PC controled RGB adapter questions, and LED question!

I

IllegalEagle

Gawd
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Jun 9, 2006
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Alright, a few questions. I'm looking to make a RGB setup in my PC, and the below product looks FANTASTIC.

http://www.ledlight.com/rgb-controller-computer-pc-controlled.aspx

The only problem is it's $100, which is a LOT. I've seen a lot of (sort of) how to videos on it, but no one really has ever produced a fantastic guide for the absolute novice like me. Does anyone have any suggestions, or at least a product just like that for around $50 or lower?


Onto my second question, I plan on my build to have rows of white LED lights on my PC. I need them to be 5 across for the top and bottom rows, and only one or two in the middle with a gap between them.

0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 ------- 0
0 0 - 0 0
0 ------- 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0

If I were to buy individual LED's and connect them together, how should I do this? I honestly haven't a clue. I know before on single LED's I've wired them to a single molex cable, and I sort of want to do that again, even if I have to do several of them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I'm sorry for being a noob.
 
As for how to wire LEDs together, I suggest you take a look at an LED calculator. It'll show you how to wire them up.

$100 for an LED controller is, indeed, really expensive. I'm not aware of another out there, but $100 for a $2 microcontroller and $1 worth of other parts is quite a markup.
 
Thanks for the reply. I did a little research and found the fabulous world of ShiftBrite, and those controlers that go with it. They run off a straight USB port and can be programmed. The light bar is $10 from an online deal store and the adapter from Shiftbrite is only $10~, with the USB adapter being $30. All in all about $50 for a complete setup, half the price of just that controler.
 
I'm actually working on something similar in my spare time. It will consist of a USB module that connects to up to 14 drivers via I2C, each with 16 PWM channels capable of driving up to 100mA for a system max of 224 addressed LEDs. It'll be quite a while before it's anything close to ready though, I haven't even finished the PCB designs yet.

Most of the difficulty as far as the linked product is in the software. There are plenty of easy ways to implement the hardware with off the shelf components wired together. Shiftbrite + Arduino for example could do all of this, but you'd need to come up with the software on your own. Or maybe someone else has done it...

As far as wiring up the LEDs, typical white LEDs will have a Vf of < 3.5V. So string 3 of them into a series string and calculate the correct resistor for the correct drive current @ 12V and put that in series. Then wire all the 3-LED+resistor strings in parallel and connect to molex 12V. Note that the LEDs you have linked have a 15 degree viewing angle which is pretty shit for any kind of lighting application without a lot of diffusing.
 
Keenan, sound like we're on the same page. Only thing is it sounds like you know what you're doing and I haven't a clue. Pretty much this is ideal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N15X5OeT2oM.

Or something like this as well: http://www.ledcontroller.de.vu/

The problem is I have no idea how to make the PCB's. All these tutorials are written for people that have some knowledge. I'm dying to try it, but just want to make sure it's a worthwhile attempt!
 
IllegalEagle said:
Keenan, sound like we're on the same page. Only thing is it sounds like you know what you're doing and I haven't a clue. Pretty much this is ideal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N15X5OeT2oM.
Click to expand...
Yeah that looks like what you need ;) My original plan was for an ambilight clone, but I'm thinking I'm going to make it more flexible with some simple programmable fades that it can run standalone without a PC. With 224 addressed channels it can do quite a lot. No difference to the hardware, just more software to write, so if I never get around to it, oh well :p If I get it somewhere good, maybe try to productize it.

The problem is I have no idea how to make the PCB's. All these tutorials are written for people that have some knowledge. I'm dying to try it, but just want to make sure it's a worthwhile attempt!
Click to expand...

You probably don't need to actually make a PCB to accomplish what you want. That youtube vid for example, you could duplicate that with just a bit of soldering and off the shelf boards, I don't see a link to specifics but all the stuff mentioned in the vid is easy to slap together. USB->RS232 cables are widely available, combine with a cheap Parallax Propeller proto board and the serial LEDs and you're set to go, don't really need much else for this (I haven't worked with the propeller, but I'm pretty sure you can just program it over RS-232 and don't need a programmer).
 
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