Digital Light Wand Comments – NeoPixel WS2812 DLW

I used and modified Brian’s code which allows you to stop a display once it started.

My changes:
– made some tweaks to the code around LCD brightness levels
– changed the LED brightness control to increment/decrement in 5% jumps (1% seemed tedious)
– stopped the filename display from showing the .BMP extension
– this created space to retrieve/show the file sizes beside the file names
– minor cosmetic changes to the LCD display

My tweaks are here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kmsoq2ywarkv8ix/AAA_6-z1m5TIApHh84Dfognoa?dl=0

I’m encountering an issue with the select button on my device bouncing such that it starts the LEDs but then stops them again, all on the same button press. I don’t have my head around the code enough to figure out how to get it to ignore a ‘stop’ request within 1 second of a start request.

I am contemplating whether some of these starting values for brightness etc should be written to the SD card in a config file. We may all have different preferences depending on our devices and we shouldn’t have to rebuild/reload the code each time we want to make an adjustment to the boot defaults. We could each have our own dlw.ini file with our preferred settings on the card and maybe take it far enough that changing settings on the wand re-writes the settings back to the card. It wouldn’t be particularly difficult to do.

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Author: David Gilliver (IP: 114.198.95.138 , 114-198-95-138.dyn.iinet.net.au)
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Comment: You probably need to go into the Arduino app “Tools” menu and change your Board and Processor over to the actual hardware you have. I think the app defaults to the Arduino Uno board, which has less memory etc.

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Comment: I should of also said I have made the images following the guide and have tried software version 3.0, 3.5 and 3.6 which have been created by others here and get the same on them all.

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Comment: I have now got the strips. gone for the ws2812b @ 144/m. The strips test ok and the arduino etc are all ok but when I display an image im getting all sorts of strange pixels on and some staying on once the sequence has finished. Any one seen or had this. I have got 2 strips and have tried both and together for 288 but same issue.

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Author: Alex (IP: 14.100.20.178 , 14.100.20.178)
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Comment: yes arduino mega 2560

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Author: Brian Heiland (IP: 174.59.97.10 , c-174-59-97-10.hsd1.pa.comcast.net)
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Comment: Are you using an arduino Mega?

Took this image using my latest config.

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Comment: Here is a test image that I created using an encoder driven version of my light wand. Gaps in image are caused by the encoder wheel slipping on sidewalk joints.

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Author: Dave (IP: 47.72.41.238 , 47-72-41-238.dsl.dyn.ihug.co.nz)
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Comment: https://github.com/barkby/LEDStick This Might Help You

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Author: Jason (IP: 108.52.62.192 , pool-108-52-62-192.phlapa.fios.verizon.net)
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Comment: I’ve got mine assembled but when I load the code and fix the “PROGMEM” issue it now tells me I am out of memory.

“Sketch uses 21,122 bytes (65%) of program storage space. Maximum is 32,256 bytes.
Global variables use 2,465 bytes (120%) of dynamic memory, leaving -417 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 2,048 bytes.”

How could I be the only one running out of memory here? I’m at a loss for a fix.

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Author: Adrian (IP: 120.146.187.17 , CPE-120-146-187-17.static.qld.bigpond.net.au)
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Comment: Hi all
Built my DLT and love it.
One thing that is lacking i can see is a way to preview the images, i know we can rename the files, but sometimes the name is not enough.
I wonder if its possible to modify the source/wiring to also output the image to be used to a small tft lcd as discussed on this site http://www.instructables.com/id/Your-Image-on-an-Arduino-TFT-LCD-Screen-Guide/?ALLSTEPS

tis to me would make it complete and be superior to the commercial alternative the pixelstick

Thoughts

adrian

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Comment: Hello
Is anyone willing to sell a digital light wand already assembled ?! Please let me know I would love to buy one and don’t have the smarts of building one -_-

Anyone please contact me at my email

Gibsonguitars420@yahoo.com

Thank you all for your time

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Comment: I am running one with 216 LED, I tried the initial method of using the caps and transformer and it got way too hot and didn’t work well at all.

