I have created a sign and want to be able to easily change each

Rex_Heck · May 22, 2017, 7:35am

I have created a sign and want to be able to easily change each letter. I have done this but with much more code than I would like to use. I would like to use the code leds[L] = …; to represent the letter L (leds 0,11) in the array. Is there a way to set this up?
This would make coding more intuitive in future projects. It would be nice to be able to single out a section of an array with a keyword instead of referring back to the LED numbers. I have been trying different methods with errors and have not found anything online that brings the solution I am looking for.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUCfRkBlRvq/?taken-by=rexhex

marmil · May 22, 2017, 8:02am

Is each letter a consecutive range of pixels? Like L=0-10, U=11-26, M=27-40, etc.? If so have you try using RGBSet?

Two simple examples using RGBSet:

github.com

marmilicious/FastLED_examples/blob/master/CRGBSet_example.ino

// Marc Miller, Jan 2016

#include "FastLED.h"
#define NUM_LEDS 32

//CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];  // Not using this.  Using CRGBArray instead.
CRGBArray<NUM_LEDS> leds;

CRGBSet partA(leds(6,9));  // Define custom pixel range with a name.
CRGBSet partB(leds(22,25));  // Define custom pixel range with a name.

CHSV colorOne(0,222,255);  // Define a custom color.
CHSV colorTwo(82,222,255);  // Define a custom color.

//---------------------------------------------------------------
void setup() { 
  FastLED.addLeds<LPD8806, 11, 13, GRB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
  FastLED.setBrightness(255);
}

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github.com

marmilicious/FastLED_examples/blob/master/CRGBSet_7segment_2digits.ino

//***************************************************************
//  Two digit seven segment number display example using CRGBArray and CRGBSet.
//  A number from 0-99 can be displayed.  This demo repeats counting from 0 to 25.
//
//  For this example the number segments are wired in the following layout:
//  http://imgur.com/cgabMfK
//  It also assumes that each segment has the same number of pixels.  There is
//  a variable below which allows the number of pixels per segment to be changed.
//
//  This example uses 5 Pixels Per Segment (pps).
//  5pps x 7segments x 2digits = 70 pixels total
//
//
//  Marc Miller, Oct 2016
//  (There is also a 3digit version of this sketch now, added Feb 2019.)
//***************************************************************

#include "FastLED.h"

#define DATA_PIN    11

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If they’re not consecutive you can’t use RGBSet and will probably need to make your own arrays. Or… maybe you could pixel map the whole thing as a really wide matrix? Like 100w x 10h pixels for example. I wonder what you could do with that?!

Btw, that looks totally cool @Rex_Heck .

Rex_Heck · May 22, 2017, 4:27pm

Thank you Marc! The leds are all in one string so rgbset should work. I will mess around with the examples and matrix idea after work