I can now control my RGB LED strip through USB. Here’s a quick demo of what it can do! I’m using some sample code to actually get information from the sound file. Hopefully I’ll have time to play with it later and get it working with live sound.
These LED strips are fun and glowy. There are 32 RGB LEDs per meter, and you can control each LED individually! Yes, that’s right, this is the digitally-addressable type of LED strip. You can set the color of each LED’s red, green and blue component on/off and fade between colors. The LEDs are controlled by shift-registers that are chained up down the strip so you can shorten or lengthen the strip. 3 digital output pins are required to send data down.
The strip is made of flexible PCB material, and comes with a waterproof sheathing.
You can cut this stuff pretty easily with wire cutters, there are cut-lines every 2.5″/6.2cm (2 LEDs each). Solder to the 0.1″ copper pads and you’re good to go. Of course, you can also connect strips together to make them longer, just watch how much current you need! We have a 5V/2A supply that should be able to drive 1 or more meters (depending on use)
They come in 5 meter reels with a 0.1″ molexy connector on the end, and are sold by the meter! If you buy 5m at a time, you’ll get full reels. If you buy less than 5m, you’ll get a single strip, but it will be a cut piece from a reel which may or may not have a connector on it.
Technical specs:
19mm (0.75″) wide, 4.5mm (0.18″) thick with casing on, 62.5mm (2.45″) long per segment
32 LEDs per meter
Removable IP65 waterproof casing
Maximum 5V @ 120mA draw per 2.5″ strip segment (all LEDs on full brightness)
2 common-anode RGB LEDs per segment, individually controllable
LED wavelengths: 630nm/530nm/475nm
HL1606 LED controller chip with ‘SPI’-like protocol
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fun!