I would either do a buck/boost transformer or, what I did that seems to be working great was use one of those USB brick, power supply things you can use as a boost for phones etc. They put out exactly 5V. I had a 3000mah one I got as a promotional item, chopped the end off a USB cable. Problem solved, works great, has an indicator on it for battery life, and is rechargeable 🙂

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Comment: Looks really neat Matthew, mine is a mess at the moment. Once I sort out the power supply I will start to tidy it up. Can you buy the parts you have used for the power supply in the UK at a reasonable price?

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Comment: Hi Mathew
I had seen your picture a bit back. Have you got wiring diagram for how you have done this and how long does it last. Looks good

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Comment: 288 LED’s on White at 100% brightness will be topping 16Amp @ 5v.
.60mA per led at full brightness & white = all 3 LED’s illuminated.

Pic of my setup: http://i.imgur.com/RGWy10Z.jpg

WS2812B 144px/M
Arduino Mega 2560
DFROBOT LCD Keypad Shield
Hobbywing 8A 5V UBEC
Turnigy 3600mAh 2S 12C Lipo Receiver Pack Hobbyking 2-8S Cell Checker with Low Voltage Alarm

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Comment: The voltage regulator will only handle 1.5 Amps, if using 288 LED’s you will find the current draw a lot higher, especially if your LED’s are lit blue. I am looking at alternative power solutions at the moment and will reply back with what I find.

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Comment: I’ve been wanting t make this but the cost of the leds has stopped me. Have now seem some at a good price so looks like I can do it now. Question I have is power. To have 288 leds as said will need a lot of power. Will the little regulator in the plans cope? If not what have people done. I have seen images on here of strange packs etc but I don’t know what they are. Please help. Lee

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Comment: Hello thank you very much for this instructable. I appreciate the work you have done.
I was looking at making a poi setup from your design, so I would take out the lcd and swap the mega for a nano. and have the pictures automatically cycle through rather than select each one. Is there any problem with using different pin for SPI and would there be any reason that this code wouldn’t work on a nano?

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Comment: Hi Michael,
Am in the process of obtaining parts to build the NeoPixel WS2812 light wand and would just like some clarification.
Item 9 of the parts list is a single 470 Ohm Resistor (Yellow, Purple, Black, Gold – colour code). However according to the colour charts I’ve found this code appears to refer to a 47 Ohm value, not 470:
Band 1 Yellow = 4
Band 2 Purple = 7
Band 3 Black = x 1 multiplier
For a 470 Ohm Resistor band 3 should be Brown.

Am I missing something?

Many thanks and keep up the good work!

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Comment: Has anyone tried an increment option to make the stop motion/time lapse looking animations?

thanks again for your assistance

Adrian

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Comment: I may be a bit late to the party on this one, but I was having issues with the 8AA battery and transformer bit, powering 216 pixels.

So I had one of those USB portable power packs, noticed it was 5V and 2200mah. I hacked the end off an old USB cable, found the power and ground leads, tied it in to my light wand and it works great! Even has a power indicator, and best of all it recharges via USB in about an hour.

Hope that helps someone, as I’ve learned a lot from everyone here.

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Comment: Ahhh ok thanks! Starting to make some sense now. I wasn’t sure if there was a way to know how long it took to display a certain image and how to determine the distance I need to move. The 1.5 meters makes sense now and I’ll just have to run the image once and count out roughly the time.

I still need to sort the power issues, I think I’ll have to end up using a 4.8V NimH power pack for that.

Are most people using a shutter release or just a timer, almost seems like you need a 2nd person to get a good shot?

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Comment: Bryan,
If you press the button to start displaying your image you can see how long your exposure on your camera. If it takes 10 seconds to display the image you will need at least a 10 second exposure on your camera.

Set the aperture on the camera to a metered value that will properly expose the scene to the length of time the shutter will be held open.

Experiment and make adjustments as necessary.

It sounds like you have a 216 pixel high light wand. You could create a 216 pixel square test image. The amount of distance that you must move the wand for a perfect aspect ration image equal to the hight of your wand. 1.5 meters.

