Feedback on LED lighting project

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librarigeek
 
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Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 6:40 pm

Feedback on LED lighting project

Post by librarigeek »

Hello all,

First, some background:

I'm just getting into electronics and have begun working on a project to put RGB LED strips under my cabinets as my counters are poorly lit. I've gotten my brain wrapped around the project as I planned it. Specifically:

LED strips controlled by an ATMega328, full (or whatever I define as full-enough) power when a light switch is turned on, and a dimmer setting when triggered by a PIR to use as a nightlight.

Project creep has set in, and at my husband's suggestion, I'm looking at how to easily customize the nightlight colors/color temperature on the fly. I know I can solder on some pins to reprogram the ATMega as needed without removing it from the socket, but I've become a bit more ambitious and would like to create some kind of control panel.

The simpler way is probably to go with a set of 3 potentiometers to set relative brightness of the 3 colors, but why not go fancy?

So here's my question: What I'd really like to do is use a TFT touch screen to show 3 sliders for R, G, and B, with real-time feedback from the LEDs. Perhaps even allow for multiple settings that alternate (I'm thinking alternating R and G for the Christmas season, etc). I figure I'd need an Arduino with a TFT touch shield to create the panel. Obviously, the programming requirements go up if I go this route. I'm an okay hobbyist programmer, but am I looking at a jump in complexity that significantly changes the scope of the project? This is my first time working with Arduino (or micro-controllers at all, for that matter). Can the Arduino handle this, or do I need to consider something more robust as a controller? It's probably all overkill, but I'm a learn-by-doing person, so I want a project that will teach me more than I already know.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Huge pitfalls to avoid? Should I consider myself lucky for getting the LEDs to come on at all and forget all of this custom color nonsense?

Thanks in advance,

Mark

(Edited subject to be more useful)

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:42 am

Re: Feedback on LED lighting project

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

An arduino can certainly handle this. We have an on-off tutorial for the 2.8" touch screen that should give you a bit of s start towards implementing sliders. We also have plenty of tutorials on RGB LEDs.

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