find this so hard. Thank you.
Thank you and yes, I like to see videos like this one, I finely understand the map() function I just started playing with Arduinos and it was the visual with the arrows that did it for me!
Very cool, I'm 37, and I've always avoided coding and such. But I'm also Mechanical Designer and love 3d Printing. So this old dog needs to learn new tricks. Thank you for the informative video. And explaining the code really helps with understanding the intent as I'm a very visual/ hands on learner.
Please keep Explaining the code it helps for a lot of us that have a hard time just writing from scratch Thank you for taking the time to do it and for making the video
hey, I have a question, I copied the timer code and downloaded the libraries however I had an error saying that 'class SimpleTimer' has no member named 'disable'. What should I do to resolve this issue?
Hi there, I am so happy I found this channel and I am about to get started with my son - though, a question: You Link to a 16ft LED strip here - did you cut that into the right length of 57 LEDs? Can I just use scissors to shorten those strips or do I need special tools?
@@TheHookUp Hello again, I have a follow up question - I gathered now a ESP8266, the light strip and a power brick. How did you connect the ESP8266 to the light strip? I was suspecting a breadboard but I couldn't find any in the the "Hardware Video" of yours. Did you solder those two together? Do you by chance have a wiring schema somewhere in your videos? I guess, the ESP8266 also needs to be connected to the power brick, like the light strip... Thanks!
Love your videos. You're simply the boss when it comes to teaching how to control and handle any kind of LED strip on the world wide web ;-) Thanks so much (and deep respects !), Sir.
I was trying to use Fastled library to drive my sm16703 led strip using a nodemcu but got no luck. I saw your code example on github and it worked like a charm. I was missing => #define FASTLED_ESP8266_RAW_PIN_ORDER the right pin order in the sketch. Thanks a ton man!
I ordered everything in the hardware you said from the websites that you recommended, now I need to hook up with the arduino, can you help with that please? I saw one , I will have 112 lineal feet of lights on my house, i will do 2 zone’s, the bidirectional board is very small, the one thing I don’t understand is the pins and how to connect them to the board i can see the wires directions but on the back of the arduino board you have pins on another board and that’s where i get confused, on the software that you have I think i can manage that by changing the numbers of led’s and use the same type of animation you have
I think that it's more beneficial to explain your projects the way you did in this video. The other suggestion should be added too as some people learn better that way. Some people are visual learners while others are quite comfortable perusing a textbook.
Hi Rob, first of all, congratulations on sharing your knowledge. These videos are very inspirational and helpful. I just came out with a doubt: in another video called "Year Round Holiday LEDs Part 2: Software" you say that to use a logic level converter for the 5v led strip and where you are saying that it's not necessary. Can you clarify this, please? Thanks!
I could use some help with some Arduino code if you'd be up for it... I want to make an addressable RGB Thermometer using the "LIXIE" style acrylic 0-9 numbers like a "Nixie" tube would. So say the temp in the room is 58. (2 column; A=5 & B=8) Using 2 WS2812B leds per number.. then from anything under 32degrees F would be Blue, 33-50 would be light blue, 51-70Green, 71-80Yellow, and 81-90 Orange and anything above 91Red... So as temp goes up, so the the color temp. Then it would be an input from a LM35 transistor for temp, which uses a 0-1vDc to measure temp. or maybe a Thermocouple of some type. That part shouldn't change the code much. But the hard part comes in the actual numbers. So say it needs to read 01 on the display. The 1st 4 leds would need to be off, off, on, on, at color, X,X,160 going upto say 69 at whatever # led that would be via rows of 4 or 8 I guess... This is the part I'm REALLY LOST!!! So lets think about this.. I have 2colums, with 2leds each. That 4.. 4leds per ROW. with 10 Rows.. So I have 40leds, in 10 rows. 4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4=0123456789 & 0123456789 respectively.... So if i want 69 I'm guessing that's LED#'s 21&22 plus 35&36 with a color of 96... . Follow me? Do you think you could help?
I'm just getting on board with the Arduino and R.Pi world. I took COBOL, Pascal, Fortran, Basic, HTML, and so on so I should be able to pick it up quickly. Where should I start? I'll look at the Arduino site now and go from there. Thanks for the info on your videos.
Thanks. I found this really helpful and particularly well explained (Well done👍😀👏) If you do more videos... including the description is particularly useful for people like me who find writing code difficult. Thanks again 🙌
What about much more complex 'scenes'? Like Christmas light shows to music, does someone painfully manual set each second up (doubtful, even if it could fit the file size). Or generation of generally more complex effects? There's got to be a way to not manually type every color/time interval. (I know this was basics, but ideas for the future).
Great video. I really like the code deep dives. It helps my learning experience. Specifically arduino code, but your Node-Red examples are really great also. Oh, oh, oh, don't forget hardware. Love to see your circuits. So, keep it up. Thanks.
could you do a video on installing the digital addressable leds on portable type accessories. i'd like to learn about what controllers, power supplies and just overall details in making led projects work that aren't permanent installs. Like for example making an LED costume.