With the delay settings you have selected, it takes 10 seconds to display, you must move the wand across the 1.5 meters as smoothly as possible during that 10 seconds.

you can also experiment with walking slower or faster on purpose to distort the image for creative effect.

Hope this helps.
Brian Heiland

I am curious how do you know the timing, as in how quickly you have to walk with the wand to display the full image etc.

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Comment: Hello Mathew,
I have added a few features to my wand, but have not uploaded the code at this time. The reason is that there are a few things that I want to test myself before I put it out there

I have added code and menu items to set up the wand in Time mode (mode currently available) or Distance mode. In distance mode an optional Encoder needs to be attached to the arduino, and that encode needs to be driven by a drive wheel that makes contact with the ground. The pulses from the encoder increment the column of the image that is displayed. I have the code set up in a way that it can be setup to support encoders of different pulses per revolution, wheel sizes etc.
In the process of adding the encoder code, I was concerned about how it may be using available memory, so I added a free ram display to the LCD. I reduced the number of images loaded in the directory to compensate for the losses of RAM due to the new code.

I am currently building a three wheel trolly, One wheel driving the encoder. and the other two for stability and support. My work area is in my garage and the Outside Temperature is currently -16C . It’s a little too cold to work but I am eager to get this all working.

I can see that the code changes that I made for the encoder are working, but I want to create an image and record a video before I release the software changes.

The free memory display and the screens related to distance mode are the only things I have done recently. Today I made a code change to compile in version 1.5.8 or higher of the Arduino IDE.
Anything new with you Mathew?

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Comment: Hey all, finally got my light wand up and going, I didn’t like the way it looked with my 60/meter so I got some 144/meter, went with a 1.5 meter setup.

I guess I’m not understanding how I photograph this and set the speed.

Are there any sample images? I have taken an image and converted it to BMP and it loads, but do I have to adjust how fast the LED’s cycle up the wand, and then set my shutter to that same time?

So close….. lol. Thanks!

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Comment: Adrian,
I have verified that the changes above should allow you to compile the program.
I have tested the change on my Arduino with 1.5.8, and it should work with 1.6.0

Brian

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Comment: The program compiles properly with Arduino 1.0.6 You are using 1.6.0.
I don’t have my Arduino with me right now and won’t be able to test this for several hours but this code change may fix the problem.

Change the following line
PROGMEM prog_uchar gammaTable[] = {

To this
const unsigned char gammaTable[] PROGMEM = {

After this change the code verifies on 1.5.8 for me, but I can’t test it on the Arduino Hardware.

Apparently there are some changes to the way PROGMEM is used in more recent versions of the Arduino IDE.

Using 1.0.6 may work as well.

Arduino: 1.6.0 (Windows 8), Board: “Arduino Mega or Mega 2560, ATmega2560 (Mega 2560)”

Digital_Light_Wand_-_NeoPixel_WS2812_V30.ino:618:9: error: ‘prog_uchar’ does not name a type In file included from C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware\arduino\avr\cores\arduino/Arduino.h:28:0,
from C:\Users\adrian\Documents\Arduino\libraries\Adafruit_NeoPixel/Adafruit_NeoPixel.h:23,
from Digital_Light_Wand_-_NeoPixel_WS2812_V30.ino:35:
Digital_Light_Wand_-_NeoPixel_WS2812_V30.ino: In function ‘byte gamma(byte)’:
Digital_Light_Wand_-_NeoPixel_WS2812_V30.ino:639:25: error: ‘gammaTable’ was not declared in this scope Error compiling.

cheers
adrian

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Comment:
Hi Brian, The brightness adjustment is working great, I have mine set to 75% via the .ino, I also changed the delay of the startup prompts for faster boot times.
DLW MEGA = delay 500
SD init done = delay 250
Scanning files = delay 250
I also made my STARTUP.BMP 10px high instead of my previous 25px for a faster start image as well.
Once again, Thankyou.
P.s- Just another quick nasty video sorry about the auto-focus, iPhone.

