Help Choosing Appropriate Strip

EL Wire/Tape/Panels, LEDs, pixels and strips, LCDs and TFTs, etc products from Adafruit

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Boans
 
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Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2022 8:17 pm

Help Choosing Appropriate Strip

Post by Boans »

Hello!
I am building a lighting project that will be 1 meter long and show a full 360 degrees around (think light saber). I was hoping that 2 back-to-back strips would work OK inside a diffuser tube but if there is already a 2-sided LED strip then that would be great and reduce my power needs.

1. LEDs must be individually addressable
2. Must be very well made and able to remain on 24/7 for years if possible.
3. Must have a good Arduino library that also allows for long time running and the use of potentiometers for control etc.

I have heard that there may be issues with "millis() timer counts" shutting things down or needing a watchdog timer to reset the Arduino and strip in the event that it gets stuck in a loop or an array degrades etc.

If you are aware of any of these things being an issue for a simple (Arduino + Potentiometer + Adafruit Strip) project please let me know as this is my first real project and I am new to this!

Thanks in advance for any advice.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Help Choosing Appropriate Strip

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

I'm not aware of any off-the-shelf 2-sided strips. So 2 strips back-to-back is probably your best bet. Neopixels have the widest selection of the individually addressable strips and are easy to use. I'd start by looking through this guide: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neopixel-uberguide

LEDs of any kind do degrade over time - especially if run at high levels for extended periods. I have one strip that has been on 24x7 for over 20 years. But it is noticeably dimmer and a couple of the LEDs have failed completely. For maximum lifetime in continuous operation, you should aim to run them at less than full intensity.

There are plenty of example projects in the Learning System. Once you have read through the Uberguide linked above, have a look at some of the projects that may be similar to what you have in mind.

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Boans
 
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Re: Help Choosing Appropriate Strip

Post by Boans »

Thank you!

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