6803IC strip LED library [COMPLETED]

Firmware Libraries
21

@jellifish, to start with you can power the LED string and the shield shield (Vin pin) from the same 12V supply.

Second, can you verify that the part number on the ICs on the string is 6803 and if not, what is it?

22

@peekay123 The neopixels look good, probably a lot better quality, but they are much more expensive. Probably worth my while saving up to get some though since they will also probalby have the advantage of actually working too :wink:

I think 1 & 2 are probably both problems in my case. At least I have the radio controller my LEDs came with so I can still use them as unintelligent christmas lights.

Thanks again for all your help.

23

@peekay123 I was actually just splitting one transformer into two jacks (literally splicing the wires together) (I figured since it was a switching power supply and can supply 1.5A it should be enough. The instructions say the LED strip is 2W which I worked out as 0.17 amps @ 12v. I was hoping this inhernetly meant that the ground was being shared between the core and the LED strip.

The chips do say SC6803 on them as well as (I think as they are behind plastic so very hard to read) AD4XRL1

24

@jellifish, splitting the wires is fine. I assume you powered the Arduino the same way. I also assume you connected the correct pins to the LED string:

shield shield    Spark    LED string
     4            D3          DIN
     7            D4          CIN

Did you use the original library (vs the one I supplied) for the Arduino test?

25

Hi,

The arduino I admit I didnā€™t power the same way (since my transformer is 12V and the Uno wonā€™t accept that of course), so I guess this may well have been the problem there? I did use the original library yes (thereā€™s a link at the top of this thread you gave) and I had to grab the TimerOne library also.

The shield pins I used as you say, 4 and 7.

If I want to power the Uno from USB and the lights from the 12V source, what should I do about a common ground? Can I run another wire from the ground of the lights to the ground of the arduino despite the voltage differences (I imagine not!)

26

Hi,

OK Update, I sorted out my power issues and the original code and libraries do work with my arduino Uno nicely. So the issue is somewhere else (timing I guess?)

Shall we give this another go with the spark? :smile:

27

@jellifish, I have both an Arduino Pro Micro and a Core so I can put my logic analyzer on the pins of the Arduino and compare the timing with those of the Core. Once I know timer interrupts are firing on the Core then I can focus on the timing. The code is straight forward so these are the three main differences:

  1. Timer interrupts and timing
  2. Pin output timing (data and clock)
  3. Shield shield level translator

If the first two items are good then it will come down to the shield shield. I have one of those also. I will try and get to this asap so stay tuned. :smile:

28

Wooh! UPDATE, it works! :smile:

Not quite sure why I couldnā€™t get it working before (one of those things)

This time I did it without the shield shield. I used a voltage regulator (7805) and a couple of capacitors on a bread board. I had 12v going into the light strip, and 5v into the VIN (raw) of the core.

In addition, I had to set 50 LEDs in the code (cos they do seem to be addressing in threes) and setting it to 150 meant nothing sensible happened.

Itā€™s odd that the shield shield would have this effect though?

Anyway, Iā€™m pleased to say it all looks good now. Thank you so much for all your help and patience.

29

@jellifish, woohoo! The fact that it works without the shield shield indicates the level shifrers are causing some issues (as indicated in other topics). Also, it also means the LED string data input works with the 3.3v signals from the Core. If you get a chance, post a video and have fun! :stuck_out_tongue:

PS. I will change the title to include [COMPLETED] :smile:

BTW: You may want to change the default cpumax in line 167 of LPD6803.cpp to 100. The core can handle it!