Cathy Laughlin
Details
Suggested Equipment:
- Circuit Playground
- Alligator Clips
- LED Matrix (please note Adafruit's warning about not running this matrix at full brightness / full white! it can't handle that much current)
- Power Supply: Mean Well RS-50-5 (~$17). Any 5V DC power supply will work as long as it provides at least 6A.
- Power supply cable: (~$4) this one is for outlets used in North America and Japan. You may need to source an adapter (or an equivalent cable with the appropriate plug for your power outlets).
- Alternate / smaller LED matrix
- Alternate alligator clips to match the small matrix
- Or use this free, alternate online FastLED matrix simulator
Class Github (download all the example code here): https://github.com/cathylaughlin/hackaday_LED_class/
Course Syllabus
Class 1: First Light will cover the following:
- Programmable LEDs, including different common products (matrix, strips, pixel modules, neopixel rings) and how to power them safely.
- Ohm's law, circuits, current, and resistors.
- How to use FastLED sketches.
We are assuming that most students know how to use an Arduino, but we'll do our best to start from the beginning.
Class 2: More Advanced Patterns will cover the following:
- How to increase or decrease brightness in code
- How to snake LEDs or address them in parallel
- How to make animated patterns using RGB values
- How to use FastLED color palettes
- How to use timers and randomness / beats / sines to make generative patterns
Class 3: Sensor Input will cover the following:
- How to use sensor input with LEDs.
- Experiment with using the light sensor, the cap touch, and the motion sensor on the Circuit Playground to change our LED patterns.
Class 4: Matrix patterns will cover the following:
- Develop matrix patterns and advanced matrix techniques.
- Learn to use & experiment with the FastLED noise algorithm (made for matrices)
Playlist for the LED Programming with Arduino & FastLED series:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_tws4AXg7atkI8qUCpRBAhtGpEbTg3TA
Components
- 1 × Circuit Playground https://www.adafruit.com/product/3333
- 1 × Alligator Clips https://www.adafruit.com/product/1008
- 1 × LED Matrix https://www.adafruit.com/product/2547
- 1 × Power Supply: Mean Well RS-50-5 https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/mean-well-usa-inc/RS-50-5/1866-4157-ND/7706192
- 1 × Power supply cable https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/qualtek/311007-01/Q106-ND/183390
Course Classes
Collapse
-
Some Links From Our First Office Hour
mirabellejones • 09/09/2020 at 16:04 • 0 commentsHi Folks!
I hope you're enjoying the class. We had a request to include some of the links we mentioned in the office hour, so we wanted to list them below!
https://www.alitove.net/product-tag/bullet-pixels-light/
https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_OctoWS2811.html
https://www.doityourselfchristmas.com/wiki/index.php?title=Power_Injection
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/mean-well-led-switching-power-supply-hookup-guide/all
https://www.advateklights.com/products/pixel-control
https://www.adafruit.com/category/87
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2264
jacketed 16/2 wire for power hookups:
https://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=%222COND%2016AWG%20GRY%201%3D1FT%22https://www.amazon.com/URBEST5-Position-Covered-Screw-Terminal/dp/B01CG2HI0E/
-
Class 1: First Light
Cathy Laughlin • 09/24/2020 at 04:33 • 0 commentsClass 1: First Light.
Includes the following topics:- What are LEDs?
- Programmable LEDs, including different common products (matrix, strips, pixel modules, neopixel rings) and how to power them safely.
- Ohm's law, circuits, current, and resistors.
- How to use FastLED sketches.
-
Class 2: More Advanced Patterns
Cathy Laughlin • 09/24/2020 at 04:38 • 0 commentsClass 2: More Advanced Patterns
Includes the following topics:
- How to increase or decrease brightness in code
- CRGB and CHSV colors in FastLED
- How to make animated patterns using RGB values
- How to use FastLED color palettes
- Gradient color palettes & PaletteKnife
- Arduino millis() timers, and how to use them
- How to use timers and randomness / beats / sines to make generative patterns
-
Class 3: Sensor Input
Cathy Laughlin • 09/24/2020 at 04:43 • 0 commentsClass 3: Sensor Input.
Includes the following topics:
- How to use the Circuit Playground's light sensor
- How to use the Circuit Playground's sound sensor
- How to use the Circuit Playground's 3-axis accelerometer
- How to use the Circuit Playground's capacitive touch sensors
- How to computer a running average & self-calibrate sensors
- How to change lighting patterns in response to sensor data
- Overview of how to use external sensors with Arduino
-
Class 4: LED Matrix Programming
Cathy Laughlin • 09/24/2020 at 04:51 • 0 commentsClass 4: LED Matrix Programming
Includes the following topics:- How to wire a Neopixel / WS2811 / WS2812 LED matrix
- How to translate XY coordinates to a linear array index (via FastLED's XYMatrix)
- How to use & experiment with the FastLED noise algorithm, and how to animate noise across a matrix using color palettes
- How to animate pixel / sprite / 8-bit art on an LED matrix
- How to use the FFT / Fast Fourier Transform algorithm to obtain sound spectrum data from Circuit Playground's sound sensor
- How to visualize sound data: creating an interactive sound spectrum analyzer using the LED matrix
-
Bonus Matrix Code Examples
Cathy Laughlin • 10/02/2020 at 01:48 • 0 commentsWe got a couple of bonus matrix code examples, courtesy of Matthew Davis of articulatedartworks.com! Thank you! :)
Enjoy this course?
ShareDiscussions
Cathy, in video 1, you show a bench power supply that displays 5V. When the matrix is running, there is a number underneath the 5.000 that changes as the LED pattern changes. What does that number represent?
The bottom number on that power supply is current draw (amps). The value changes when animating based on the brightness, color, and number of LEDs which are lit.
The video for the 2nd class is unavailable, even though I followed the link sent in the email.
Are office hours being recorded? I'm unable to attend, but would still like to hear what is being discussed.
Hello! Here is the link to the Class Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_tws4AXg7atkI8qUCpRBAhtGpEbTg3TA
This playlist is updated each week when the new class videos are released. Office Hours will not be released like the class video recordings, but you may ask questions on the Hackaday.io Course page.
Please can someone assist. How long is each class? Do I buy one ticket OR one for each class?
When you go to purchase tickets using the "Select A Date" link on eventbrite (link below) there will be an option to purchase one ticket for each class session. Each class contains an hour of material and there is an office hour with the instructors once per week so you can ask any questions that come up! Ticketing Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hackadayu-intro-to-leds-using-arduino-and-fastled-tickets-115758892965
Great. You have developed such an amazing and explanatory course. As I was searching for it because our team of https://babyapk.com/call-of-duty-mobile-mod-apk/ truely need to learn it. I am going to share the link of this course with all of my employees so they could take start of learning it.