Great video! I purchased the board and lights you linked to in the description. I was able to control the LEDs with FastLED. However, once I connect to WiFi, FastLED stops working completely. I don't get anything happening on the LED strip. I know this is an old video and you have a lot of comments, but was just wondering if you might know what is going on.
Thanks for the walkthrough. I'm new to Arduino development and general hardware stuff (haven't soldered for years), but I think I can handle the software side. Do you have any advice or example pictures that demonstrate how to wire/attach stuff to the board? I saw the conceptual diagrams, but I'm not sure where to begin in terms of knowing when to solder, or if I should be investing in a breadboard or what.
I need help. I want to make a project using HS107s strips, because it seems the only one that's fast enough. It is a 6 pin chip (clock in/out, data in/out, Vcc.Gnd.) What I would like to know is this : All signals and commands go to the first LED in the strip, When I send LED_1 a Start Frame (all zeroes), does it alert LED_2 that we are starting a frame. If there are 100 LEDs in the strip, do they all get notified? The protocol is [aaa][ccccc][bbbbbbbb][gggggggg][rrrrrrrr], where a = 1 (start bits), c = brightness (5 bits) b, g, r = Blue, Green, Red intensities. For the Start Frame, all 32 bits are 1's OK we sent the Start, so now we send the colour of LED_1 [111][ccccc][blue][green][red], where ccccc = brightness (5 bits - 32 levels). Presumably, LED_1 lights up. Let's make it simple by giving some values 0x00000000 - Start Frame 0xe60f0f0f - global brightness = 6, all colours intensity 15 Now, LED_1 has its data. That data does not get clocked out to LED_2, so how does the data path through LED_1 work when it is already satisfied? LED_1 already has its data, so it's not interested in LED_2 data - so how does LED_1 handle it? Data arrives at the DI port and gets clocked out of the DO port, but there must surely be some delay? LED_1 has used clock cycles 0...31, so does the very next clock, clock the first bit into LED_2, or is there a gap? The reason I ask is that this could be a very long strip. if we have lit 198 LEDs, the next bit has to get clocked into LED_199, but it has to pass through all of the LEDs along the way, and each one must introduce a tiny delay. Along a long strip, I would expect these delays to add up to something significant. Does the next data bit, running at 40 MHz get reliably clocked into the next LED, regardless how many are before it in the strip? The Datasheet tells me that there is an End Frame word of all 1's, but that raises 2 questions : 1) how is that word distinguished from a word of full brightness on all colours - which would also be a word of all 1's? 2) What does that word do to LED_1 ... LED_98? The word must pass through all of the others first. What does it do to them? In fact, how to LEDs on the strip react to the Start word and the End word? I had surmised that the Start word would tell LED_1 that the next data was for it. It would clock all zeroes into its shift register, then the first 1 would start to load it, but while it was loading, it wouild clock out all the zeroes, so that LED_2 would be initialising while LED_1 was being loaded, and so on down the strip, so that each LED is initialised in turn - but I don't understand the function of the End Frame word (0xffffffff). Which LED is the first to be illuminated? Is it the one closest to the microprocessor, or the one furthest away from it? Is there something I have radically misunderstood? I find the datasheet somewhat lacking in detail. Any guidance appreciated.
Great video. Using the single message to convert to payload is smart; is that all set up in Node Red? Could it be used to dynamically control the strip from a website updating (like an HTTP Endpoint); such as flashing when a team scores or show positions in a race; like if a Ferrari driver is first in F1 the first LED would be red, or showing what places school kids are in a running race? Seen some IFTTT creations do something similar, but since the ESPN applet was removed from there you can no longer do this.
Quick question - do you have to do any soldering? I’m a arduino newbie and I have the arduino starter kit circuit board and breadboard. I *believe* they were made to make things without soldering. Did a few projects without having to do any of that.
I have an unopened box with 24V HUE LED extension strip, from back, when I did not know better. 😆 Can i connect this to my arduino or do I I need some special software to use this strip?
I have a question here about Individually addressable LED lets say you have 20 leds and you want all them red but when press button 1 and number 5 led throw 12 turn yellow but 1 throw 4 and 13 throw 20 is red and when the button is not pressed all leds are red
Hi there, is there a maximum as to how many LEDs I can control in a row? I am looking at buying 40m of 60LED/metre strip. Will I have any issues controlling them all in one row (providing the strip is all powered correctly)...
Its important to have the details, I mean for better understanding. Copying codes and not even knowing how it works or why you used certain parts would be useless in my opinion.
Hey, I was wondering: Can I use 2 different strips (for example the same 2x 1m strips) and assign them the LED0> you were talking about, or is the last one going to reset it and the new strip is LED0 again? Im asking because 2x 1m is cheaper than one 3m, and I only need 2m.
I would like to purchase a RGB controller and wire it to about 4 or 5 RGB diodes (not a strip light). Is this possible? Can someone link a diagram or video?
