temperature lights?

[lilshawn]

I have some RGB LED color strips that run on 12 volts. (common 12 volt anode and RGB grounds for color control) I want to use a section of this as a temperature indicator. (only about 200mA worth)

I basically have one color on for up to a particular temperature, then both for a few degrees, then switch to another for upwards. (say have green on up to 50 degrees have green and red on for 51 to 55 degrees and then 56 and up just red. maybe flash the red off and on over 80 degrees.)

I feel the best way to do this is going to be a micro controller but have no idea where to start. I'm not a microcontroller kind of guy and have no programming experience with them to speak of.

I've tried searcing ebay for a ready made solution and thought about hacking up that, but not sure if it's plausable as I'd want to customize the actual temps...but i pretty much want it to do something like this:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Water-Tap-Glow-Shower-LED-Faucet-Light-Temperature-Sensor-3Color-RGB-Colorful-OE-/121683088132?hash=item1c54e09304:g:ME8AAOSw9N1VhSt9

I have found some temperature circuits for a few bucks that can turn on or off a load, but nothing like what i'm looking to do.

can someone suggest some parts to buy to accomplish this? possibly an easy way to program it?

[Howard_Casto]

Without going into exact detail you shouldn't have much in the way of problems.  Buy an Arduino uno or a clone (clones typically work just as well).  When searching for components like the emp sensor, also add Arduino into the search field.  If you are talking about those serially controlled led strips I'm sure there is an Arduino library out there.  I'm only mentioning Arduino because there are a lot of libraries out there that you can just plug into your code, straight C is also an option, but it isn't as easy. 

I'm not familiar with the exact hardware, but I'm sure there are temp sensors out there that will do the job.  You'll just hook them up to one of the analog pins on your avr and read the value as if it were a knob or joystick.... usually it's a range of 0 to 1023. 

[lilshawn]

thanks for the info. that looks like it should be easy enough to get what i need. they seem to have all sorts of kits and whatnot with piles of input output stuff on ebay for 60 bucks.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Ultimate-UNO-R3-Starter-Kit-for-Arduino-RTC-1602LCD-Servo-Motor-Gas-Sensor-Relay-/161671753594?hash=item25a4632f7a:g:yNAAAOSw9r1V8VDg

as for the LED strip, it's just a standard RGB led strip... 5050 SMD led's. comes in a reel of like 20 yards. feed 12 volts in and alternately ground the 3 other lines to turn on red green or blue on the strip (or PWM the connection to vary brightness.)

I'd just use a short run (maybe 6 inches, a short run of 200mA or so per color channel (of which I'd use only 2 of) is the uno capable of switching this directly or will I need to use a driver of sorts to drive it?

EDIT:

It looks like it has a stepper motor driver with a ULN2003 (or equivalent). i can probably reporpoise that to drive the LED strip if need be.

good idea? yay? nay?

[Howard_Casto]

I think it's interesting.  I won't know if it was good or bad until I see the end result.   I'm about to do something similar.  After looking into games that I want to play, unless the gauge is full on digital I don't see how I can incorporate one into my racing rig and have it show readable data on all games. 

So I'm going to get a tm1638 based board

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=tm1638

hack it up to suit my needs and control all the junk on it via two control lines on the Arduino.  It's serial based as well, just a different protocol.

[lilshawn]

I run an overclocked AMD FX9590 computer and plan to illuminate the water cooling reservoir and the inside case which is (or will be) visible from the outside of my rig through a side window.

The AMD FX9590 CPU is 220 watts to begin with so it's a real beotch to cool when it ISN'T overclocked but at 5.1 to 5.2ghz, things go sideways and temps go over real quick. so as of late i've dialled it back a bit closer to stock.

So, having a quick "green yes go, red no stop" illumination will give it some flash... but also a quick visual reference for my system status. I have all kinds of monitoring software running, but I'm not always able to see it, or actively monitor it. if things are going bad, I can see what's up or kill the process before it suicides.

[ed12]

http://pic-microcontroller.com/arduino-powered-temperature-sensing-rgb-led-nightlight-using-picaxe/
thank howard

ed

[lilshawn]

huh, thanks. 

that looks about what I'm about to attempt and would only need a few tweaks to the code.

alright, onto the learning bandwagon i go!

[Howard_Casto]

AVRs are fun.  After you realize how much you can do with even the cheapest avr and minimal code you'll be making stuff all the time.