LED Quandry - NeoPixels or DotStars

[John W. Cargile]

I have a project coming up where I need to illuminate the profile of a mannequin with ‘twinkling stars’.

I will need to fade up/down anywhere from 3 to 8 of the addressable LEDs at a time (coded for random selection with ample spacing) with either a Trinket or Pro Trinket (that’s what I have available).

I will be coding for ‘slightly’ bluish and yellowish colors that fade up to pure white then back to off.

I have done this with a Pro Trinket and a single RGB LED, but I have just entered a whole new realm of ‘maker-dom’.

 

Questions:

1.       Do I need to go with RGBW or will RGB LEDs suffice (setting all 3 RGB PWMs to 0 to achieve white)?

2.       Which strips can be ‘hidden’ from audience view better (Under tulle)… NeoPixels or Dotstars?

3.       Which of the two are better suited for this type of project?

4.       Is this even possible since these devices (Trinkets) do not support ‘threading’ (I think)?

 

Thanks for any and ALL replies,

Johnny

[josh jordan]

Use the best looking LEDs whether they are neopixels or dotstars.  Any mcu even the attiny based trinket can control neopixels or dotstars.  If by threading you mean non-blocking, you would need non-blocking drivers if you want to do anything else with timing requirements.  You have to use a teensy instead of a trinket to get non-blocking drivers.

-Josh

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[Sue Baldor]

You can use Dotstars with a Raspberry Pi. Adafruit has the drivers. We used some all white ones for a camera booth project. The only trick is that you will want to independently power the strip. The current draw is a little too much to use the Pi's Vcc.

NeoPixels work great with either a teensy or a trinket. We've used both. You generally do not want to use something like a Pi. The OS shipped with it cannot handle the strict timing requirements.

I'd look at the specs to see which of the two products are brighter. (I can't remember off the top of my head.) Neither are great in bright sunlight.

- Sue