Awesome videos very informative.. I have a question... every time I do power injection on my LED's from there on all the lights became unresponsive and can't be controlled if I don't use power injection well, everything works well but it dims every led more and more been green and yellow almost gone... any suggestions? I've been trying everything I see and nothing makes it work
Can you cut the straps at the connector points and extend the strip sections with segments of wire and still maintain the individual control.? I want to use the programmable leds in a model kit. Being able to extend the strips with wire between segments of the model would be extremely handy as I intend using strobes etc....??
huh, i need the code man but i need the explanation too LOL, i barely got homeassistant running with drzzz,bruh and you, i have no idea what im doing but i love this stuff and i need LIGHTS! youre the man.
I love the in depth explanation! Also... High school teacher? Do you teach the kids to write code!?!?!? I thought for sure you worked in IT! You must be one hell of a hobbyist! Hahaha!
I am a locomotive engineer (I drive trains) and work on call; so, my sleep periods are random. The windows in my room are all blacked out, which help me to sleep, but don’t aid in me waking up. I would like to put LEDs around the perimeter of my ceiling and set up a controller that I could push a button that would start a 8 (or 9, or 10) hour timer, where the lights would ramp up to full on, starting at about 15 minutes before the end of the timer. I think this would cause me to wake up better (than an alarm blaring in my ear). Would you do a video on this?
I need help with these ready controllers like the SP107E or 108E? My project is a 4m long 60/m led 2812B with 20A power supply. Do the controllers take power off the same 20A supply? This is for a backlight on a glass chalk board for work and this project is kind of a gateway before I try the Arduino.
Watched Ben's video and have orders those pieces but am super interested in the custom created animations! Also being new to all this hearing both is great! I actually started an LED project, but using an SD card LED programmer called LED Edit. Not happy since I have to program and upload to an SD card to change things... Would be super cool to get this or something similar to it in home assistant. Ben has something similar but just using pre built effects, the addition of customization would be AMAZING
Dear The Hookup, you know it already, but your video is just super awesome. I had a question to ask after making this compliment : where can I find high wattage addressable RGB leds with high CRIs ? Deepest thanks.
I have a raspberry pi connected to my led strip and i’ve written a Python program with all sorts of effects for the led strip. I want to control the functions from my python program via my phone but i dont know how. Any suggestions? Ive already looked for wifi controllers for ledstrips but you cant program those and you can only use the build in effects.
For years I've thought of building a vertical panel with multiple lights that would be activated in programmable pattern (time and sequence). It would be used for boxing practice and to improve reaction time, I think would be an extremely easy thing to do for someone who has some knowledge of the subject, but I have NONE. How can I get started with such a project? Could it be that there are plans available for such things? (Jan 2. 2022).
Loved the video!! I know that what I'm asking below is tailored to my situation but I honestly think that would be a good concept for a "modern" house. Im planning to light up my living room only with individual addressable led strip no bulbs whatsoever. So I see myself using it most of the time with white colour, though there's a party time when I change it to different colours and animations through home assistant light selection. Also I know it's possible to make it reacts to music while still lighting up the room, think this as a default colour to a dimmed down white and colourful bright leds when reaction to the music. The thing is to make it useful for a permanent lightning solution, it would be important to be able to change the colours easily back to white. Just like using Philips hue bulbs. If the lights is other than white and someone turns the switch off and on the lights would turn it to white. Also be able turn on/off the music reaction animation. Please keep posting the code. That helps a lot! Specially for those not good at coding. Sorry if it's too much to ask for it. Yet loving the videos. All the best
I would highly recommend looking into RGBW strips rather than RGB. There isn't as much library support, but the white color produced by RGB alone just isn't that great. The other things you want to do (defaulting to white after color) are really simple and I can help you or point you in the right direction with that stuff.
Hello all. I am new to LED lighting. With that being said, I will be putting WS2815 light strips on my home's exterior inside channel. I have almost all I need (lights, channel, power supply), with the exception of the controller. how do I choose which one? I have a small setup in my office using the SP105E controller, but I want one that I can program. I have googled most and have to admit I am a bit confused as to which one will be compatible. ( T1000S, K-1000C etc...)
Is the a way to program 12 volt lights to music where you could choose certain 12volt lamps to turn off and on with certain beats of a song? I have been searching for years on how this could be done. I would love to hear that there is a software like audacity that would allow me to look at a song and choose where in that song that I would like certain lamps to turn on and off?
With node mcu and xlights how come there is only 1 port when using xlights and the node mcu? Where as if I had a falcon differential board there are 4 ports usable! On the node mcu can I just connect to a different pin to get those other ports
I'm waiting for my ws2812b strips to arrive so I can start a 25m project which is also my first ever led project. So your videos are coming at a perfect time! Something that I never found an answer to no matter how much I researched, was how to build animations starting from a specific point of a strip(s). Think of a house exterior peak... Also, is there any animation simulator software in existence? Rather than trying to work out what it would look like based on coding in an arduino sketch, you could see it in action in a simulator first. I doubt there's something like this but it would be really cool!
Yep, that first part of the for loop where it says i = 0, that means it will start at LED0, if you make i=50 it will start with led50 so you can start them at different places. I'm going to make a video specifically about this subject a little later.
