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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.