Thread: Help with LEDs
View Single Post
  #3   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 12-02-2015, 17:20
GeeTwo's Avatar
GeeTwo GeeTwo is offline
Technical Director
AKA: Gus Michel II
FRC #3946 (Tiger Robotics)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Rookie Year: 2013
Location: Slidell, LA
Posts: 3,605
GeeTwo has a reputation beyond reputeGeeTwo has a reputation beyond reputeGeeTwo has a reputation beyond reputeGeeTwo has a reputation beyond reputeGeeTwo has a reputation beyond reputeGeeTwo has a reputation beyond reputeGeeTwo has a reputation beyond reputeGeeTwo has a reputation beyond reputeGeeTwo has a reputation beyond reputeGeeTwo has a reputation beyond reputeGeeTwo has a reputation beyond repute
Re: Help with LEDs

As you have made them work through a motor controller and PCM, I'm presuming this is a 12V LED strip. The DIO only puts out 5V, and it doesn't have enough current to drive very much. You can use a spike relay or the PCM (the LEDs are considered a CUSTOM CIRCUIT), though if you go the PCM route, you want to watch the current; the total PCM current supplied to all of the solenoid pins must stay under 500mA, or about 6W of power.

Since we weren't using any of the relay ports for actuators this year, we used spikes to control our LEDs. If that's not an option, you can get A 5V relay module at a number of sites online. This will let you power them from a WAGO connector and switch them using the DIO port.
__________________

If you can't find time to do it right, how are you going to find time to do it over?
If you don't pass it on, it never happened.
Robots are great, but inspiration is the reason we're here.
Friends don't let friends use master links.
Reply With Quote