That would be amazing my friend, keep up the great work. By the way, sorry for the lack of commenting on your roller blinds video that I was very eager to see prior, I decided to just buy a ready made tubular motor because the price ease of use outweighed your step motor project. It's a little above my paygrade :)
do you have any project with ws2811? or can you explain how WS2811 work? to my understanding each group of 3 LEDS in a strip equals to one. other word a 66 led strip of WS2811 should be shown as 22 in the code ( NUM_LEDS = 22 ). right?
Great explanation. One thing I couldn’t quite understand (and something that’s driving me insane with my own project) is how you interrupt your loop with a new MQTT message. I’m trying to run looping animations indefinitely unless a new MQTT message arrives. I have had minimal luck but if the animations run too long my 8266 resets. Any explanation would be fantastic. I’m sure problem lies somewhere between my chair and my keyboard.... Thanks again!!
Love the video and info! I did have a question. I want some leds for my statue collection but I’d like to configure the leds to be different colors for different pieces, display. Basically each led may be different. Am I biting too much off being a novice to this sort of thing?
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #30 ДВА В ОДНОМ [Один человек]• Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nrXy15orKhY/mqdefault.jpg)
Please keep doing videos with the explanation of the code, I'm trying to learn and that helps a LOT.
Thank you for another great video
As a long-time programmer, I still appreciate learning your thought processes around why you coded something in a certain way (as opposed to some other way). Keep your videos coming and I also REALLY appreciate when you include reference materials (annotated) like in your "Best pins to use for ESP8266" video. I started downloading those so that I can find them faster during my projects!
Please, please, please continue to explain hardware too! It's one thing if I have to tinker-around with code to get it the way I want, but knowing when I'm supposed to solder-on some kind of resistor or something like that is not the kind of thing I have the background to know without some guidance.
I have tinkered with Arduino a little, but I will be honest, the addressable LEDs have been a bit beyond my comfort level. I loved how you stopped to explain how the LEDs work, and the differences between the strip LEDs and the individually addressable LEDs. Keep it up! Awesome stuff. Thanks!
funny, i just bought myself some LED strips to tacle this and here you come and making a video about it ^^
98% of UA-cam videos about LED light strips basically explain nothing, never anything that helps us make better choices when buying or using. Many videos "testing quality" of strips never find a criticism..
because its all done so people click the affiliate link to buy strips...
Thank you for being the very rare exception.
This video and the ease of finding it is proof that we didn't screw up *everything* about the internet. I am so thankful that you do what you do. You're making the world a better place.
I'd love to see more explanation videos, it really helps me to understand exactly why and what something is in the code, keep up the great work, looking forward to see what comes out in the future
Can't wait for the expansion on the holiday lights. Ben's videos were great, but we needed more real life examples to help hook up our lights and get them to work. Keep it up!
I can't wait either!!
Thanks for another great video. My preference is that you follow this format and explain the code in the video. Your students are lucky to have you as a teacher.
Your style of teaching is fantastic! This really helps me understand things a lot easier than most videos.
That's great to hear since my day job is teaching high school science.
I didn't see any comments regarding this, so I'll throw it out there. The brightness of the LEDs are controlled via pulse width modulation, whereby you change the percentage of the time that a signal is on, with respect to the period of the signal.
All LED strips (that I'm aware of) have current limiting resistors built in and will have a constant brightness when the nominal voltage is applied, usually 12V.
Hope this helps!
Ahhh! You're a chemistry teacher. That explains why your explanations and pacing are really effective. My high school chemistry teacher was so good that I choose Chemical Engineering as a major! I hope your students appreciate the efforts you make.
Both. I want to make a set of chaser LEDs for the turn-signal indicators of my car. Myb1st project and seeing the actual code with a supportive explanation would really help.
I like the code walk through, I have a rough time learning by just weeding through code. Thanks for the video.
Great series of videos on RGB strips. I would like to note a correction in this one, @1:25 regarding the statement "by changing the resistance...", virtually all controllers use PWM, not "resistance". Also possible to adjust them using variable voltages on each channel.
Spot on. Sometimes I’m disingenuous to be able to explain a topic a bit quicker. My dimmable ceiling light video has a full explanation of pwm led drivers.
Thank you, you helped me finish my prototype in no time, a great explanation from basic to necessary to get things done. Great work on your videos.
You're the best instructor in this space. Thank you for the tireless work.
Thanks Professor Rob....excellent explanation of the code. and YES to projects with code explained...... a tip....for those who think its boring, add a time bookmark so they can skip forward....But there are too many yt videos that show a project and provide the code, so explanation and the though process helps in tweaking the project for individual needs. thanks
Thank you for this video! You are a great teacher and that countdown lighting you used in your classroom was ingenious! I am ordering the 5v led lights now and can't wait to start learning this. I hope in the future you will consider making a video of how to connect the 12v led lighting. You mentioned a voltage regulator would be needed, but I am unfamiliar with that. I'll start with baby steps and learn how to work with the 5v version. Thank you again very much Sir.
Future STEAM teacher here! Thank you for your videos, don't know what I'd do without them!
*STEM
STEAM is the new term, it includes arts.
Dudeeeeeeee!!!!! I love this video!!!!
Now, I can says that I truly understand how to work with addressable LEDs!!!
I like the way that you explain your code, that is simply awesome!!!
Is noted that you are a teacher (a really Good one)!!!!
