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Arnov Sharma
Published © MIT

Custom 16x16 WS2812 Mini Matrix Project

Made a custom Matrix board that can be controlled via any MCU.

BeginnerFull instructions provided1 hour2,895

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Arduino Nano R3
Arduino Nano R3
×1
Adafruit ws2812 leds
×1
Elecrow PCB Service
×1

Story

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Schematics

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Code

cyclon

C/C++
#include <FastLED.h>

// How many leds in your strip?
#define NUM_LEDS 240 

// For led chips like Neopixels, which have a data line, ground, and power, you just
// need to define DATA_PIN.  For led chipsets that are SPI based (four wires - data, clock,
// ground, and power), like the LPD8806, define both DATA_PIN and CLOCK_PIN
#define DATA_PIN 3
#define CLOCK_PIN 13

// Define the array of leds
CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];

void setup() { 
	Serial.begin(57600);
	Serial.println("resetting");
	LEDS.addLeds<WS2812,DATA_PIN,RGB>(leds,NUM_LEDS);
	LEDS.setBrightness(84);
}

void fadeall() { for(int i = 0; i < NUM_LEDS; i++) { leds[i].nscale8(250); } }

void loop() { 
	static uint8_t hue = 0;
	Serial.print("x");
	// First slide the led in one direction
	for(int i = 0; i < NUM_LEDS; i++) {
		// Set the i'th led to red 
		leds[i] = CHSV(hue++, 255, 255);
		// Show the leds
		FastLED.show(); 
		// now that we've shown the leds, reset the i'th led to black
		// leds[i] = CRGB::Black;
		fadeall();
		// Wait a little bit before we loop around and do it again
		delay(10);
	}
	Serial.print("x");

	// Now go in the other direction.  
	for(int i = (NUM_LEDS)-1; i >= 0; i--) {
		// Set the i'th led to red 
		leds[i] = CHSV(hue++, 255, 255);
		// Show the leds
		FastLED.show();
		// now that we've shown the leds, reset the i'th led to black
		// leds[i] = CRGB::Black;
		fadeall();
		// Wait a little bit before we loop around and do it again
		delay(10);
	}
}

Noise Playground

C/C++
#include <FastLED.h>

#define kMatrixWidth  16
#define kMatrixHeight 15

#define NUM_LEDS (kMatrixWidth * kMatrixHeight)
// Param for different pixel layouts
#define kMatrixSerpentineLayout  false

// led array
CRGB leds[kMatrixWidth * kMatrixHeight];

// x,y, & time values
uint32_t x,y,v_time,hue_time,hxy;

// Play with the values of the variables below and see what kinds of effects they
// have!  More octaves will make things slower.

// how many octaves to use for the brightness and hue functions
uint8_t octaves=1;
uint8_t hue_octaves=3;

// the 'distance' between points on the x and y axis
int xscale=57771;
int yscale=57771;

// the 'distance' between x/y points for the hue noise
int hue_scale=1;

// how fast we move through time & hue noise
int time_speed=1111;
int hue_speed=31;

// adjust these values to move along the x or y axis between frames
int x_speed=331;
int y_speed=1111;

void loop() {
  // fill the led array 2/16-bit noise values
  fill_2dnoise16(LEDS.leds(), kMatrixWidth, kMatrixHeight, kMatrixSerpentineLayout,
                octaves,x,xscale,y,yscale,v_time,
                hue_octaves,hxy,hue_scale,hxy,hue_scale,hue_time, false);

  LEDS.show();

  // adjust the intra-frame time values
  x += x_speed;
  y += y_speed;
  v_time += time_speed;
  hue_time += hue_speed;
  // delay(50);
}


void setup() {
  // initialize the x/y and time values
  random16_set_seed(8934);
  random16_add_entropy(analogRead(3));

  Serial.begin(57600);
  Serial.println("resetting!");

  delay(3000);
  LEDS.addLeds<WS2811,3,GRB>(leds,NUM_LEDS);
  LEDS.setBrightness(96);

  hxy = (uint32_t)((uint32_t)random16() << 16) + (uint32_t)random16();
  x = (uint32_t)((uint32_t)random16() << 16) + (uint32_t)random16();
  y = (uint32_t)((uint32_t)random16() << 16) + (uint32_t)random16();
  v_time = (uint32_t)((uint32_t)random16() << 16) + (uint32_t)random16();
  hue_time = (uint32_t)((uint32_t)random16() << 16) + (uint32_t)random16();

