D.A.L.O.R - Digitally Addressable LEDs On Rest
Automate your DIY RGB(W) LED devices
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Frequently Asked Questions
Changelog
Supported Languages
English
German
The Idea
We wanted to create an easy to use âtoolboxâ, for even not so tech savvy users, enabling just anyone to build their own led dashboards and lights. We started off with the particle.io ecosystem, simply because it is exceptionally easy to use and requires no programming or embedded hardware knowledge for you at all to get started.
The WLED firmware is also supported, for the more tech savvy people amongst you.
Getting Started
D.A.L.O.R supports two different firmware projects. NPOR and WLED. Which one to choose primarily depends on what your want and maybe on your skills.
The NPOR firmware was originally designed especially for D.A.L.O.R, to serve as a plug and play framework for DIY LED dashboards. Of course it can also be used to drive a basic LED lighting.
The WLED firmware is designed especially as an advanced LED lighting controller. The LED dashboard features are currently not supported for WLED. (might get added at some point but no promises)
Here is a short table, to give you a better idea what D.A.L.O.R in combination with the firmwares supports:
| Firmware: | NPOR | WLED |
|---|---|---|
| Per LED Control | by Flowcard | No |
| LED Renaming | Yes *6) | No |
| Standard Full Color Light Controls | Yes | Yes *5) |
| Firmware Effects | by Flowcard | by Flowcard |
| Light Effects *1) | Basic | Extensive |
| Supports Strip Segmentations | No | by Flowcard |
| Can be paired as "light" device *2) | Yes | Yes |
| Can be paired as "other" device *3) | Yes | No |
| Supports White Channel *4) | No | No |
| Firmware Based Nightmode | No | Yes |
| Firmware Based Presets | No | by Flowcard *7) |
- Firmware Effects
Please read up on the individual firmware projects what kind of effects they currently support. - As Light
This will make Homey treat it as an actual light and it will also be controllable as light by any attached systems. Like Google Homey, Alexa and whatever not. - As Other
This is possible to simply avoid the device being treated as light, which comes in Handy if you want to use the device as a led dashboard for example. - White Channel
The firmwares actually support the white channel, but this is currently not implemented in the D.A.L.O.R app. - When setting the light thought the UI of the Homey app, the set colors are applied to all segments.
- LED renaming is useful to keep overview in your flows, when you use the device as a dashboard. Bear in mind that renaming LEDs does not automatically update their label if they are used in flowcards already. This is a limitation on how Homey works.
- You cannot save WLED presets from within Homey, but you can activate any preset which is stored in your controller.
With Neopixels On Rest (NPOR) on particle.io controllers
Required Skill(s)
None. The firmware can be installed via GUI without any technical knowledge.
Getting Started
Everything you need to get started can be found in the corresponding GitHub project over here: GitHub - Shakesbeard/neopixel-on-rest
Follow the instructions there to set up your controller and include it in your network. It literally is just a few clicks.
Setup In Homey
Once paired with Homey, you can configure the device directly from the advanced settings page of the device view.
With WLED on ESP8266 or ESP32 controllers
Required Skill(s)
Basic knowledge about microcontrollers. Requires flashing and configuring the firmware and device by hand.
Getting Started
Find the WLED project on GitHub here: GitHub - Aircoookie/WLED: Control WS2812B and many more types of digital RGB LEDs with an ESP8266 or ESP32 over WiFi!
Follow the instructions there to set up your controller and include it in your network.
Once it is up and running with the latest WLED firmware on your local network you can pair it with Homey. Do not modify the preconfigured mDNS service name.
Homey Specifics (Important)
WLED supports three color channels whilst Homey only offers one at a time. To come around this limitation there is an additional control in the Homey UI to switch between the color channels.
Any UI or flowcard actions which are targetting standard lighting features will target the WLED color channel selected. You can change the channel being controlled using flowcards as well.
Setup In Homey
You can configure usage features through Homey only. For any fundamentel settings, please make use of the original WLED app.
Recommendations
LED Dashboard & Basic Lights: Use NPOR on particle
Effect Lighting: Use WLED on ESP
Also, here is an interresting guide regarding LED strips in general: The Ultimate Guide to LED Strips
Wiring The Electronics
For simplicity here is the wiring example based on a breadboard setup using the NPOR firmware on a particle photon controller. This example is suitable for using 5V LED strips.
Prototype Parts List:
- 1x half+ Breadboard
- 1x Particle Photon Controller
- 1x 470 Ohm Resistor
- 1x 1000 uF Capacitor
- 1x 74AHCT125 High Speed Logic Lifter
Note: The capacitor and the resistor are in place to protect your LEDs from current peaks, which might occur when powering up the device, only.
The yellow line coming from port A4 is the data line for the LEDs. It runs through the logic lifter to lift the 3.3V signal up to 5V.
The wiring schema basically applies to all setups but keep the following points in mind when designing your device:
- The data port for WLED is a different one. Please check the WLED project page for which port your data line needs to be connected to.
- Each firmware supports different kinds of LEDs. Please read up on which LEDs are supported by each firmware on their respective project pages on GitHub.
- Depending on how many LEDs you are connecting, you will need a strong enough power supply. Do not drain more than 1A through the controllers! For example, if you power the particle controller through the onboard USB port, the controller will pop a fuse if your LEDs drain more than 1A through the controller board. Make sure your LEDs have direct access to the power supply and that they share the Ground with the controller. Again, for more in depth details please see the Adafruit Ueberguide on this technology, linked from the NPOR firmware GitHub page.
Dashboard Prototype
@home_scherer created the first dashboard for use with the NPOR firmware.
Check out his awesome work on this:
3D Files For Recreation
Special Thanks To
@home_scherer for the awesome idea and contributions to the appâs graphics.
!
so great to have wled directly in the homey universe 