I subscribed to your channel...
Again, the video is awesome and your way to explain it is even more!!! Thank you!!
I'd like to see a video where you have all the hardware and connect it all together. Then you show how you're entering the code into your computer and how it communicates with the board that runs the lights. Soup to nutz for super noobs. This video is certainly starting to part the clouds. Thanks for making great, professional content. It's obvious you put time and effort into your videos.
I love your videos, so thank you. It's because of yours and Dr. Zzzs videos that I have started tinkering with Arduino, tasmota, D1mini, NodeMCU, and LED Strips. I haven't looked through all comments, but I would like to make a suggestion for the timer. For the mappedTimer, I would use this instead: "mappedTimer = (totalMinutes * 1000) / NUM_LEDS;". This makes it useable with strips using more than 60 LEDS and also wanting access to a shorter timer like 1 minute.
Explaining the code helps. I know a bit or 10 about coding, but always run across new ideas.
There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
I have to agree with the other commenters that both aspects of your videos are extremely valuable. I came here not really that interested in doing the project, but I enjoy your vids so I watched it anyway. And in the end I came away with a much better understanding of programming functions, which was an unexpected bonus. Keep up the excellent work! (And more node red vids please!!!)
This video is one of the very best videos I have ever seen on the internet. Don't change anything. The way you describe stuff is perfect. Keep doing more and tell if you need money or any type of contribution :-)
Your'e a good teacher mate. I've never forgotten my maths teacher from uni. She made everything id found too much for my brain to why did i find this so hard. Thank you.
Thanks for making these videos. I have wanted to do addressable lights on my house for years and it all seemed so overwhelming until now.
Thank you and yes, I like to see videos like this one, I finely understand the map() function I just started playing with Arduinos and it was the visual with the arrows that did it for me!
Very cool, I'm 37, and I've always avoided coding and such. But I'm also Mechanical Designer and love 3d Printing. So this old dog needs to learn new tricks. Thank you for the informative video. And explaining the code really helps with understanding the intent as I'm a very visual/ hands on learner.
Coding opens up a whole new world of possibilities.
Please keep Explaining the code it helps for a lot of us that have a hard time just writing from scratch Thank you for taking the time to do it and for making the video
I am really looking forward to any new video you make. Thank you very much for making them. Also congrats to the 10k subscribers! :-)
hey, I have a question, I copied the timer code and downloaded the libraries however I had an error saying that 'class SimpleTimer' has no member named 'disable'. What should I do to resolve this issue?
Hi there, I am so happy I found this channel and I am about to get started with my son - though, a question: You Link to a 16ft LED strip here - did you cut that into the right length of 57 LEDs? Can I just use scissors to shorten those strips or do I need special tools?
Just scissors
@@TheHookUp Hello again, I have a follow up question - I gathered now a ESP8266, the light strip and a power brick. How did you connect the ESP8266 to the light strip? I was suspecting a breadboard but I couldn't find any in the the "Hardware Video" of yours. Did you solder those two together? Do you by chance have a wiring schema somewhere in your videos? I guess, the ESP8266 also needs to be connected to the power brick, like the light strip... Thanks!
Love your videos. You're simply the boss when it comes to teaching how to control and handle any kind of LED strip on the world wide web ;-)
Thanks so much (and deep respects !), Sir.
Your presentation and way of explaining are excellent and make me want to build my own. Thank you
Like that you make really clear explanation of all your codes
I was trying to use Fastled library to drive my sm16703 led strip using a nodemcu but got no luck. I saw your code example on github and it worked like a charm.
I was missing => #define FASTLED_ESP8266_RAW_PIN_ORDER
the right pin order in the sketch.
Thanks a ton man!
I ordered everything in the hardware you said from the websites that you recommended, now I need to hook up with the arduino, can you help with that please? I saw one , I will have 112 lineal feet of lights on my house, i will do 2 zone’s, the bidirectional board is very small, the one thing I don’t understand is the pins and how to connect them to the board i can see the wires directions but on the back of the arduino board you have pins on another board and that’s where i get confused, on the software that you have I think i can manage that by changing the numbers of led’s and use the same type of animation you have
Thank you for the most clear and lucid explanations and advice.
I think that it's more beneficial to explain your projects the way you did in this video. The other suggestion should be added too as some people learn better that way. Some people are visual learners while others are quite comfortable perusing a textbook.
Hi Rob, first of all, congratulations on sharing your knowledge. These videos are very inspirational and helpful. I just came out with a doubt: in another video called "Year Round Holiday LEDs Part 2: Software" you say that to use a logic level converter for the 5v led strip and where you are saying that it's not necessary. Can you clarify this, please? Thanks!