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Comment:
Renamed the image that will try to display on power on to STARTUP.BMP.
Cycle all will now skip STARTUP.BMP

Example: Files on card = A.BMP, B.BMP, C.BMP, D.BMP, STARTUP.BMP and X.BMP

Display order will be a,b,c,d,x and startup will be skipped.

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Comment:
If you read through the past posts you will see that there have been several changes that I have made to the code. I have made yet another change that will cycle through each of the images on the memory card displaying each one in the order.
The repeat delay can be used to put a delay between images.
If the repeat count is set to anything but a value of 1 each image will repeat that number of times before moving to the next image.
Menu Item 8:Cycle All (Yes/No) is the latest addition.

Here is a link if you would like to to try it out.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zwm9iaomgl8f4m1/Light_wand_WS2812B_s2r_loopthroughall.ino?dl=0

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Comment:
Tested,
I can’t spot any stuck pixels as of yet, Just recorded a quick dirty iPhone video. Will do a proper one later, It’s uploading to youtube now.
I tested Menu, = No glitches
Repeats = Smooth, No interruptions
Start-up BMP = Perfect
Aux Interrupt button = Amazing
Link: http://youtu.be/9GD-Z7yQGr4

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Comment:
Just noticed an issue, If I have repeat set the wand flashes off in between them, It no longer repeats smoothly, Repeat delay is 0.

Try the same download link.
I thought I saw some pixels staying stuck on between repeats and added code to clear between repeats. Took it out.

I’d like to see the video.

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Comment:
Works brilliantly!!! For anyone else that sees this it needs to be named “UOX8OML.BMP” and it works great.
Later this evening, (Currently 2:37pm in Melbourne Australia) I’ll take a short video & some photos of my wand.

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Comment:
Hi Brian, Just tested this out after the newest revision, So far so good. Reliably stops all of my images, My backlight doesn’t flicker & you seem to have fixed the input/keypress bug I was getting when scrolling up/down through menu items how it’d sometimes skip a menu item.
I couldn’t thank you enough for the time and effort you have put into this. After 15minutes of playing around I haven’t found a fault yet.
Now all we need is a PowerOn/Startup/I’m Alive that will automatically play a startup.bmp when turning on the light wand haha If I was you, I’d make a new post, Put in all of your revisions and the link again. It’s a great advancement on top of the amazing work Michael Ross & is0-mick have done.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dz28rzd3fqqy5qs/Light_wand_WS2812BwSelectToReset.ino?dl=0

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Comment:
Mathew, I have updated the file at the same link you downloaded from previously. I didn’t have the aux input button configured on my device. I added it to my device and made some changes to get the buttons doing the same thing.

Also changed how the buttons respond to input to make them react a little smoother.

Please try it out and let me know what you think of the latest changes.

I had a version that worked well that would stop cleanly at the end of the current image. Example on image 5 of 10 it would stop before image 6.

Trying to break into current image takes a bit more work. Will try to look at it in more later today.

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Comment:
It works pretty well if I use the “Select” Key on my shield, However if I use “AuxButton” that only stops, It doesn’t start it anymore. Thank you for the time and effort you are putting into this.

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Comment:
Great thanks for posting this! I am waiting for the LCD display and then I can continue building this.

Where do I find information like how slow to walk with the wand and shutter time? Or is it more trial and error lol.

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Comment:
I have been working on the adding the ability to stop the display once it is started. There have been some difficulties as the buttons on my display cause multiple inputs for each press. Found it difficult to get the display stopped without it wanting to restart immediately.
I did come of with something that works for me, but it may not work on all devices. I’ll need to re-think some things but if you would like to test what I am working with I’ll provide a link below.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dz28rzd3fqqy5qs/Light_wand_WS2812BwSelectToReset.ino?dl=0

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Comment:
Thanks for explaining in more detail.
I will take a look as my time permits. I too have wanted ability to interrupt the session. A power on display (i’m alive) might be a nice option too.