}

LED TESTING

C/C++
// NeoPixel Ring simple sketch (c) 2013 Shae Erisson
// released under the GPLv3 license to match the rest of the AdaFruit NeoPixel library

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>
#ifdef __AVR__
  #include <avr/power.h>
#endif

// Which pin on the Arduino is connected to the NeoPixels?
// On a Trinket or Gemma we suggest changing this to 1
#define PIN            3

// How many NeoPixels are attached to the Arduino?
#define NUMPIXELS      240

// When we setup the NeoPixel library, we tell it how many pixels, and which pin to use to send signals.
// Note that for older NeoPixel strips you might need to change the third parameter--see the strandtest
// example for more information on possible values.
Adafruit_NeoPixel pixels = Adafruit_NeoPixel(NUMPIXELS, PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

int delayval = 100; // delay for half a second

void setup() {
  // This is for Trinket 5V 16MHz, you can remove these three lines if you are not using a Trinket
#if defined (__AVR_ATtiny85__)
  if (F_CPU == 16000000) clock_prescale_set(clock_div_1);
#endif
  // End of trinket special code

  pixels.begin(); // This initializes the NeoPixel library.
}

void loop() {

  // For a set of NeoPixels the first NeoPixel is 0, second is 1, all the way up to the count of pixels minus one.

  for(int i=0;i<NUMPIXELS;i++){

    // pixels.Color takes RGB values, from 0,0,0 up to 255,255,255
    pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(0,150,0)); // Moderately bright green color.

    pixels.show(); // This sends the updated pixel color to the hardware.

    delay(delayval); // Delay for a period of time (in milliseconds).

  }
}

XYMatrix

C/C++
#include <FastLED.h>

#define LED_PIN  3

#define COLOR_ORDER GRB
#define CHIPSET     WS2811

#define BRIGHTNESS 64

// Helper functions for an two-dimensional XY matrix of pixels.
// Simple 2-D demo code is included as well.
//
//     XY(x,y) takes x and y coordinates and returns an LED index number,
//             for use like this:  leds[ XY(x,y) ] == CRGB::Red;
//             No error checking is performed on the ranges of x and y.
//
//     XYsafe(x,y) takes x and y coordinates and returns an LED index number,
//             for use like this:  leds[ XY(x,y) ] == CRGB::Red;
//             Error checking IS performed on the ranges of x and y, and an
//             index of "-1" is returned.  Special instructions below
//             explain how to use this without having to do your own error
//             checking every time you use this function.  
//             This is a slightly more advanced technique, and 
//             it REQUIRES SPECIAL ADDITIONAL setup, described below.


// Params for width and height
const uint8_t kMatrixWidth = 16;
const uint8_t kMatrixHeight = 15;

// Param for different pixel layouts
const bool    kMatrixSerpentineLayout = false;
const bool    kMatrixVertical = false;
// Set 'kMatrixSerpentineLayout' to false if your pixels are 
// laid out all running the same way, like this:
//
//     0 >  1 >  2 >  3 >  4
//                         |
//     .----<----<----<----'
//     |
//     5 >  6 >  7 >  8 >  9
//                         |
//     .----<----<----<----'
//     |
//    10 > 11 > 12 > 13 > 14
//                         |
//     .----<----<----<----'
//     |
//    15 > 16 > 17 > 18 > 19
//
// Set 'kMatrixSerpentineLayout' to true if your pixels are 
// laid out back-and-forth, like this:
//
//     0 >  1 >  2 >  3 >  4
//                         |
//                         |
//     9 <  8 <  7 <  6 <  5
//     |
//     |
//    10 > 11 > 12 > 13 > 14
//                        |
//                        |
//    19 < 18 < 17 < 16 < 15
//
// Bonus vocabulary word: anything that goes one way 
// in one row, and then backwards in the next row, and so on
// is call "boustrophedon", meaning "as the ox plows."


