WLED: Mastering Segments, Multi-pin & Multi-Controller Setups
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- Опубликовано: 29 июн 2024
- Take your LED projects to the next level! This video unlocks the power of WLED segments, letting you control sections of your LED display independently. I'll also explore splitting the data signal and using multiple GPIO pins for a single WLED controller. Plus, discover ways to sync and combine separate LED displays and controllers for dazzling synchronized effects.
Here's what you'll learn:
- WLED Segments Explained: Divide your LED strip and control each section with unique effects and colors.
- Advanced Control Options: Explore splitting the data signal and utilizing multiple GPIO pins for expanded possibilities.
- Sync Your Lights: Learn techniques to synchronize separate LED displays and controllers for a cohesive light show.
Chapter Links
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00:00 Intro
00:56 Controllers, LEDs and Parts Used
03:24 Single Controller Configuration
04:10 Creating Segments (Single Data Pin)
10:05 Using Multiple Data Pins
14:39 Splitting a Data Signal
18:18 Multiple Controllers - WLED UDP Sync
25:54 Multiple Controllers - Virtual LEDs
29:14 Wrap Up
Parts Used or Shown:
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ESP32 Mini: amzn.to/49Jfu2b
SN74AHCT125N Shifter: amzn.to/4aYEyDq
I2C-Compatible Shifter: amzn.to/3UmLS6s
WS2812b 5V RGB LED Strips: amzn.to/3JsgL3e
5V 30A Power Supply: amzn.to/4axqS2t
AC Power Cable: amzn.to/49L4X6A
JST Connectors: amzn.to/3vZmf24
WAGO Lever Nuts: amzn.to/3U9d3QT
1/2 Size Breadboard: amzn.to/3QcDdRE
Breadboard Jumpers: amzn.to/4cY3kWd
ElectroCookie Protoboards: amzn.to/3JnVFmm
Some of these links may be Amazon affiliate links. Use of these links will not affect your pricing, but as an affiliate this channel may earn a small commission if you make a purchase.
Additional Information and Links:
================================
3D Printed Enclosures for the Soldered Versions shown: www.thingiverse.com/thing:496...
Official WLED Web Site: kno.wled.ge/
WLED Web Installer: install.wled.me/
If you'd like to help support this channel, or just say thanks, you can consider buying me a cup of coffee:
www.buymeacoffee.com/resinche...
#wled #ledprojects #ledlighting 
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You know he's reliable the moment you see the background. Nice.
Great information for people just getting into WLED! I am a noob just getting started so this is very helpful for me!
Naturally there are a lot of different methods of doing some of the things I showed, but I did try to stick to the basics so that it might be helpful to someone just getting started with WLED... or someone that might be looking to expand or build a larger display for the first time. I'm glad you found the info helpful.
Thanks for watching and taking time to leave a comment!
After years and plenty of money spent trying to achieve Led solutions in our home, WLED is a game changer and your videos have really helped me in gaining a better understanding of it. I’ve even plucked up the courage to learn to solder and bought a soldering station. As always, the biggest problem for me is hiding power and wires but I’m looking forwards to having a go at this stuff. Thank you for your efforts 👍
Glad I might have been able to help out at least a little bit. WLED is outstanding firmware and while you can buy premade commercial strips (e.g. Govee), WLED gives you so many more effects, options, etc. And for me, I really like the enjoyment and satisfaction of building my own devices without the need to install yet another manufacturer's app on my phone.
Best of luck with your soldering. I was absolutely horrible at it when I first started a few years ago. But with practice (and the help of a few RUclips videos), it gets easier and I have gotten much better at it. Thanks for watching and taking a few minutes to leave a comment.
One important note. The calculated brightness of the LED depends on the sending controller. It will take its current limit and size the brightness ACROSS ALL strips, including the virtual ones. Keep this in mind, when setting it up - took me a loooong time to realize this :)
Interesting! I guess I hadn't thought about it, but it would be an important consideration when using virtual LEDs. To be honest, this video was the first time I had actually tried that feature. Now that I know how it works, I might implement in some of my other displays. Glad you saved me the time in discovering the issue myself. Thanks for the tip!
