I’m about ready to pull the rigger and start working with FastLED as I think it will let me do a bit more that what I am currently doing.
So I am guessing from what I am reading a Teensy 3.2 and maybe an Octo board and that will be sufficient to get me off to the races. Looks like the 3.5 and 3.6 aren’t fully supported yet with the library?
Anything else I need to know hardware wise before I take the plunge ?
Thanks
The Octo is necessary if you want to drive many WS2811/WS2812 style leds. A good PSU that will supply all the current your leds will need is also often a neglected item by beginners.
The Teensy 3.2 is great. For tiny projects DFRobot’s Beetleboard is pretty cool too.
Sometimes getting LEDs that use data AND clock make things easier to play nice with other stuff in a project.
Examples:
SPI/4-wire chipsets (data and clock): APA102, LPD8806
3-wire chipsets (data only): WS2811, WS2812, WS2812B
You might also need to get a level shifter depending on what controller and LEDs you use. The 74HCT245 is recommended.
What sort of projects do you have in mind?
At the moment I am just doing some custom computer lighting getting my feet wet so to speak using a blinkstick (ATTiny85) and python. So with my tinkering I have built up a nice little collection of WS2812B, AP106, and SK’s leds and strips yet I am pretty sure I am going to hit a brick wall soon due to the limitations of the API and hardware.
I also started messing around fiber and water so who knows where this rabbit hole will take me. I have a pretty extensive background in electronics, commercial lighting and computer engineering so this is right up my alley of interesting.
I think once I am done’ish and happy with this computer project I will be applying all this to my kayak and a little patio area next. The key is getting off the OS level and moving directly to hardware.
Teensy 3.6 is supported with the latest version on github. 3.5 is ‘easy’ to hack in… But I don’t remember if I left the OctoWS adapter in or not
Thanks for the heads up Kris, For now the 3.2, Octo, and RJ45 breakout board are more than enough to get me started. I put myself on hold as I ordered a soldering station. My old soldering iron is a bit hot for some of this delicate work. I should have it all soldered an wired next week sometime.