// This function will return the right 'led index number' for 
// a given set of X and Y coordinates on your matrix.  
// IT DOES NOT CHECK THE COORDINATE BOUNDARIES.  
// That's up to you.  Don't pass it bogus values.
//
// Use the "XY" function like this:
//
//    for( uint8_t x = 0; x < kMatrixWidth; x++) {
//      for( uint8_t y = 0; y < kMatrixHeight; y++) {
//      
//        // Here's the x, y to 'led index' in action: 
//        leds[ XY( x, y) ] = CHSV( random8(), 255, 255);
//      
//      }
//    }
//
//
uint16_t XY( uint8_t x, uint8_t y)
{
  uint16_t i;
  
  if( kMatrixSerpentineLayout == false) {
    if (kMatrixVertical == false) {
      i = (y * kMatrixWidth) + x;
    } else {
      i = kMatrixHeight * (kMatrixWidth - (x+1))+y;
    }
  }

  if( kMatrixSerpentineLayout == true) {
    if (kMatrixVertical == false) {
      if( y & 0x01) {
        // Odd rows run backwards
        uint8_t reverseX = (kMatrixWidth - 1) - x;
        i = (y * kMatrixWidth) + reverseX;
      } else {
        // Even rows run forwards
        i = (y * kMatrixWidth) + x;
      }
    } else { // vertical positioning
      if ( x & 0x01) {
        i = kMatrixHeight * (kMatrixWidth - (x+1))+y;
      } else {
        i = kMatrixHeight * (kMatrixWidth - x) - (y+1);
      }
    }
  }
  
  return i;
}


// Once you've gotten the basics working (AND NOT UNTIL THEN!)
// here's a helpful technique that can be tricky to set up, but 
// then helps you avoid the needs for sprinkling array-bound-checking
// throughout your code.
//
// It requires a careful attention to get it set up correctly, but
// can potentially make your code smaller and faster.
//
// Suppose you have an 8 x 5 matrix of 40 LEDs.  Normally, you'd
// delcare your leds array like this:
//    CRGB leds[40];
// But instead of that, declare an LED buffer with one extra pixel in
// it, "leds_plus_safety_pixel".  Then declare "leds" as a pointer to
// that array, but starting with the 2nd element (id=1) of that array: 
//    CRGB leds_with_safety_pixel[41];
//    CRGB* const leds( leds_plus_safety_pixel + 1);
// Then you use the "leds" array as you normally would.
// Now "leds[0..N]" are aliases for "leds_plus_safety_pixel[1..(N+1)]",
// AND leds[-1] is now a legitimate and safe alias for leds_plus_safety_pixel[0].
// leds_plus_safety_pixel[0] aka leds[-1] is now your "safety pixel".
//
// Now instead of using the XY function above, use the one below, "XYsafe".
//
// If the X and Y values are 'in bounds', this function will return an index
// into the visible led array, same as "XY" does.
// HOWEVER -- and this is the trick -- if the X or Y values
// are out of bounds, this function will return an index of -1.
// And since leds[-1] is actually just an alias for leds_plus_safety_pixel[0],
// it's a totally safe and legal place to access.  And since the 'safety pixel'
// falls 'outside' the visible part of the LED array, anything you write 
// there is hidden from view automatically.
// Thus, this line of code is totally safe, regardless of the actual size of
// your matrix:
//    leds[ XYsafe( random8(), random8() ) ] = CHSV( random8(), 255, 255);
//
// The only catch here is that while this makes it safe to read from and
// write to 'any pixel', there's really only ONE 'safety pixel'.  No matter
// what out-of-bounds coordinates you write to, you'll really be writing to
// that one safety pixel.  And if you try to READ from the safety pixel,
// you'll read whatever was written there last, reglardless of what coordinates
// were supplied.