New comment on your post “NeoPixel WS2812 DLW”
Author : Mathew (IP: 110.175.47.81 , 110-175-47-81.static.tpgi.com.au) E-mail : hozy88@hotmail.com
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Comment:
Sorry I should’ve explained myself better, Kind of like a boot image. So as you power on the device, It automatically runs a startup.bmp image as kind of a led test.

And yes, An interrupt/Abort button. The same button that runs it would be great, I currently use reset as well, But losing all settings when on a shoot is a little bit annoying.

View post on imgur.com

Thanks in advance.

New comment on your post “NeoPixel WS2812 DLW”
Author : Brian Heiland (IP: 174.54.15.122 , c-174-54-15-122.hsd1.pa.comcast.net)
E-mail : bheiland@comcast.net
URL :
Whois : http://whois.arin.net/rest/ip/174.54.15.122
Comment:
Mathew,
You are asking for two things, just want to confirm them in my own words so I understand.

1. Load a “default.bmp” on power up so at the press of a button that default will always display if it is available on the memory card?

2. Ability to interrupt current display session, without having to press the Arduino Reset button. Pressing reset returns to default settings. Would like to retain settings and press a button that stops display session. An abort button without reset? I currently press reset but I understand all settings are back to defaults after pressing reset.

I will look at these two items.

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Author : Mathew (IP: 110.175.47.81 , 110-175-47-81.static.tpgi.com.au) E-mail : hozy88@hotmail.com
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Comment:
Is it possible to make the button also stop the light? ie: if you set too many repeats, you can just hit the button again to stop it.
Also, so it automatically plays a .bmp eg: _startup.bmp when powered up that way it’s not visible with your code but it’ll run always when powering on the device to give it a polished feel. we can make it whatever we like, like a quick RGB scroll etc. I just thought i’d ask asyour contributions are great.

New comment on your post “NeoPixel WS2812 DLW”
Author : Brian Heiland (IP: 174.54.15.122 , c-174-54-15-122.hsd1.pa.comcast.net)
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Comment:
Forgot to mention that the updated code will skip over any bmp file names that start with the (‘_’) underscore character. These files are generated on a Mac computer when the file is saved to the memory card and are not the actual bitmap files.

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Author : Brian Heiland (IP: 174.54.15.122 , c-174-54-15-122.hsd1.pa.comcast.net)
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Comment:
I have seen images made with 60 ppm strips but have have only used 144 ppm strips in my testing. If you already have the strips it might be worth trying to see how they work out for you.

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Author : Brian Heiland (IP: 174.54.15.122 , c-174-54-15-122.hsd1.pa.comcast.net)
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Comment:
I have placed my slightly modified version of the code into a dropbox.
Try the new code along side of Michael’s original.
Changes:
1 Reduce screen update flicker by updating screen only after each button press
2 Turn off Backlight as soon as select button is pressed to initiate image playback
3 Added menu item to use an optional time off between frames. In most cases 0 will be the normal used value, but if a blink off between frames is desired, it can be used.

New comment on your post “NeoPixel WS2812 DLW”
Author : Bryan Hagan (IP: 71.179.3.7 , pool-71-179-3-7.bltmmd.fios.verizon.net)
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Comment:
How do you think this will look with 2812 strip that is only 60 pixels per Meter. I do a big Christmas and Halloween light display and I have bunches of extra strip. The individual addressable strip I have is 60/Meter.

Will there be too much space between pixels to make a decent image?

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Author : Bryan Hagan (IP: 71.179.3.7 , pool-71-179-3-7.bltmmd.fios.verizon.net)
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Comment:
Very cool, do you have the updated code available anywhere for download? I am building this with my son and was thinking of putting tape or something over the backlit display, your method seems much nicer!

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Author : Rudolph (IP: 154.72.56.73 , 154-72-56-73.level-7.co.za) E-mail : rudolph.barnard69@gmail.com
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Comment:
Hi

Awesome work on this! One question I already have a Uno Rev3, would it be as easy as changing the pin number used in the code to the relevant ones on the uno or would I be best suited to get the mega?