@@ResinChemTech I did not know about the recommendation of max pins - so I did a controller that had 10 (!!!) virtual LED strips with 150 lights each :) Quite fun, they work with sound reactive firmware on the master, looks cool :)
Excellent video. I could have used this 2 months ago when I made a temporary setup on my patio for my daughter's party. Having this would have saved me so much time in setup and troubleshooting. I eventually got it but this information is Excellent. Thanks for another great video.
Thanks Dave! As always, I greatly appreciate the comment!
Another magnificent tutorial!
Thank you RCT, you have brought my project forward again, I appreciate you.
Excellent video. I never needed to play around this much, so I did not know it was this powerful!
Thanks! WLED has come a very long way since I started using it. And more features and options are available with each new release.
Thanks for watching and taking a moment to leave a comment. I appreciate it!
amazing video. just what I was looking for diwali decoration. 🎉
Glad you found it helpful. Thanks for watching... and taking time to leave a comment!
This is really helpful. Thanks for going over this information.
You are most welcome! Thanks for the comment.
Great videos, clearly explained thank you :)
You're welcome! Glad you found the video helpful.
Excellent explanations and examples! Thank you.
You are welcome. Thanks for watching and for the comment!
This is Fantastic! So much info! I knew wLed could do these things but I had never wanted to dive in and understand how to make it. I definitely will be making my lights better due to this. Thank you!
You are welcome! Thanks for watching and taking time to leave a comment.
Truly a great video, got some genius ideas from it for future projects, Thanks, keep it up.
You're welcome! Glad it gave you some ideas for your own projects. Thanks for watching... and the kind words!
@@ResinChemTech No sir, thank you, and people like yourself who are willing to invest their time and effort and who ae willing to share their experiences with the rest of us. Once again, great videos. Thank you.
Thank you so much for this! I finally understand it! The check boxes on both sides of each segment had me so confused! 😅
You are welcome. Yeah... the check boxes were a little confusing for me as well when I first starting using segments.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to post a comment. I appreciate it!
@@ResinChemTech Absolutely, it's such a helpful video!
this video is full of awesomeness, wish i had time to watch it all now, will be back to finish later. having trouble myself getting things working as i want using 2 GPIO pins so hoping this helps. I am also trying out MQTT and Node Red to control them with mixed results.
Yeah... like most of my videos, it is a bit long! But hopefully when you return, the chapter links will help you find the sections of interest.
Way, way back when I did some of my first WLED installs, MQTT was really the only way to automate/control the lights outside of the WLED app. I think a couple of my old installs may still have MQTT enabled. Of course the Home Assistant integration now provides a pretty wide range of options for automation so I don't use MQTT for controlling WLED these days.
Apparently, there is supposed to be a big announcement regarding WLED at the Home Assistant State of the Open Home stream today (4/20). So who knows what new options might be introduced there. With my luck it will be something that makes everything I did in this video obsolete! Thanks for watching!
Useful video, probably going to need a part 2 to cover ESP-NOW, that seems to be setup to allow the ESP boards to talk to each other.
Good idea. Actually a lot of my videos could use a 'part 2' or an update. The problem with these types of topics is that things change so rapidly. Seems like every time I release a video on something like Home Assistant, WLED or ESPHome, a new version gets released that invalidates some portion (or nearly all) of my video with changes, new features, etc.
But I have been considering a video on ESP-NOW... I'm just trying to come up with a good use case for my own home as I generally like to integrate something that I'm showing into an actual project that I can use. Thanks for watching and the feedback.
Something that I am curious about is how a WLED board would interact with 9 vertical LED cob strips through a chain of T connectors wired (soldiered) together.
