Flora Pixels Stay lit white

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joshuakane
 
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Flora Pixels Stay lit white

Post by joshuakane »

Hello,

I just ordered some Flora Pixels, and have them set up per the example sketch.

The (+) is connected to VBATT
the (-) is connected to GND
and the D6 pin is being used through the center of the strip of 7

I load the example sketch and the unit lights up, but stays white, the colors do not change,

Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

Thanks,

Joshua

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joshuakane
 
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Re: Flora Pixels Stay lit white

Post by joshuakane »

I guess looking closely I can see that the Blue Red and Green LED elements are all lit.

I have changed the number of pixels, and it can correctly light the number I specify

Also I added a serial print out to the project and I can see it is in the main loop going through the rainbow function.


Thanks,

Joshua

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Flora Pixels Stay lit white

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

What are you using to power the Flora for these tests?

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joshuakane
 
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Re: Flora Pixels Stay lit white

Post by joshuakane »

I have been using the USB cable but I can use the 3 x AA if that will make a difference

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Flora Pixels Stay lit white

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

I can use the 3 x AA if that will make a difference
Let us know how that works. Also, try just one pixel powered from the 3v3 pad instead of VBatt.

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joshuakane
 
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Re: Flora Pixels Stay lit white

Post by joshuakane »

Hey Bill,

I went ahead and took apart the wiring that I created for the Pixels, With the batter or with USB Power I would get solid blinding white light. I went and moved one pixel so that I had 3.3 as opposed to VBATT with the battery pack and the pixel begin to cycle through the color test! It looks like having it hooped up to VBATT makes the pixels unhappy. there are only 7 of them in the design I am putting together

The way I had it wired was with a multi Stand 22 AWG For the positive wire (red) it was going from VBATT to each pixel in series, with two ends soldered on the (+) Marker. The same thing for the Ground wire. For the Center clock/bus wire I had wire soldered to each of the arrows. is this supposed to be one continuous piece? I am asking as I had one piece go to the bottom on the first pixel, then I cut individual pieces to "Chain" them together.

Image

Is there a better wire or way to be doing this? Should I go with say a 26 AWG wire?

This is not something that is going to be sewn into a garment so I was staying away form the stainless steal thread, but if that is the best option I can go with that.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Flora Pixels Stay lit white

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

That wiring looks correct. And 22AWG should be fine. The Pixels are supposed to work at 5v. Hold on while I check with the design team. :?

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joshuakane
 
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Re: Flora Pixels Stay lit white

Post by joshuakane »

Thanks for checking on this Bill!

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pburgess
 
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Re: Flora Pixels Stay lit white

Post by pburgess »

I've heard of a couple instances of this now. What I suspect is that the 3.3V logic level from the Flora is too low to reliably register as a '1' with the LEDs operating at a higher voltage. Either the LEDs should be run closer to (or at) the Flora's voltage level, or a logic level shifter should be used on the output.

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joshuakane
 
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Re: Flora Pixels Stay lit white

Post by joshuakane »

I've heard of a couple instances of this now. What I suspect is that the 3.3V logic level from the Flora is too low to reliably register as a '1' with the LEDs operating at a higher voltage. Either the LEDs should be run closer to (or at) the Flora's voltage level, or a logic level shifter should be used on the output.
Does that mean that I should use one of the 3.3v Outputs, as opposed to the VBATT? if not how do I implement a logic level shiftier?

Also the application is 7 pixels. 6 within a foot of of the Flora, then a 7th about 3 - 4 feet away at the end of a solid core wire (Think Network cable). If the 12mm Pixels are are better product for this I could see about switching out and ordering some of those, although the tiny size of the Pixel's was really attractive, it is for making a costume based on the Dead Space Video game so I was trying to replicate the look of the stasis unit (round object) and then there is a blue pulsing indicator on the hand.

Image

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Flora Pixels Stay lit white

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

You don't want to put too much of a load on the 3.3v output of the Flora. I don't know how set you are on a power supply, but most of the Flora projects run on 3.7v LiPo cells. These can power both the Flora and the leds and would not require any additional parts.
http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_ ... po+battery

Other options would be a level shifter as suggested by pburgess,
http://www.adafruit.com/products/395
or a dedicated 3.3v regulator for the led power.
http://www.adafruit.com/products/1066

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joshuakane
 
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Re: Flora Pixels Stay lit white

Post by joshuakane »

Hmmmmmm....

I can order one of the batteries, and use that...

I am thinking it may just be easier to use the 12MM flat Addressable Leds.

the other curious thing I noticed is when I attached the switch using the pull_up resistor logic, completing the circuit (pressing the button) would reset the entire flora project. This is with the positive on one side, negative and a wire to (D12) on the other.

-- Joshua

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Flora Pixels Stay lit white

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

I am thinking it may just be easier to use the 12MM flat Addressable Leds.
That would probably work. One customer has had success running WS2801 pixels with 3.3v logic from an Arduino Due.
http://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.ph ... 1&p=183759
This is with the positive on one side, negative and a wire to (D12) on the other.
If I understand that right, it would create a short circuit when you close the switch. Just connect one side of the switch to D12 and the other to ground. The internal pull-up is already connected to VCC.

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Re: Flora Pixels Stay lit white

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Can you post some clear photos of the pixels? We have sold a lot of these without problems and the design team would like to have a closer look.

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