I could use some help with some Arduino code if you'd be up for it... I want to make an addressable RGB Thermometer using the "LIXIE" style acrylic 0-9 numbers like a "Nixie" tube would. So say the temp in the room is 58. (2 column; A=5 & B=8) Using 2 WS2812B leds per number.. then from anything under 32degrees F would be Blue, 33-50 would be light blue, 51-70Green, 71-80Yellow, and 81-90 Orange and anything above 91Red... So as temp goes up, so the the color temp. Then it would be an input from a LM35 transistor for temp, which uses a 0-1vDc to measure temp. or maybe a Thermocouple of some type. That part shouldn't change the code much. But the hard part comes in the actual numbers. So say it needs to read 01 on the display. The 1st 4 leds would need to be off, off, on, on, at color, X,X,160 going upto say 69 at whatever # led that would be via rows of 4 or 8 I guess... This is the part I'm REALLY LOST!!! So lets think about this.. I have 2colums, with 2leds each. That 4.. 4leds per ROW. with 10 Rows.. So I have 40leds, in 10 rows. 4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4x4=0123456789 & 0123456789 respectively.... So if i want 69 I'm guessing that's LED#'s 21&22 plus 35&36 with a color of 96... .
Follow me? Do you think you could help?
Wow, I love it. However, I have no idea how to program an Arduino Where can I find a video that will teach me the fine art of programming the code?
I'm just getting on board with the Arduino and R.Pi world. I took COBOL, Pascal, Fortran, Basic, HTML, and so on so I should be able to pick it up quickly. Where should I start? I'll look at the Arduino site now and go from there. Thanks for the info on your videos.
Thanks. I found this really helpful and particularly well explained (Well done👍😀👏)
If you do more videos... including the description is particularly useful for people like me who find writing code difficult. Thanks again 🙌
What about much more complex 'scenes'? Like Christmas light shows to music, does someone painfully manual set each second up (doubtful, even if it could fit the file size). Or generation of generally more complex effects? There's got to be a way to not manually type every color/time interval. (I know this was basics, but ideas for the future).
Great video. I really like the code deep dives. It helps my learning experience. Specifically arduino code, but your Node-Red examples are really great also. Oh, oh, oh, don't forget hardware. Love to see your circuits. So, keep it up. Thanks.
could you do a video on installing the digital addressable leds on portable type accessories. i'd like to learn about what controllers, power supplies and just overall details in making led projects work that aren't permanent installs. Like for example making an LED costume.
Great video! I purchased the board and lights you linked to in the description. I was able to control the LEDs with FastLED. However, once I connect to WiFi, FastLED stops working completely. I don't get anything happening on the LED strip. I know this is an old video and you have a lot of comments, but was just wondering if you might know what is going on.
Thanks for the walkthrough. I'm new to Arduino development and general hardware stuff (haven't soldered for years), but I think I can handle the software side. Do you have any advice or example pictures that demonstrate how to wire/attach stuff to the board? I saw the conceptual diagrams, but I'm not sure where to begin in terms of knowing when to solder, or if I should be investing in a breadboard or what.
Go over to Ben Eater and copy what he does on his breadboards.
this video is amazing! thank you. It helps so much when the code its explain. I can wrap my head around FASTLED Way better after this.
Definitely explain the code.
I need help. I want to make a project using HS107s strips, because it seems the only one that's fast enough. It is a 6 pin chip (clock in/out, data in/out, Vcc.Gnd.) What I would like to know is this : All signals and commands go to the first LED in the strip, When I send LED_1 a Start Frame (all zeroes), does it alert LED_2 that we are starting a frame. If there are 100 LEDs in the strip, do they all get notified?
The protocol is [aaa][ccccc][bbbbbbbb][gggggggg][rrrrrrrr], where
a = 1 (start bits), c = brightness (5 bits) b, g, r = Blue, Green, Red intensities.
For the Start Frame, all 32 bits are 1's
OK we sent the Start, so now we send the colour of LED_1 [111][ccccc][blue][green][red], where ccccc = brightness (5 bits - 32 levels). Presumably, LED_1 lights up.
Let's make it simple by giving some values
0x00000000 - Start Frame
0xe60f0f0f - global brightness = 6, all colours intensity 15
Now, LED_1 has its data. That data does not get clocked out to LED_2, so how does the data path through LED_1 work when it is already satisfied?
LED_1 already has its data, so it's not interested in LED_2 data - so how does LED_1 handle it? Data arrives at the DI port and gets clocked out of the DO port, but there must surely be some delay? LED_1 has used clock cycles 0...31, so does the very next clock, clock the first bit into LED_2, or is there a gap? The reason I ask is that this could be a very long strip. if we have lit 198 LEDs, the next bit has to get clocked into LED_199, but it has to pass through all of the LEDs along the way, and each one must introduce a tiny delay. Along a long strip, I would expect these delays to add up to something significant. Does the next data bit, running at 40 MHz get reliably clocked into the next LED, regardless how many are before it in the strip?
The Datasheet tells me that there is an End Frame word of all 1's, but that raises 2 questions : 1) how is that word distinguished from a word of full brightness on all colours - which would also be a word of all 1's?
2) What does that word do to LED_1 ... LED_98? The word must pass through all of the others first. What does it do to them?
In fact, how to LEDs on the strip react to the Start word and the End word? I had surmised that the Start word would tell LED_1 that the next data was for it. It would clock all zeroes into its shift register, then the first 1 would start to load it, but while it was loading, it wouild clock out all the zeroes, so that LED_2 would be initialising while LED_1 was being loaded, and so on down the strip, so that each LED is initialised in turn - but I don't understand the function of the End Frame word (0xffffffff).
