Arduino LED Controller

An LED control system using Arduino and GUI software run on a PC. The system enables real time control of addressable LED strips via serial USB communication, supporting multiple effect modes.

Features

LED Control Modes

• SETUP_MODE - Configure LED count and RGB channel mapping
• ALL_STATIC_COLOR_MODE - Set all LEDs to a single color
• INDIVIDUAL_STATIC_COLOR_MODE - Set specific LEDs to different colors
• GRADIENT_COLOR_MODE - Create gradient-based transitions with configurable fade times (maximum of 8 colors)
• TWO_COLOR_WAVE_MODE - Animated waves alternating between two colors
• RAINBOW_WAVE_MODE - Full hue spectrum wave around the strip
• AUDIO_MODE - Visualize audio input with color mapping and peak detection
• STARTUP_DATA_SET_MODE - Save default LED configurations to EEPROM for startup

Hardware Features

• Arduino control with configuration via serial USB
• Support for addressable RGB LED strips
• EEPROM-based persistent storage for startup configurations

Software Architecture

• OOP mode-based design with dedicated classes for each LED mode
• Efficient serial protocol with custom binary commands

Tech Stack

Hardware

• Arduino (any compatible with USB serial support)
• Addressable RGB LED strips (WS2812)

Software

• Arduino Sketch: Arduino C++ with PololuLedStrip library
• PC: C++ with SFML and TGUI

Getting Started

Arduino Setup

1. Open the Arduino IDE or compatible environment
2. Open ArduinoProgram/ArduinoProgram.ino
3. Select your Arduino board and COM port
4. Upload the sketch to your Arduino
5. The Arduino will start in NO_MODE and await commands via serial

PC Application Setup

1. Navigate to CPPProgram/
2. Build the application using Visual Studio's MSVC Compiler:

   msbuild CPPProgram.vcxproj /p:Configuration=Release

3. Connect the Arduino via USB
4. Run the compiled application to begin sending commands

Hardware Wiring

• Connect addressable LED strip data line to appropriate Arduino GPIO pin (default is pin 12)
• Connect LED power and ground
• Connect Arduino to PC via USB

Communication Protocol

Startup Behavior

The Arduino begins in NO_MODE. On startup, it checks EEPROM:

• At index 0, there is the number of bytes, n, of startup instructions stored (0-64)
  • If n = 0 or n > 64: No startup instructions, use default color
  • If 0 < n <= 64: Load and execute n bytes of commands from EEPROM

Command Structure

Everything is assumed to be little-endian.

NO_MODE

Send a single byte to select a mode:

Command	Mode
0	SETUP_MODE
1	ALL_STATIC_COLOR_MODE
2	GRADIENT_COLOR_MODE
3	INDIVIDUAL_STATIC_COLOR_MODE
4	AUDIO_MODE
5	STARTUP_DATA_SET_MODE
6	TWO_COLOR_WAVE_MODE
7	RAINBOW_WAVE_COLOR_MODE

SETUP_MODE

Configure LED strip parameters:

• Bytes 0-1: Total number of LEDs
• Byte 2: Red channel
• Byte 3: Green channel
• Byte 4: Blue channel

After processing, mode returns to NO_MODE.

ALL_STATIC_COLOR_MODE

Set all LEDs to a single color:

• Byte 0: Red value
• Byte 1: Green value
• Byte 2: Blue value

After processing, mode returns to NO_MODE.

GRADIENT_COLOR_MODE

Gradient-based color transitions between multiple colors:

• Byte 0: Number of colors (max of 8)
• For each color (n segments of 5 bytes):
  • Byte 0: Red value
  • Byte 1: Green value
  • Byte 2: Blue value
  • Bytes 3-4: Fade time to next color in MS

Colors fade in sequence with specified fade times and loop.

After processing, mode returns to NO_MODE.

INDIVIDUAL_STATIC_COLOR_MODE

Set specific LEDs to individual colors. All other LEDs set to black:

• Bytes 0-1: Number of LEDs to set
• For each LED (n segments of 5 bytes):
  • Bytes 0-1: LED index/ID
  • Byte 2: Red value
  • Byte 3: Green value
  • Byte 4: Blue value

After processing, mode returns to NO_MODE.

AUDIO_MODE

Visualize audio input with peak detection and color mapping:

• Byte 0: Number of colors (max of 8)
• Next 3n bytes: RGB values for each color
• Next sets of 2 bytes: audio level values (0-1000) until exit command received
• Exit: Send 65535 (0xFFFF) to return to NO_MODE

Audio levels are input into a peak detection algorithm which uses the defined colors to control the LEDs.

STARTUP_DATA_SET_MODE

Save default LED configuration to EEPROM for automatic loading on startup:

• Byte 0: Number of bytes to save (0-64)
• Next n bytes: Command sequence to execute on startup

Saved commands are executed automatically whenever the Arduino restarts.

After processing, mode returns to NO_MODE.

TWO_COLOR_WAVE_MODE

Create waves with two alternating colors that circle around the LED strip:

• Bytes 0-2: First wave color (RGB)
• Bytes 3-5: Second wave color (RGB)
• Bytes 6-7: Delay between wave updates in MS
• Bytes 8-9: Wave length in number of LEDs

After processing, mode returns to NO_MODE.

RAINBOW_WAVE_COLOR_MODE

Display a hue spectrum wave around the LED strip:

• Bytes 0-1: Transition delay in MS per LED
• Bytes 2-3: Number of LEDs in a single wave
• Byte 4: Saturation level (0-255)
• Byte 5: Brightness level (0-255)

After processing, mode returns to NO_MODE.