[DonRotolo]

You can make your LEDs operate on any voltage you like, you are not limited to 5 volts.

The way to do this is to determine the voltage and current required to operate. A Red LED needs about 1.8 volts, a blue needs about 3.1 (but these can vary somewhat), and a typical LED wants to see about 20 mA. If you are working with a single LED, you calculate how many volts a "dropping resistor" must drop to feed the LED the right voltage. For example, for 20 volts on a red LED at 20 mA, you need to drop 18.2 volts. R=V/I so 18.2/0.020=9120 Ohms, anything around that value should be fine.

For a 5 volt LED strip, the manufacturer has already installed a resistor. Find out the current requirement for the strip (from the vendor, or by measuring it). If you want to run it on 12 volts from the robot (which is really about 12.6 volts) you need to drop 7.6 volts. R=V/I again, V=7.6, I is the current, that'll tell you the resistor value you'll need, get one close to that.

One important consideration, particularly for LED arrays, is the power rating of the resistor. Too small a rating and the resistor overheats (you can guess the result). Watt's law is P=I*V, if the resistor drops 7.6 volts at, say, 100 milliAmps, you have 0.76 Watts: A 1/4 watt resistor will overheat in seconds, a 1/2 watt in minutes. You MUST use at least a 1 watt resistor!

Always be sure to check the power as well as the resistance you need!