Which LED is the first to be illuminated? Is it the one closest to the microprocessor, or the one furthest away from it?
Is there something I have radically misunderstood? I find the datasheet somewhat lacking in detail. Any guidance appreciated.
A sketch for a countdown to New Years? With fireworks at the end? That would be sick...
Like this style video with the code. You have the correct balance of code and content!
This video format is super instructive ! keep going, we need more ! :)
Great video. Using the single message to convert to payload is smart; is that all set up in Node Red? Could it be used to dynamically control the strip from a website updating (like an HTTP Endpoint); such as flashing when a team scores or show positions in a race; like if a Ferrari driver is first in F1 the first LED would be red, or showing what places school kids are in a running race?
Seen some IFTTT creations do something similar, but since the ESPN applet was removed from there you can no longer do this.
Quick question - do you have to do any soldering? I’m a arduino newbie and I have the arduino starter kit circuit board and breadboard. I *believe* they were made to make things without soldering. Did a few projects without having to do any of that.
I have an unopened box with 24V HUE LED extension strip, from back, when I did not know better. 😆
Can i connect this to my arduino or do I I need some special software to use this strip?
I have a question here about Individually addressable LED lets say you have 20 leds and you want all them red but when press button 1 and number 5 led throw 12 turn yellow but 1 throw 4 and 13 throw 20 is red and when the button is not pressed all leds are red
Hi there, is there a maximum as to how many LEDs I can control in a row? I am looking at buying 40m of 60LED/metre strip. Will I have any issues controlling them all in one row (providing the strip is all powered correctly)...
Just starting to learn about this type of thing so the explanation is really helpful. What I don't understand I backtrack to.
Its important to have the details, I mean for better understanding. Copying codes and not even knowing how it works or why you used certain parts would be useless in my opinion.
Using the basic code my single LED is mostly on but occasionally blinks and further LEDS down the strip light up. Any thoughts?
Hey, I was wondering: Can I use 2 different strips (for example the same 2x 1m strips) and assign them the LED0> you were talking about, or is the last one going to reset it and the new strip is LED0 again? Im asking because 2x 1m is cheaper than one 3m, and I only need 2m.
I would like to purchase a RGB controller and wire it to about 4 or 5 RGB diodes (not a strip light). Is this possible? Can someone link a diagram or video?
Awesome videos very informative.. I have a question... every time I do power injection on my LED's from there on all the lights became unresponsive and can't be controlled if I don't use power injection well, everything works well but it dims every led more and more been green and yellow almost gone... any suggestions? I've been trying everything I see and nothing makes it work
Can you cut the straps at the connector points and extend the strip sections with segments of wire and still maintain the individual control.?
I want to use the programmable leds in a model kit. Being able to extend the strips with wire between segments of the model would be extremely handy as I intend using strobes etc....??
I need a microcontroller that will work with 5v on a 72v e scooter. What would you recommend?
huh, i need the code man but i need the explanation too LOL, i barely got homeassistant running with drzzz,bruh and you, i have no idea what im doing but i love this stuff and i need LIGHTS! youre the man.
I enjoy seeing the code with explanation.
I love the in depth explanation! Also... High school teacher? Do you teach the kids to write code!?!?!? I thought for sure you worked in IT! You must be one hell of a hobbyist! Hahaha!
I'm a biology teacher by trade, I've recently started teaching AP computer science and introduction to engineering though.
I am a locomotive engineer (I drive trains) and work on call; so, my sleep periods are random. The windows in my room are all blacked out, which help me to sleep, but don’t aid in me waking up. I would like to put LEDs around the perimeter of my ceiling and set up a controller that I could push a button that would start a 8 (or 9, or 10) hour timer, where the lights would ramp up to full on, starting at about 15 minutes before the end of the timer. I think this would cause me to wake up better (than an alarm blaring in my ear). Would you do a video on this?
I think you’d like this project: ua-cam.com/video/2j3UyrBjB4g/v-deo.html
I need help with these ready controllers like the SP107E or 108E? My project is a 4m long 60/m led 2812B with 20A power supply. Do the controllers take power off the same 20A supply? This is for a backlight on a glass chalk board for work and this project is kind of a gateway before I try the Arduino.
Watched Ben's video and have orders those pieces but am super interested in the custom created animations! Also being new to all this hearing both is great!
I actually started an LED project, but using an SD card LED programmer called LED Edit. Not happy since I have to program and upload to an SD card to change things... Would be super cool to get this or something similar to it in home assistant. Ben has something similar but just using pre built effects, the addition of customization would be AMAZING
Check out my LED playlist, all the code is ready and waiting for you :)
Dear The Hookup, you know it already, but your video is just super awesome. I had a question to ask after making this compliment : where can I find high wattage addressable RGB leds with high CRIs ? Deepest thanks.
I have a raspberry pi connected to my led strip and i’ve written a Python program with all sorts of effects for the led strip. I want to control the functions from my python program via my phone but i dont know how. Any suggestions?
Ive already looked for wifi controllers for ledstrips but you cant program those and you can only use the build in effects.