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Author : Brian Heiland (IP: 166.137.244.79 , mobile-166-137-244-079.mycingular.net)
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Comment:
Excellent instructions, and very good software.
I have made a few mods to the software.
On my system I noticed that the screen flickers from continuous updates so I added code to only update the screen after button presses.
Also added code to not include bitmaps that start with an underscore character (_). When the card is written from a Mac computer there are two entries for each file and the second has the underscore and is not actually a bitmap.
Added code to turn off the screen backlight as soon as the select button is pressed so that there is no light output from the screen during the light show.

New comment on your post “NeoPixel WS2812 DLW”
Author : Dave (IP: 210.246.24.230 , 210.246.24.230) E-mail : lumberg@orcon.net.nz
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Comment:
Just a question would it be possible to include a next button like the start button ?

New comment on your post “NeoPixel WS2812 DLW”
Author : Lee (IP: 81.86.241.117 , 81-86-241-117.dsl.pipex.com) E-mail : Ltodd2@gmail.com
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Comment:
Michael
Any update on the teensy boards you talked about. Just wondering if it’s worth waiting on these or making one now Thanks Lee

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Author : Victor (IP: 99.253.4.199 , CPE0019662d39ce-CM00195edb1f68.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com)
E-mail : peacemakerv@netscape.net
URL :
Whois : http://whois.arin.net/rest/ip/99.253.4.199
Comment:
Hi Leo, by “commenting out” I meant putting the // slashes like this in front of the strip controls in order to temporarily disable the strip. Its just one of the many tricks you may use while troubleshooting your sketches. When you add monitor messages, you will be able to look at the computer screen IDE and see that your program is operating normally. You don’t really have to do this, its just one of zillions of things you can do when your project misbehaves.
Hope this cleared some air.
Vic

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Author : leo (IP: 91.141.0.70 , 91.141.0.70.wireless.dyn.drei.com)
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Comment:
ok. thanks for the aclaration.

now, I dont really understand about “comment out the strip controls” and ” add monitor messages”. If you can explain a bit further how to do it and how it affects the system, it would be lovely.

thanks!

New comment on your post “NeoPixel WS2812 DLW”
Author : leo (IP: 178.115.129.23 , 178.115.129.23.wireless.dyn.drei.com)
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Comment:
thank you very much for the info provided victor.

I also realized that it might had to do with power issues, since it is happening when the strip demans more power, but I was not able to realize what was actually going on.

Do you know how is it in reality that it can ran out of RAM memory because of insufficient power?

I also read somewhere here that “The L7805 can accept up to 35V DC, so I am going to find an old laptop power supply for this project, that normally handle 18 or 19 Volts.

thanks again!

New comment on your post “NeoPixel WS2812 DLW”
Author : victor (IP: 99.253.4.199 , CPE0019662d39ce-CM00195edb1f68.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com)
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Comment:
To add a bit to my previous comment, I do not know what your sketch looks like, but its possible you’are running out of RAM. It froze on me because of this too a couple of times. There was no warning. Just remembered.
Vic

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Author : victor (IP: 99.253.4.199 , CPE0019662d39ce-CM00195edb1f68.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com)
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Comment:
I am no expert, but it may be due to insufficient power supply. Especially if there are many LEDs going white. Turn down the brightness of the LEDs, there is a command strip.setBrightness(value); put value to 20, if it works you are on the right track. Just use more powerful supply. Something like this happened to me, I was using 120 LED strip and its power hungry.
Have fun,
Victor

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Author : leo (IP: 77.119.129.102 , 77.119.129.102.wireless.dyn.drei.com)
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Comment:
Hi Michael!

I need to ask you a question in reference to the neopixel-ws2812-dlw project. Everything is running quite correctly; I am using 126 pixels with very long bmp files (126 * 30000 which is the maximum allowed in bmp), but once in a while the image froozes, coincidentally in moments where there is a lot of white or bright colours.

arduino mega 260 r3
12V 6A power supply
126px ws2812b

I am very surprised by this behaviour. I checked arduino boards and changed them and all work ok. I checked the bmp files and changed them and all are ok. Evidently my circuit works. What could be possibly generating this behaviour?

thanks!

