When it comes to buying and installing RGB LED strips, there are several options available. Some come with an IR or RF remote to change the color, brightness, or pattern of the RGB light, while others (more expensive) have an Android or iOS app that you use to control the RGB light and colors with your smartphone.
The RF or IR controlled RGB strips only display pre-configured colors and limit you not to create custom colors or display DIY colors.
However, you can modify or update an IR or RF remote controlled RGB strip you might already have – and use an app on your smartphone to control and display DIY colors.
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Steps to create RGB LED strip to display DIY color
To get an IR or RF controlled RGB LED strip to display DIY colors and control it via a smartphone app, you can build a Wi-Fi RGB controller with an ESP8266-based MCU. In this project we will separate the LED strip from its factory module, build an RGB controller with ESP8266 to display DIY colors and control brightness and color intensity.
things you need
To make your DIY LED Light Colors you will need the following:
- An ESP8266 based MCU like NodeMCU or D1 Mini
- Inexpensive IR/RF controlled RGB strip
- some wires
- mountain strip (optional)
- Three IRF540 or TIP120 transistors
- Three 1K resistors
- 12V power supply for LED strips (included with IR/RF RGB strip)
Once you have all of these items, you can go ahead and start your project.
Step 1: Download and flash the firmware
Download the Tasmota Sensors.bin Firmware file on your Windows or Mac computer. Make sure you download the correct firmware for your ESP8266 to avoid problems later.
After downloading the firmware, download and install the device drivers.
- CP2102 driver
- CH341 driver
After downloading the drivers, follow the steps below:
- Download the Tasmotizer tool and run it.
- Connect the ESP8266 to your PC using a USB cable.
- Select the COM port to which the ESP8266 is connected.
- click search and select that Tasmota Sensor.bin firmware file.
- click Tasmotize.
This flashes the firmware.
Step 2: Configure the ESP8266
Open the WiFi settings on your smartphone and then connect to the tasmota-xxxx Wi-Fi network. It is an open network and therefore does not require a password.
Once connected, open the web browser and visit 192.168.4.1select the Wi-Fi network, enter the required password and click Save on computer.
After a while you will see an IP address. Enter this IP address in the web browser on your smartphone or PC connected to the same network.
Once you have completed the steps listed above, follow these steps:
- click Configuration > Configure module.
- Choose General 0 from the drop-down list and click Save on computer.
- It will automatically reconnect and reload.
- click Configuration > Configure module.
- Select PWM in D1, D2, D3 pin and select 1, 2, 3 from the respective Red, Green and Blue color drop down menus. click Save on computer.
After the restart you will see three sliders with a Switch Button to control the lights, change colors, and control intensity and brightness to display DIY colors.
Step 3: Connect the RGB strip to the ESP8266
Open up the RF/IR controller module that came with the RGB strip before disconnecting or desoldering the four wires attached to it. This guide will show you how to desolder.
After desoldering, refer to the diagram below to connect the RGB LED strip to the ESP8266 module and the three IRF540 or TIP120 transistors.
- Connect the NodeMCU or D1 mini pins D1, D2 and D3 to the gate legs (1st) of the three IRF540 or TIP120 transistors with 1K resistors.
- Connect the source legs on the floor.
- Connect the drain legs to the red, green, and blue connectors on the LED strip.
You can use the 12V power supply that came with the RGB strip to power the strip and the MCU. You can convert the 12V to 5V for NodeMCU or D1 Mini by using a 7805 voltage regulator and two 10UF 50V capacitors.
Make sure you connect the wires exactly as shown in the diagram. Connecting the power supply to the wrong wires can damage the RGB LED strip.
Use the RGB strip module’s unsoldered wires to connect the RGB strip to your NodeMCU or D1 Mini. You can also use jumper wires to make the connections or solder the wires directly to the MCU. If you’ve never soldered before, read our guide to learn how to solder.
We used a Berg female header to make connections to the NodeMCU.
Once connected, you can control RGB color, intensity and brightness through the web browser app on Android or iOS devices.
Step 4 Use the app on Android or iOS devices to control the RGB light strip
You can use any web browser app to open the Tasmota control panel and control the color, brightness, and intensity of the RGB light. You can also activate Hue Bridge Emulation in Tasmota to control and use the Amazon Alexa app on your Android or iOS devices to control the RGB strip.
With Hue Bridge Emulation also lets you control the RGB lights and change color and brightness. You can do this using voice commands through Echo devices or the Alexa voice assistant. The steps are as follows.
- Open minded tasmota web panel and go to Configuration > Configure Others.
- Name your device e.g. B. RGB, and then select Hue Bridge under emulation. click Save on computer.
- Download and install on your Android or IOS device Amazon Alexa apartment
- Sign in with your Amazon account and go to Devices.
- Run a device scan. You can also ask Alexa on Echo devices to find the RGB light on your network. Just say: “Alexa, find devices”.
Once the device is added, you can use voice commands to control the RGB light, brightness, and color through the Alexa app and Echo devices.
Control RGB lights over the internet
You can use the MQTT protocol or the Alexa app (requires an Echo device on site) to control your upgraded RGB LED strip over the internet. To do this, you can use a public or private MQTT broker. You will also need an MQTT client app on your smartphone (some of which are available on the Play Store).
Once set up, you can add buttons to the MQTT Android app to send JSON data to change or display DIY colors. In addition, you can use Home Assistant and ESPHome to control the modified RGB lights, display DIY colors and add automation.
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