For years I've thought of building a vertical panel with multiple lights that would be activated in programmable pattern (time and sequence). It would be used for boxing practice and to improve reaction time, I think would be an extremely easy thing to do for someone who has some knowledge of the subject, but I have NONE. How can I get started with such a project? Could it be that there are plans available for such things? (Jan 2. 2022).
Loved the video!!
I know that what I'm asking below is tailored to my situation but I honestly think that would be a good concept for a "modern" house.
Im planning to light up my living room only with individual addressable led strip no bulbs whatsoever. So I see myself using it most of the time with white colour, though there's a party time when I change it to different colours and animations through home assistant light selection. Also I know it's possible to make it reacts to music while still lighting up the room, think this as a default colour to a dimmed down white and colourful bright leds when reaction to the music.
The thing is to make it useful for a permanent lightning solution, it would be important to be able to change the colours easily back to white. Just like using Philips hue bulbs. If the lights is other than white and someone turns the switch off and on the lights would turn it to white. Also be able turn on/off the music reaction animation.
Please keep posting the code. That helps a lot! Specially for those not good at coding.
Sorry if it's too much to ask for it. Yet loving the videos. All the best
I would highly recommend looking into RGBW strips rather than RGB. There isn't as much library support, but the white color produced by RGB alone just isn't that great.
The other things you want to do (defaulting to white after color) are really simple and I can help you or point you in the right direction with that stuff.
Hi is there a program done that I only need to tell how many led I have and verify LED position??
Hello all. I am new to LED lighting. With that being said, I will be putting WS2815 light strips on my home's exterior inside channel. I have almost all I need (lights, channel, power supply), with the exception of the controller. how do I choose which one? I have a small setup in my office using the SP105E controller, but I want one that I can program. I have googled most and have to admit I am a bit confused as to which one will be compatible. ( T1000S, K-1000C etc...)
So we can make light on to guide someone's find the exact 1 cabinet form the 100's cabinet, where he store before, can you make one?
Please make video TLC5947 Arduino uno RGB LED Project
Is it possible to buy a controller that is programmed for me?
Is the a way to program 12 volt lights to music where you could choose certain 12volt lamps to turn off and on with certain beats of a song? I have been searching for years on how this could be done. I would love to hear that there is a software like audacity that would allow me to look at a song and choose where in that song that I would like certain lamps to turn on and off?
With node mcu and xlights how come there is only 1 port when using xlights and the node mcu? Where as if I had a falcon differential board there are 4 ports usable! On the node mcu can I just connect to a different pin to get those other ports
Do you have to download FastLED ? I just want to learn how to control one LED on a strip form scratch.
I'm waiting for my ws2812b strips to arrive so I can start a 25m project which is also my first ever led project. So your videos are coming at a perfect time!
Something that I never found an answer to no matter how much I researched, was how to build animations starting from a specific point of a strip(s). Think of a house exterior peak...
Also, is there any animation simulator software in existence? Rather than trying to work out what it would look like based on coding in an arduino sketch, you could see it in action in a simulator first.
I doubt there's something like this but it would be really cool!
Yep, that first part of the for loop where it says i = 0, that means it will start at LED0, if you make i=50 it will start with led50 so you can start them at different places.
I'm going to make a video specifically about this subject a little later.
That would be amazing my friend, keep up the great work.
By the way, sorry for the lack of commenting on your roller blinds video that I was very eager to see prior, I decided to just buy a ready made tubular motor because the price ease of use outweighed your step motor project. It's a little above my paygrade :)
do you have any project with ws2811? or can you explain how WS2811 work? to my understanding each group of 3 LEDS in a strip equals to one. other word a 66 led strip of WS2811 should be shown as 22 in the code ( NUM_LEDS = 22 ). right?
Yep, you've got it right.
how would i control this with a TOUCHSCREEN GUI connected to the Arduino
Both.
Sorry, is the light bar in the class, being controlled by your home.io setup at home?
Great explanation. One thing I couldn’t quite understand (and something that’s driving me insane with my own project) is how you interrupt your loop with a new MQTT message. I’m trying to run looping animations indefinitely unless a new MQTT message arrives. I have had minimal luck but if the animations run too long my 8266 resets. Any explanation would be fantastic. I’m sure problem lies somewhere between my chair and my keyboard.... Thanks again!!
How can I use such leds to indicate location in rack .,, like pick to light scenarios.?. Please advise
Thanks for the video, did you use any resistor for the led strip?
I recommend you continue to explain the code but also use github so people can clone your repo and follow along.
Can I do this too with my strips? I have 4 points 1 is saying “r” 2 is saying “g” 3 is saying “b” and the last one is saying “+12v”
Those are rgb 12v and I think he mentions them in the first 3 mins.
Love the video and info! I did have a question. I want some leds for my statue collection but I’d like to configure the leds to be different colors for different pieces, display. Basically each led may be different. Am I biting too much off being a novice to this sort of thing?
That is a great beginner project in my opinion.
Well done Rob!!! Thanks again for another great video!
Great tutorial. But also a tiny bit scared off as well. Not ready for coding yet... think I might import me some philips hue strips in the meantime. 🤭