New comment on your post “NeoPixel WS2812 DLW”
Author : Mathew (IP: 110.175.47.81 , 110-175-47-81.static.tpgi.com.au) E-mail : hozy88@hotmail.com
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Comment:
The dim & flickering is the backlight fading out, You can turn that off in the arduino project file/code. And with only 3/4 of the LED’s lighting up, How long is your strip? Did you adjust the number of LED’s in the code?
Cheers

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Author : danny (IP: 86.6.41.162 , cpc7-lewi16-2-0-cust417.2-4.cable.virginm.net)
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Comment:
Michael thanks to the addition and help of the this page I have now got my wand up and running on a temp mount now its time to get it mounted properly

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Author : Lee (IP: 81.86.241.117 , 81-86-241-117.dsl.pipex.com) E-mail : ltodd2@gmail.com
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Comment:
Michael
I was just looking at getting all the bits to make one of these and then have seen this about looking at the Teensy boards. Is the speed issue a real issue and should I wait a bit to see how you get one with them or make the arduino one anyway.
Thanks

New comment on your post “NeoPixel WS2812 DLW”
Author : Danny (IP: 86.6.41.162 , cpc7-lewi16-2-0-cust417.2-4.cable.virginm.net)
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Comment:
Hi Michael
Quick follow up above problem sorted, all connections made now (temporary of course) and I have come up against 2 issues that I’m hoping either you or someone else can help me with (I’m using 11.3v 3 cell lipo as a power source).
The first prob/issue is when you start the the board up the LCD lights up great through the initialising stage when it gets to the menu it goes very dim and starts flickering .
2 I’m only getting 3/4 of the LEDs lighting up stops at a joint I checked and re soldiered ( I’m getting power through the whole strip and I seem to be getting variable voltage on the data line .

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Author : Kuba (IP: 89.229.233.105 , host-89-229-233-105.bielskpodlaski.mm.pl)
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Comment:
Dear Michael,
You’ve made great job ! Excelent ! I realy enjoy it. I’m very basic in this programiming. I tried to do same as you but on Arduino Uno, sd module, same LEDs and 16×2 LCD display. I have USBasp programer. I tried to connect using your code but not work.
LCD doesnt display :). Can you send some wiring on LCD – specialy for brightnes using arduino uno ?
SD card cant see serial port any data, doesnt work .
Can you help me be wiring for arduino uno ?

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Author : danny (IP: 86.6.41.162 , cpc7-lewi16-2-0-cust417.2-4.cable.virginm.net)
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Comment:
Its been a long time since i looked at my partially built DLW, about a 1yr or so due to projects and work. I was working things out with Allan who already done the neccessary work . Since getting the email about the page for the 288 led wand i was looking forward to getting back to it. i started yesterday put your code on did a little bit of soldering here and there, i seem to have a problem with sd card reader either i get failed to init or the lcd display dies ( i have tried another sd reader and triple checked all connections) but still no joy

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Author : Victor (IP: 99.253.4.199 , CPE0019662d39ce-CM00195edb1f68.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com)
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Comment:
Hi , Mike. Very nice manual for the WS 2812 DLW. I am a new hand at this and not very strong with C/C++ either, so it was a godsend for me. The software loaded into the Mega without a ripple. The difficulty I had was with the SD shield. Yours in the manual is wired directly to terminals 50-53, I have a stackable SD shield 2.0, so it wouldn’t initialize the card. I found an Adafruit learn site that addresses this issue with a suggestion on how to change SD hook-up to any pins on Arduinos. Waiting for dark to try it out. Thanks again.
Victor

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Author : allan (IP: 71.10.157.4 , 71-10-157-4.dhcp.sgnw.mi.charter.com)
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Comment:
I apologize for a somewhat misleading comment above. I did not read the entire problem Simon posted above Mike’s comment :

“If you are trying to drive 2 meters or 288 LEDs, it may take more than 12 volts input to do that. You may want to jump up to 18 volts even.”

