Requirements and setup
Up to date as of version 1.6
- What you need
- What are the limits of this program?
- How do I set it up?
- Do I need to configure anything in the.ino file?
- Current knows supported micro controllers
The requirements for this program is very simple.
- An Arduino (Almost any Arduino can work (All that supports Adafruits NeoPixel library), take a look at the known supported Arduinos in the bottom of this page)
- Adafruits NeoPixel library
- NeoPixels (Or any of the pixel types supported by Adafruits NeoPixel library)
- An external power supply for the LEDs
- A USB cable from the PC to the Arduino
That's it! All configurations are done from the PC, so you only have to upload the default.ino file supplied.
The main limits when it comes to the amount of LEDs you can run, depends on what micro controller you use. A normal Arduino have 2kb of memory, and every LED takes up one byte. That would mean that you could run almost 700 LEDs with a fresh install. To make sure there is also space for variables use by the Arduino, it is more likely around 500 LEDs.
The pins that are supported are preset to pin 0 to 7. (These can be changed if desired in the.ino file)
A setup could look like this:
Were the data pin could be on any of the pins from 0-7
All configurations for the strips are done from the PC. If you want to run more LEDs using a different Arduino with more than 2kb of memory, you can change all the default macros in the top of the.ino file.
- Arduino Nano (1M Baud rate)
- Arduino Uno (1M Baud rate)
- Arduino Due (250000 Baud rate)
If you try to use a micro controller that cannot run at 1M baud rate, you can change the baud rate under the General Settings section. On the Arduino side, one of the first lines that says BaudRate can be changed to the desired baud rate.