Larger rundown: We're building a shelving piece where there are strips of sunken in LEDs climbing up each side of it's uprights (apart from one side of an end due to facing a wall, making 9 strips in total). These strips are connected to wires going down into a connected line of naked (just soldier to copper) 4pin T connectors apart from the last one which simply has it's wire come from the previous upright's T connector being that it doesn't need it's own.
After a little bit of tech issues due to failed soldiering, the whole thing is working currently from the kit with cob LEDs we purchased however, not only does the wifi/link/chip box get burning hot but even if you turn the LEDs off or lower the brightness, they're stuck as a permanent bright red (unless if you turn them off by the mains.) (Goes into a 24v adapter).
We're thinking that a WLED chip may fix our issues however we have no idea and cannot find anything on how they'd function with T connectors, if at all. And if they do, do they still work in the same way of does every strip of LEDs get the same treatment in terms of programming from the code because they all dead ends.
I will do my best to answer your questions based on what I believe I know, but I haven't either created 'non-serpentine' matrices similar to what you are wanting to do with the t-connectors, nor have I used COB LEDs.
But I have a couple of thoughts. I _think_ that the matrix can be set up in a non-serpentine manner. But if that doesn't work, the ESP32 (dual core) can have up to 10 different data pin output. This means that you could run a separate data line from a different GPIO pin to each of your nine strips. Each strip can be individually controlled via segments, or all could be treated a single 'matrix' or install (or any combination of the two). See this for more info on multi-pin/strip support: kno.wled.ge/features/multi-strip/
If you are on Discord, the WLED Discord server may also be a good source of info. I'm sure some of the folks there could help you out. In terms of the hot controller, I'm assuming you are not running the power for the LEDs through the controller board? Power for the LEDs should be run in parallel with the controller. It could be another reason, but I thought I'd mention this as the LEDs can draw pretty high current and could cause components to get very hot if not designed to carry that current.
Good luck with your project.
Wow awesome advanced guide to WLED. I have been using WLED for a year but I could not get my head round these more creative use cases. I have never seen such a clear and articulate guide. Do you have any suggestions on the best way to configure an Ikea bookcase 5x5 cubes for 25 in total? I want to be able to set colors and effects separately for each of the 25 cubes.
Thanks... I appreciate the kind words. It sounds like you want 25 different segments... one for each cube so that it can be set to its own color independently, correct? There may be a number of creative options for this. One would be to use two WLED ESP32 controllers. Since each can now have up to 12 segments, that would get you to 24 segments and the two controllers could be synced in one of the methods that I showed. But that still leaves you one cube short!
Another option that could be done with a single controller is to make use of the grouping and spacing feature that I briefly mentioned but didn't show in detail. That means you could create something like 6 segments, but they would be spaced out over different cubes. So cubes 1, 7, 13, 20 would be one segment. Cubes 2, 8, 14, 21 would be a different segment, etc. Those in the same segments would be the same color, but it would appear that each cube is different (at least from its neighbors). Between this, using multiple pins and/or multiple controllers with sync, I think you could get pretty close to what you are trying to do... and maybe even create some really cool effects in the process.
Hope that helps. Thanks again for watching and the kind words.
Hi thanks for all yours video , very interesting .
I dont know if you are alreadoing some video connecting LD 2410C to Arduino to command light .thank u again
Great video and very clearly explained. Allow me to ask you something: We are planning a project with five ESP32 controllers and it will be configured and synchronized with WLED. Once I have configured everything, the ESP32 controllers will not have any wifi or connection to the smartphone / notebook with WLED application. Does this work or do I need a permanent connection to the WLED application?
WLED will continue working without wifi or any devices connected to the app. Obviously you can't change any settings without connecting to the controller, but if it is running an effect, pattern, playlist, etc., it will continue to run without wifi. If wifi cannot be connected, the controller will begin broadcasting its own local hotspot.
