So I am really green when comes to WLED and the world of single board computers so if you could just bare with me. So far I’m getting the hang of the basic hardware & functions and now people are buying my box lights so I need to start stepping it up. One potential customer does wedding catering so we thought some table lights for ambiance instead of cheap battery candles.
I’ve been using the ESP-WROOM-32 dev boards along with 8x8 matrix in my larger lights so the main hardware question is can I use the mini ESP-WROOM-32 to save space and only run a 12" strip on a properly matched battery pack.
Next is connectivity. Is it possible to use a different ESP as a server or a Pi? Remember I’m a noob just wanting to learn from the pro’s.
As far as what ESP board you use, that’s purely a matter of what you’re happy with.
At the LED counts you’re talking about (<100 per ESP) it really won’t matter much.
If you can post a link to the boards you’re considering, we might be able to see other issues.
You’ll probably have to do much more work getting a battery sized to match the brightness you want and give you the charge life you need (4-6Hrs of “session life”?).
On connectivity what are you hoping to accomplish?
WLED is ESP only, but it will take data from other environments like ArtNet/DMX etc. That opens the door to other software running on PC’s.
There are simpler setups as well where 1 ESP can sync effects to multiple devices.
There are also fairy lights, which are very popular for small decorations, and are battery friendly. However, most of these use non-programmable ICs with very basic effects which may not be to your liking.
You can find addressable Fairy lights as well.
Many of us have bought the cheap USB controller style sets and simply cut off the controller and interfaced the strand to a standard WLED controller.
Could be the best of both worlds in that they’re lower power, but will interface to an ESP32
@divsys I was thinking of the 2 wire fairy lights (single or dual polarity). I do the same with the controllers. The dual polarity ones are fun, and I think they can be driven with H-bridges.
Yah, the 2 wire devices require H-bridges and end up being pretty limited as to what you can display.
My point was that you can find 3 wire versions of the same thing for only slightly more and stay within the WLED world where you have full control.
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Thanks everyone for the input.
Here’s the boards I’m considering on using.
As for reasoning for connectivity is so they can adjust the colors to the wedding theme if needed. I use the sync feature in my Mid Century stereo build so do I not need a main hub/server to connect lets randomly say twenty units or… just thought of using a IR for easy useability.
That should be fine.
If you add IR to each board, that would give you a simple way to config each one.
I might suggest that you also get a simple “WiFi Travel router” that you can setup with a preset SSID that you load in each board.
If the router is up and live (doesn’t need internet) when the boards power up, they’ll connect and you could get full control from a phone/laptop/tablet on the same network (as well as IR control).
If the router isn’t up, you’ll still get the usual IR remote control.
That gives you the best of both worlds if you want to do some wholesale control.
Thanks everyone. That helped to clear some ideas I had. This is still in the idea phase but hopeful I can get the job.
Do you need to use ESP32 boards if they are just for short light strings?
Here is a board I have just had made up, about $10 for 20, and added an ESP8266 board which you can buy cheap.
I already have a smaller version planned without the extra brealout pins. But haven’t ordered any yet, but they should be even cheaper.
Finally, for the LED strings, you can buy bulk lengths online, I’m using these:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004633923201.html
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If you use Standard ESP8266 MINI like D1 you coudt just run them on battery
and use a small Frontplayer like Raspberian to get different IP the same behavier
Xlight → FFp can make you 127 Controllers at 20fps
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Thats pretty much what I’ looking for. I tend to over think and complicate things that shouldn’t be.
