The FatLight

What Is this?

Short: It's a controller board for RGB LED strips that has a bluetooth and some GPIO pins.

Long: I recently ordered everything needed for the creation of PCBs, i.e. a UV exposure unit, an etching apparatus, chemicals, boards, the works. As a first project, I wanted to do something that I could use, that I understood from the electronics perspective and that could easily be done on a one-sided PCB without solder mask. A controller for RGB strips seemed to be a good idea, so here we go. :)

WARNING IF YOU WANT TO BUILD THIS Make sure that the pinout of your Bluetooth module matches the pinout on the board. I have three different HC-05 modules in my parts bin, and every type has a different pinout ... This sucks enormously, and if I didn't have those modules lying around, I'd use a pure HC-05 module instead of the breakouts i have now.

How can I control it?

It's simple. Connect to the FatLight using a serial terminal over the Bluetooth connection, connection parameters are 9600 8N1, no handshake. The modules have their default pin set to 1234, so use that pin. After connecting, the following commands are supported:

Command	Parameter	Description
status		Prints the current settings.
mode	0-2	0: direct color, 1: fade, 2: random
on		Switches the light on
off		Switches the light off
step	00-FF	Size of the fading steps when fading
set	color	Sets the target color in mode 0 and 1
delay	00-FF	Greater delays make slower fades
level	00-FF	Brightness in mode 2; 0 is random
store	00-05	Store current settings in slot 0-5
load	00-05	Load settings from slot 0-5
bt_getname		Prints the name of the BT module
bt_setname	string	Sets the name of the BT module
bt_getpass		Prints the current BT PIN
bt_setpass	string	Sets the BT PIN; best use 4 digits

Color parameters are given as 24 bit hex codes, i.e. 00FF00 for green. Other numeric parameters are also in hex notation. String parameters may never contain whitespace.

Where can I learn more?

There's a playlist on Youtube. It's in German, I'm afraid.