But do note that the devices will not be able to 'sync' to each other without wifi. The WLED sync uses UDP, which requires all devices that participate in the sync to be on the same network. If interested, I have a video where I create a matrix t-shirt and show a couple of different options for using WLED without WiFI (you can skip to near the end to see the two different ways): ruclips.net/video/T2YGL1mzMKA/видео.html
Love your videos. Thanks. Would WLED be able to run this:
4 strips of different lengths... Say 1m, 1.2m, 1.4m, 1.6m
Lighting them one pixel at a time from the bottom... But with a 1 second delay before starting the next strip?
Keep them on.
Then when user presses a button, run a script to do the reverse??
WLED doesn't really have any sort of timer like you need here, or real automation engine built in. I think you could get somewhat close to what you want to do, but you'd probably need something like Home Assistant or NodeRED to handle the automation or create your own user mod in WLED to deal with the 1 sec. delay. You could certainly light up one pixel at a time with the built-in effects and segments and turn them off with a button push. But the effects repeat and don't 'stop' with all the LEDs on. And again, there isn't a stock way to pause or halt the effect for 1 second and then have it continue... not without a mod, outside automation engine or writing your own code.
I am interested to see how segments work with 2d matrix maps, not just linear strips. Use case to play 2d matrix effects on animated staircase that uses per-step segments for the on/off wipe.
Well, I would imagine that segments would work the same way on a matrix (although it might make some interesting effects) as even in a 2D matrix configuration, the LEDs are still wired in some sort of series layout. I have a couple of different WLED matrices, so I will try it out and consider making a follow up video if I find anything unique or interesting with segments on a matrix.
Thanks for the comment and recommendation.
Yes naturally for wiring one or more data pin leds are addressed in series where unless a 2d matrix map is defined over the series it is by default a 1d strip.
With 1d strip segmented, each stair step segment plays all effects as 1d, and it would be cool to see the 2d effects instead map the staircase segments as a matrix, even if the effective pixel aspect ratio is a bit skewed for such installations, compared to a matrix panel.
When a 2d matrix effect plays on a segmented matrix map are segments able to toggle on/off independently as the matrix effect plays otherwise uninterrupted across them?
can you address 12 x led strip with 120 led per strip with one ESP?
Great video today, thank you for sharing. Do you have another video that would illustrate how to control some of the innards of WLED from Home Assistant? I have several WLED controllers (each of them using an ESP8266) spread around my condo. Currently, I am controlling them with an automation that simply repeats the same instructions to each controller. Using this method I am controlling the power, color, and brightness. I would like to control patterns and effects, which are not an area I have explored so far. Perhaps the simplest solution would be to use a separate ESP32 with virtual segments but I know that eventually, I will have more than 10 separate controllers throughout the condo.
Hey Rodney! If I understand you correctly, one thing I think you could do is set up all the controllers in a sync group and turn on syncing on at least one of the controllers. Then you would only need your Home Assistant automation to send power, color, brightness (and effect if you want) to that single controller. Since sync was turned on, then it would send it over to the other controllers. The nice thing about doing it this way is that there is no practical limit on the number of controllers that can be synced together (at least that I am aware of). It also would allow you to easily independently control any of the other controllers if need by.
Ping me over on Discord sometime if you want to discuss in more detail. And as always, I appreciate the comment!
@@ResinChemTech Great point, I need to go watch the video again, perhaps I missed something in the sync description. I do like that approach better mostly due to the independent control like accent lights behind the TV can be distracting sometimes. 😁
After I posted my initial reply, I also thought of another option. You could put all (or different sets) of the WLED light entities into groups in Home Assistant. You can then use the group as a target for your automations, controlling power, color, brightness (and effects if wanted). So, between sync groups on WLED and groups in Home Assistant, you could create all sorts of combinations of your WLED controllers and target different collections/groups in your automations.
Just another idea/alternative.
@@ResinChemTech Excellent! Now all that I have to do is concentrate on that task rather than the beach...
Great video and explanation. A question if I may. You mentioned that it was only possible to have 10 segments, under the 2 pin or two controller scenarios is it possible to circumvent this limitation?
