Let’s Make Arduino LED Holiday Lighting

Published by Device Plus Editorial Team at November 13, 2017

2. How to connect and wire LED string

So, what do we do to light up the full-color LED string? Well, there is a convenient library which makes it easy to process the signal. You can download the library by opening the page via the link below and clicking the button labeled “Download Adafruit_NeoPixel for Arduino” in the middle of the page. The page also provides instructions on how to add the library.

Arduino Library Installation – adafruit

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neopixel-uberguide/arduino-library-installation

Figure 5. Download Adafuit_Neopixel library

Once you have downloaded the zip file, go ahead and install in it in the Arduino Web Editor by clicking Libraries → Import button, if you’re using Arduino Create.

If you are running the application, you can click on “Sketch” on the top menu and add the library. After adding the library, try connecting the LED strips to Arduino.

The LED string used this time is 5V, and there are four terminals. When checking the document, in addition to positive and negative (GND), there was a signal terminal and a GND terminal on the board side. Since the input voltage of the LED is 5V, I would like to use 5V from Arduino. But, LED strip has many LEDs and I need lots of current, so Arduino’s 5V won’t be adequate, otherwise Arduino will be damaged. So, we will prepare an external 5V power supply.