#define NUM_LEDS (kMatrixWidth * kMatrixHeight)
CRGB leds_plus_safety_pixel[ NUM_LEDS + 1];
CRGB* const leds( leds_plus_safety_pixel + 1);

uint16_t XYsafe( uint8_t x, uint8_t y)
{
  if( x >= kMatrixWidth) return -1;
  if( y >= kMatrixHeight) return -1;
  return XY(x,y);
}


// Demo that USES "XY" follows code below

void loop()
{
    uint32_t ms = millis();
    int32_t yHueDelta32 = ((int32_t)cos16( ms * (27/1) ) * (350 / kMatrixWidth));
    int32_t xHueDelta32 = ((int32_t)cos16( ms * (39/1) ) * (310 / kMatrixHeight));
    DrawOneFrame( ms / 65536, yHueDelta32 / 32768, xHueDelta32 / 32768);
    if( ms < 5000 ) {
      FastLED.setBrightness( scale8( BRIGHTNESS, (ms * 256) / 5000));
    } else {
      FastLED.setBrightness(BRIGHTNESS);
    }
    FastLED.show();
}

void DrawOneFrame( byte startHue8, int8_t yHueDelta8, int8_t xHueDelta8)
{
  byte lineStartHue = startHue8;
  for( byte y = 0; y < kMatrixHeight; y++) {
    lineStartHue += yHueDelta8;
    byte pixelHue = lineStartHue;      
    for( byte x = 0; x < kMatrixWidth; x++) {
      pixelHue += xHueDelta8;
      leds[ XY(x, y)]  = CHSV( pixelHue, 255, 255);
    }
  }
}


void setup() {
  FastLED.addLeds<CHIPSET, LED_PIN, COLOR_ORDER>(leds, NUM_LEDS).setCorrection(TypicalSMD5050);
  FastLED.setBrightness( BRIGHTNESS );
}

Pacifica

C/C++
//
//  "Pacifica"
//  Gentle, blue-green ocean waves.
//  December 2019, Mark Kriegsman and Mary Corey March.
//  For Dan.
//

#define FASTLED_ALLOW_INTERRUPTS 0
#include <FastLED.h>
FASTLED_USING_NAMESPACE

#define DATA_PIN            3
#define NUM_LEDS            240
#define MAX_POWER_MILLIAMPS 500
#define LED_TYPE            WS2812B
#define COLOR_ORDER         GRB

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];

void setup() {
  delay( 3000); // 3 second delay for boot recovery, and a moment of silence
  FastLED.addLeds<LED_TYPE,DATA_PIN,COLOR_ORDER>(leds, NUM_LEDS)
        .setCorrection( TypicalLEDStrip );
  FastLED.setMaxPowerInVoltsAndMilliamps( 5, MAX_POWER_MILLIAMPS);
}

void loop()
{
  EVERY_N_MILLISECONDS( 20) {
    pacifica_loop();
    FastLED.show();
  }
}

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//
// The code for this animation is more complicated than other examples, and 
// while it is "ready to run", and documented in general, it is probably not 
// the best starting point for learning.  Nevertheless, it does illustrate some
// useful techniques.
//
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//
// In this animation, there are four "layers" of waves of light.  
//
// Each layer moves independently, and each is scaled separately.
//
// All four wave layers are added together on top of each other, and then 
// another filter is applied that adds "whitecaps" of brightness where the 
// waves line up with each other more.  Finally, another pass is taken
// over the led array to 'deepen' (dim) the blues and greens.
//
// The speed and scale and motion each layer varies slowly within independent 
// hand-chosen ranges, which is why the code has a lot of low-speed 'beatsin8' functions
// with a lot of oddly specific numeric ranges.
//
// These three custom blue-green color palettes were inspired by the colors found in
// the waters off the southern coast of California, https://goo.gl/maps/QQgd97jjHesHZVxQ7
//
CRGBPalette16 pacifica_palette_1 = 
    { 0x000507, 0x000409, 0x00030B, 0x00030D, 0x000210, 0x000212, 0x000114, 0x000117, 
      0x000019, 0x00001C, 0x000026, 0x000031, 0x00003B, 0x000046, 0x14554B, 0x28AA50 };
CRGBPalette16 pacifica_palette_2 = 
    { 0x000507, 0x000409, 0x00030B, 0x00030D, 0x000210, 0x000212, 0x000114, 0x000117, 
      0x000019, 0x00001C, 0x000026, 0x000031, 0x00003B, 0x000046, 0x0C5F52, 0x19BE5F };
CRGBPalette16 pacifica_palette_3 = 
    { 0x000208, 0x00030E, 0x000514, 0x00061A, 0x000820, 0x000927, 0x000B2D, 0x000C33, 
      0x000E39, 0x001040, 0x001450, 0x001860, 0x001C70, 0x002080, 0x1040BF, 0x2060FF };


