Full Led Strip and Arduino

[Amarand]

I'm purchasing a set of LEDs for a friend, and I want to make sure that we're getting the right thing.

1) It's for a bike application, so he's going to want water-/weather-resistant packaging.
2) Is there a way to easily make an Arduino/connectors/battery water-/weather-resistant too?
3) I've been looking at a full-reel (5m) of the RGB or RGBW. Is there a particular Arduino that will drive a full-reel of 30/m (150 LEDs total) without memory/speed issues?
4A) For testing (benchtop), what type of power source can handle the Arduino and a full reel mentioned above?
4B) For production (on the bike), what type of battery will work out best?
5) Is there any difference in the library support for RGB versus RGBW? Is the coding similar? Is library availability similar?
6) If you connect a suitable power source directly to the Arduino, can the Arduino directly power the 5m LED strip, or does that need to broken off? Same power supply or a separate one? Again, in the end, this will be battery driven, but to start, it'll be a desktop power supply for testing.

I've been holding off making this purchase for him for awhile because I'm not really sure what he wants/needs, but it seems like the best way to guarantee a connector is to buy a full reel. My gut feeling is I just want him to buy a small set of LEDs first with a connector on the end (there's a $49 kit you sell that is shorter, but is guaranteed to have a connector on the end). But then he saw the price of that kit and said "Why not just spend an extra $40 and get what we need?" So there's that.

It's going to be interesting helping him get this stuff all together and writing the code he wants to write. But it'll also be nice, because he's been talking about this project for a few years now, and I think he'll be happy to just see the lights programmatically chasing each other, or whatever.

I'm not sure which Arduino he already has, but I think I want to get a new one that maybe has more memory, is faster, better form factor, and more appropriate for driving a longer strip of addressable LEDs.

Thoughts?

[adafruit_support_bill]

1) It's for a bike application, so he's going to want water-/weather-resistant packaging.

Some of the strips come with a weatherproof silicone sheath. If you cut the strip, you will need to re-seal the cut-ends with some silicone sealant.
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1138

2) Is there a way to easily make an Arduino/connectors/battery water-/weather-resistant too?

There are weatherproof enclosures in various sizes and shapes. You will need to take care to seal any holes cut for wires or switches.

3) I've been looking at a full-reel (5m) of the RGB or RGBW. Is there a particular Arduino that will drive a full-reel of 30/m (150 LEDs total) without memory/speed issues?

Each RGB pixel requires 3 bytes of RAM. The RGBW require 4 bytes per pixel. An Arudino UNO will drive up to about 500 RGB pixels. Other models such as the Zero can handle thousands.

4A) For testing (benchtop), what type of power source can handle the Arduino and a full reel mentioned above?
4B) For production (on the bike), what type of battery will work out best?

That depends on the pixe density of the strips (30/meter vs 60/meter) and how hard you drive the pixels. At full intensity white, an RGB pixel uses nearly 60mA. So a 5 meter strip of 60/meter pixels can draw nearly 18 amps. Your requirements may be substantially less. This guide has some tips for efficiently powering neopixels: https://learn.adafruit.com/sipping-powe ... s/overview

5) Is there any difference in the library support for RGB versus RGBW? Is the coding similar? Is library availability similar?

The library supports both types. You just need to declare which type you are using in your code. http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neopixel-uberguide

6) If you connect a suitable power source directly to the Arduino, can the Arduino directly power the 5m LED strip, or does that need to broken off? Same power supply or a separate one? Again, in the end, this will be battery driven, but to start, it'll be a desktop power supply for testing.

Best practice is to wire the power supply directly to the pixels. Then run power from the pixels to the Arduino.