I had this same exact problem and the solution I found and coincidentally read later in an adafruit tutorial was to wire on opposite ends to even out voltage on both ends, therefore evening out the colors. I hope this helps somebody who will run to this 288 led setup.

New comment on your post “NeoPixel WS2812 DLW”
Author : Allan (IP: 71.13.90.142 , 71-13-90-142.static.bycy.mi.charter.com)
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Comment:
http://i62.tinypic.com/uy7hi.png

But try doing this: solder the negative from the power supply from the OPPOSITE END of the strip.
[IMG]http://i62.tinypic.com/uy7hi.png[/IMG]

Good luck!

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Author : Simon Kitt (IP: 176.35.43.114 , 176-35-43-114.xdsl.murphx.net) E-mail : simonkitt@gmail.com
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Comment:
Sorry yes 6th pin including the 5v. Late night following a long drive. As I mentioned though I even tried moving it to a different pin and changing the program to reflect the change.
No I got the strip from an ebay seller but it was still marked as a WS2812b strip.

Connecting into the pin marked 31 (which is the 6th from the end not including the 5V pin). I’m connected the power to the LCD keypad 5v not the arduino board.

I’m using a 144 strip (1 meter long) with 8 batteries providing 12 volts to a 5 volt regulator as per your diagram. I’ve pretty much mirrored your image exactly.

I’ve tried a few different set up’s including changing pin 31 to a different pin and changing it on the IDE on the arduino board to no avail. Although the solder has now come away from the negative terminal so will have to resolder that back on (it came pre soldered onto a connector).

Again any light you can help shed onto this will be greatly appreciated as I’ve been wanting to build one of these for a while but lack much lecky knowledge (although this tutorial has been spot on for a complete Noob like me!).

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Author : Simon Kitt (IP: 82.34.19.104 , cpc22-pres13-2-0-cust871.18-3.cable.virginm.net)
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Comment:
Hi Michael,

Love the idea of the site and have followed the tutorial and wiring diagram to make my own light wand.
Unfortunately I seem to be getting the WS2812b strip lighting up and staying lit when I connect the power. I’ve wired everything up as your diagram and put the code from the pastebin on the arduino board. If I disconnect connection 31 the LCD initilises correctly but as soon as I plug it in and start up problems. The LCD even blanks out.
Any ideas on what could be causing this?

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Author : Allan (IP: 71.10.157.4 , 71-10-157-4.dhcp.sgnw.mi.charter.com)
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Comment:
Thanks Mr. Ross for the update. I have made the ws2811-288 led wand for a while now: Although it works great, I would like to see the pixels “scroll” a little more faster. Although I did manage it integrate it with a digital encoder, it just limits it to 140 pixels or something to that effect.

Just out of curiosity, Does this current iteration have addressed this issue? Thanks again!

1. the blinking LED and the Arduino startup problem was because I powered the Arduino by a plug (connected to the L7805) instead of following your instructions and wire directly into the 5V connector on the LCD shield.

2. I got an infrequent SD-Card init error because I powered the card reader by the headerpin connections on the righthandside.

So, you see, I was very serious with my trial and error story 😉

Thank you for supporting me and last but not least, for publishing your fabulous stuff!

P.S. iPad typing in a foreign language isn’t great fun. 😉

Greet from Bavaria,
Chris

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Author : Chris (IP: 87.145.249.73 , p5791F949.dip0.t-ipconnect.de) E-mail : Info@chris-Seitz.de
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Comment:
Ok Mike, sorry for wasting your time by reading my previous posts.

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Author : Chris (IP: 87.145.249.73 , p5791F949.dip0.t-ipconnect.de) E-mail : info@chris-seitz.de
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Comment:
Hi Mike,
i left the extra ground connection it it works fine. But unfortunately i discovered another problem. It seems, that the arduino hasn’t enough power. the lcd lights up but there’s no startup at all. And my first LED is blinking green. Do you have any ideas?

Do you that ist connected with the missing Ground?

Thanks!
Chris