The segment limitation is per controller. I think the number limit (now 12 I believe) for a single controller and would be applicable regardless of the number of data pins. This would also include any virtual LEDs and segments defined as part of that. I don't know the code well, but I'm guessing this is due to a limitation of the ESP. If using multiple controllers and syncing, each controller could have its own segments but when syncing. one controller would be the primary controller and since it still has a segment limit, you wouldn't be able sync any more than this limit.
@@ResinChemTech Thanks for the reply and sorry for this late reply. I have a home bar and it has 5 x 3 tier bookshelf type cabinets for bottles to reside. Each cabinet shelf has two rows of 35 LEDs (so six per Cabinet). So is my only option to have one controller per two cabinets (three controllers in total) but I still would not be able to sync them. Or is there another option? Keep up the great work.
It really depends on how you want to control the LEDs and how you want the effects to work. You could certainly sync your three controllers together using the WLED (UDP) sync option. This would allow any of the three controllers to be the 'primary' and any color or effect changes to be synced over to the others... thereby assuring all LEDs are running the same color/effect. What you can't do in this scenario is treat all the cabinets as one big single LED install. Think of it like this:
Let's say you want to run a 'chase' or 'wipe' effect... where each LED lights up in sequence. Using WLED sync, when you start the chase effect, each controller will light up its own LEDs in sequence. In essence, the effect would be 'replicated' in each controller's section. If you want the chase effect to run across ALL cabinet from the first LED in the first cabinet to the last LED in the last cabinet, that's where you need the 'single' controller option via virtual LEDs or physically wiring all the LED strips together to a single controller... and you probably can't create enough segments if you also want the ability to individually control each cabinet as its own segment.
But with the WLED (UDP) sync, you also have the option to 'unsync' the controllers and have each one act independently. And each individual controller can also have its own segments, thereby still giving you the ability to set each cabinet with its own color/effect. So, yes you can still use sync with multiple controllers in this manner, you just can't treat all the LEDs attached to the multiple controllers as one great big single install.
@@ResinChemTech Thank you sir, again well explained and I think you have solved my problem.
Thank you for this video addressing segments. I do have a question: In my planned cosplay project I’d want one segment to stay on all the time (probably in a solid white or green) and the other segment to be activated by a button (triggering a chase pattern of some sort). Can that be done with a single GPIO data line? Do I need two? Multiple controllers?
The number of pins is really based on the number of LEDs... not the number of segments. I talk about the recommended max LEDs per pin in the video. And yes, you should be able to create a segment that remains on/white while creating a preset for the chase segment that could be triggered by a push button.
@@ResinChemTech Thanks for the reply. I bought the components to breadboard a setup, so I’ll start experimenting. I guess I’ll see whether a button can be linked to just a segment and not an entire GPIO. I hope it can do a momentary thing in which the segment does its chase only while I hold down the button (I’m trying to replicate the energy stream from the thrower (gun) of a Ghostbusters Proton Pack).
If you watch my video on adding components, especially the section on adding pushbuttons, you'll see how a button is used to launch a preset. And since presets can save segment info, you just need to set up a preset with the segment info and color/effect you'd like for that segment. Then when you press the button, it can toggle that segment off/on (you can also select different actions for double-press and long-press as well): ruclips.net/video/1Qj1jJAam-8/видео.html
Hope that helps. Good luck with your project.
@@ResinChemTech Thanks! I watched the start of your helpful video about buttons last night. Knowing that presets can designate segments makes things more clear. Cheers!
Hi, many thanks for your time and informative videos.
I have a question…
I have wired some led’s in a similar fashion (12v Fcob ws2811), I have divided the 5meter led strip into 4 separate sections with 30cm wire connection in between essentially 4 segments, only the first segment is lighting up the remaining 3 segments are not, I have the correct power supply and am using a signal booster (logic level converter) as advised on your video, I have checked the wire connection in between led strips and all is good.
