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So, something seasonable. As you do this time of year, I'm sorting out the Christmas lights and I find a string of 100 LEDs with a broken transformer/controller. I wonder if I can rig a new controller with customisable flash patterns etc. using something like an Arduino or Raspberry Pi. The old set-up ran at 24V / 2500 mA, and a cursory glance shows the controllers might not be up to the job directly. Yes, the cost of such a project will be far more than the cost of a new set of lights (11 NZD!), but what the heck. Anyone have any experience with said kit? Or other suggestions? Cheers
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So, something seasonable. As you do this time of year, I'm sorting out the Christmas lights and I find a string of 100 LEDs with a broken transformer/controller. I wonder if I can rig a new controller with customisable flash patterns etc. using something like an Arduino or Raspberry Pi. The old set-up ran at 24V / 2500 mA, and a cursory glance shows the controllers might not be up to the job directly. Yes, the cost of such a project will be far more than the cost of a new set of lights (11 NZD!), but what the heck. Anyone have any experience with said kit? Or other suggestions? Cheers
This might give you a few ideas: http://arduinodiy.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/using-mosfets-with-ttl-levels/[^] Using MOSFETs means you provide a "normal" TTL signal, and the mosfet switches on/off the higher voltage/current circuit. They're pretty cheap (but it's gonna cost more than the lights did! :laugh: ) - remember to look for 24V & 2.5A switching, and check the heat dissipation - it should be trivial, but you may need a chunk of ally as a heatsink.
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So, something seasonable. As you do this time of year, I'm sorting out the Christmas lights and I find a string of 100 LEDs with a broken transformer/controller. I wonder if I can rig a new controller with customisable flash patterns etc. using something like an Arduino or Raspberry Pi. The old set-up ran at 24V / 2500 mA, and a cursory glance shows the controllers might not be up to the job directly. Yes, the cost of such a project will be far more than the cost of a new set of lights (11 NZD!), but what the heck. Anyone have any experience with said kit? Or other suggestions? Cheers
It also depends on how the LEDs are wired up. You may only get to flash the entire string at once, not individually address each LED. But, it's a start anyway. Good Luck!
A guide to posting questions on CodeProject[^]
Dave Kreskowiak -
So, something seasonable. As you do this time of year, I'm sorting out the Christmas lights and I find a string of 100 LEDs with a broken transformer/controller. I wonder if I can rig a new controller with customisable flash patterns etc. using something like an Arduino or Raspberry Pi. The old set-up ran at 24V / 2500 mA, and a cursory glance shows the controllers might not be up to the job directly. Yes, the cost of such a project will be far more than the cost of a new set of lights (11 NZD!), but what the heck. Anyone have any experience with said kit? Or other suggestions? Cheers
You can get an integrated circuit chip that you toss an integer into and it activates x amount of outputs (depending on the binary representation of the integer). I dont recall the part number though. I think you can get them with up to 64 outputs so you'd have to use two of them. If you're interested I can get the part number of the ones we use. However, like Dave said, I'd imagine that the LED's are wired in parallel and not individually addressable.
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You can get an integrated circuit chip that you toss an integer into and it activates x amount of outputs (depending on the binary representation of the integer). I dont recall the part number though. I think you can get them with up to 64 outputs so you'd have to use two of them. If you're interested I can get the part number of the ones we use. However, like Dave said, I'd imagine that the LED's are wired in parallel and not individually addressable.
Be careful! That is probably a TTL level driver, so it isn't going to be too happy with 24V on it's outputs!
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Be careful! That is probably a TTL level driver, so it isn't going to be too happy with 24V on it's outputs!
Good point. You're exactly right. The 24V part slipped my mind. We use 5V LED's so I guess, in my mind, I associated "LED" with "5V". Could set up a bank of switching circuits but that may be a lot of trouble for Christmas lights.
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So, something seasonable. As you do this time of year, I'm sorting out the Christmas lights and I find a string of 100 LEDs with a broken transformer/controller. I wonder if I can rig a new controller with customisable flash patterns etc. using something like an Arduino or Raspberry Pi. The old set-up ran at 24V / 2500 mA, and a cursory glance shows the controllers might not be up to the job directly. Yes, the cost of such a project will be far more than the cost of a new set of lights (11 NZD!), but what the heck. Anyone have any experience with said kit? Or other suggestions? Cheers
A relay board [^] can be activated using a Arduino, RaPi or any other type processor.
VS2010/Atmel Studio 6.1 ToDo Manager Extension Relax...We're all crazy it's not a competition!
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It also depends on how the LEDs are wired up. You may only get to flash the entire string at once, not individually address each LED. But, it's a start anyway. Good Luck!
A guide to posting questions on CodeProject[^]
Dave KreskowiakThe string has three wires (guessing L, L N) and the original controller had modes like: 1. Combination / 2. In Waves / 3. Sequential / 4. SLO-GLO / 5. Chasing/Flashing / 6. Slow Fade / 7. Twinkle/Flashing / 8. Steady On I think half the LEDs will be in parallel on one L, the other half in parallel on the other L with a shared N. It's times like this I wish I had a Labpack like we used to use in physics class...
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A relay board [^] can be activated using a Arduino, RaPi or any other type processor.
VS2010/Atmel Studio 6.1 ToDo Manager Extension Relax...We're all crazy it's not a competition!
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Indeed, thanks! I also found this: Arduino Christmas Light Controller[^] a bit OTT for my application, but it might give me some ideas / pointers.
There's a lot of articles concerning control using relays, there was a real good DIY but can't remember where it was but here are some more links that might be useful; http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Remotely-Programable-Relay-Controller-Christmas/[^] http://computerchristmas.com/christmas/link-how_to/HowToId-92/Light_Control_Basics[^] http://computerchristmas.com/christmas/link-how_to/HowToId-92/Light_Control_Basics[^] http://www.neonsquirt.com/arduinoxmas/Arduino_based_8_Channel_Christmas_Light_Controller/ArduXmas.html[^] A few Chrismases ago I did a Arduino based project to control lights and still have all the gear so if you run into any problems let me know I'll see if I can help.
VS2010/Atmel Studio 6.1 ToDo Manager Extension Relax...We're all crazy it's not a competition!