void pacifica_loop()
{
  // Increment the four "color index start" counters, one for each wave layer.
  // Each is incremented at a different speed, and the speeds vary over time.
  static uint16_t sCIStart1, sCIStart2, sCIStart3, sCIStart4;
  static uint32_t sLastms = 0;
  uint32_t ms = GET_MILLIS();
  uint32_t deltams = ms - sLastms;
  sLastms = ms;
  uint16_t speedfactor1 = beatsin16(3, 179, 269);
  uint16_t speedfactor2 = beatsin16(4, 179, 269);
  uint32_t deltams1 = (deltams * speedfactor1) / 256;
  uint32_t deltams2 = (deltams * speedfactor2) / 256;
  uint32_t deltams21 = (deltams1 + deltams2) / 2;
  sCIStart1 += (deltams1 * beatsin88(1011,10,13));
  sCIStart2 -= (deltams21 * beatsin88(777,8,11));
  sCIStart3 -= (deltams1 * beatsin88(501,5,7));
  sCIStart4 -= (deltams2 * beatsin88(257,4,6));

  // Clear out the LED array to a dim background blue-green
  fill_solid( leds, NUM_LEDS, CRGB( 2, 6, 10));

  // Render each of four layers, with different scales and speeds, that vary over time
  pacifica_one_layer( pacifica_palette_1, sCIStart1, beatsin16( 3, 11 * 256, 14 * 256), beatsin8( 10, 70, 130), 0-beat16( 301) );
  pacifica_one_layer( pacifica_palette_2, sCIStart2, beatsin16( 4,  6 * 256,  9 * 256), beatsin8( 17, 40,  80), beat16( 401) );
  pacifica_one_layer( pacifica_palette_3, sCIStart3, 6 * 256, beatsin8( 9, 10,38), 0-beat16(503));
  pacifica_one_layer( pacifica_palette_3, sCIStart4, 5 * 256, beatsin8( 8, 10,28), beat16(601));

  // Add brighter 'whitecaps' where the waves lines up more
  pacifica_add_whitecaps();

  // Deepen the blues and greens a bit
  pacifica_deepen_colors();
}

// Add one layer of waves into the led array
void pacifica_one_layer( CRGBPalette16& p, uint16_t cistart, uint16_t wavescale, uint8_t bri, uint16_t ioff)
{
  uint16_t ci = cistart;
  uint16_t waveangle = ioff;
  uint16_t wavescale_half = (wavescale / 2) + 20;
  for( uint16_t i = 0; i < NUM_LEDS; i++) {
    waveangle += 250;
    uint16_t s16 = sin16( waveangle ) + 32768;
    uint16_t cs = scale16( s16 , wavescale_half ) + wavescale_half;
    ci += cs;
    uint16_t sindex16 = sin16( ci) + 32768;
    uint8_t sindex8 = scale16( sindex16, 240);
    CRGB c = ColorFromPalette( p, sindex8, bri, LINEARBLEND);
    leds[i] += c;
  }
}

// Add extra 'white' to areas where the four layers of light have lined up brightly
void pacifica_add_whitecaps()
{
  uint8_t basethreshold = beatsin8( 9, 55, 65);
  uint8_t wave = beat8( 7 );
  
  for( uint16_t i = 0; i < NUM_LEDS; i++) {
    uint8_t threshold = scale8( sin8( wave), 20) + basethreshold;
    wave += 7;
    uint8_t l = leds[i].getAverageLight();
    if( l > threshold) {
      uint8_t overage = l - threshold;
      uint8_t overage2 = qadd8( overage, overage);
      leds[i] += CRGB( overage, overage2, qadd8( overage2, overage2));
    }
  }
}

// Deepen the blues and greens
void pacifica_deepen_colors()
{
  for( uint16_t i = 0; i < NUM_LEDS; i++) {
    leds[i].blue = scale8( leds[i].blue,  145); 
    leds[i].green= scale8( leds[i].green, 200); 
    leds[i] |= CRGB( 2, 5, 7);
  }
}

Credits

Arnov Sharma
310 projects • 311 followers
Just your average MAKER

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