Not sure if any setting are need to be changed in the led app?
I have previously wired the same led strip without any cuts, ie when it was complete and no jumper wires and it was working fine.
First... you are welcome! There are a number of things that come to mind that might be causing your issue. First off, did you have segments defined and working before cutting the strips? And do you have all four segments defined properly in WLED? You didn't mention how many LEDs/m you are using, but just for simply math let's say 720 LEDs/m. That would be a total of 3,600 LEDs, divided equally into four 900 LEDs per segment. In WLED you should have four segments defined... with segment 0 being 0 to 900, segment 1 being 900 to 1800, etc.
If you had the entire strip working previously, you've probably already done this, but assure you have defined the _total_ number of LEDs under the LED Preferences section. If using more than one data pin, each data pin should be defined with the starting and total number of LEDs attached to that pin.
Next, assure you have the check box enabled next to each segment that you want to control. If only segment one is checked, that is the only one you will be controlling. Try each segment individually and toggle the power off/on. If you've done all the above and the additional segments still aren't powering on, then it almost surely has to be a wiring issue. Assure you haven't reversed the data direction on one of the sections. If you do have section reversed (look carefully at the arrows on the strips), then the data signal will not propagate and not of the following LEDs will ever light up.
That's about all I can offer. I haven't done much work with COB LED strips, but in theory, they should work the same as other types of LED strips. Best of luck... let me know what you find out.
Thank you for your quick response, and as always in-depth knowledge. I will check this tonight.
So far as I have learned that the cob led work in 100, so where it states in wled app under ‘length’ I have put 100, like I said it was fine when it’s was a complete, 5m led strip.
I’ll check once I’m home and revert back asap.
Maybe your next video be on con led 😊
Thanks again!
Hi again, so I’ve sorted this issue and it was the solder-less clip connector (from Amazon), although there 12v throughout the led strip being supplied the signal cable was not connected for some reason, I managed to remove the connector and solder wires directly to the strip.
Anyhow, issue with the led lighting up is resolved, now I’ll follow your video to segment the 4 zones. With the fcob led it’s not that simple I believe, it works is 100’s, will have to figure this out.
I guess I don't understand why going through all the hassle when the Govee lights do everything this does, but is ready to go with power supply, controllers and wifi set up to your phone. is there some advantage to WLED that i'm missing?
I can't speak for others, but for me personally I enjoy the DIY aspect. Plus I don't have any reliance on a vendor's cloud service or need to install any potentially questionable apps with unnecessary permissions on my phone. My device/installation can never be bricked or shutdown and quit working based on some manufacturer deciding to suddenly stop their cloud servers... or start charging a subscription to continue to use it. History is full of examples of vendors that just stop their cloud servers, rendering their devices useless.
In addition, features aside, WLED is open source and extendable. I can make my own custom mods to the firmware to support whatever needs I may have... I'm not limited to just what is provided to me.
Others may have their own reasons, and some may be perfectly happy with Govee or other prebuilt retail versions... I don't fault those for what they are. But for me, I like knowing that it is "my" device, built and configured by me and all control (including my data) remains local.
Is it possible to control segments separately using a push button, for instance to change through a set of presets on one segment while keeping the other segment white?
Yes, I think what you are asking is certainly possible. Presets can save segment information. So it should be possible to save a preset that changes one segment and then call that preset via a button press.
@@ResinChemTech Thanks
Is it possible with WLEDs to customize/create your own affects ? Such as what could be done with an arduino nano and FastLED library.
Yes. You can find info on how to do so on the WLED site under creating custom effects: kno.wled.ge/advanced/custom-features/
@@ResinChemTech Thank you very much. I am building a B9 Robot (Lost in Space) and wanted to setup the correct effects.
Danger, Will Robinson! Good luck with the project.
2nd viewer ...🤟🏾👊🏾
👍
Would be nice if you would have shown HOW TO SET UP 2 controllers in WLED.. how do you connect 2 to the one program...!!