{"id":9231,"date":"2023-05-03T10:53:17","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T08:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deepbluembedded.com\/?p=9231"},"modified":"2023-08-17T23:50:11","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T20:50:11","slug":"arduino-rgb-led","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deepbluembedded.com\/arduino-rgb-led\/","title":{"rendered":"Arduino RGB LED Control Tutorial"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this tutorial, we’ll create a couple of Arduino RGB LED Control Projects<\/strong> using PWM (analog output). You’ll learn how RGB LEDs work and how to interface Arduino With RGB LED to create color mixing and transition effects. Without further ado, let’s get right into it!<\/p>\n\n\n

Table of Contents<\/h2>\n
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  1. How RGB LED Works<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n
  2. Arduino RGB LED Interfacing<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n
  3. Arduino RGB LED Color Code Generator<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n
  4. Arduino Code – RGB LED Example<\/a>\n\n\n<\/li>\n\n<\/li>\n\n<\/li>\n\n
  5. Arduino RGB LED Rainbow Code Example<\/a>\n\n\n<\/li>\n\n
  6. Project Wrap Up<\/a>\n<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n
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    How RGB LED Works<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

    An RGB LED is basically an electronic device that combines three LED elements in one package. It can emit pure Red, Green, or Blue light each at the same time using a separate input lead and light emitting diode. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    By varying the intensity of the light for each color LED, we can achieve millions of possible colors over the entire color spectrum. Given that each LED can have 256 different levels of intensity, the combined RGB LED will therefore have (2563<\/sup> \u2248 16.77Million) unique colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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    An RGB LED has typically 4 leads (pins). The longest it the ground (common) pin, next to it is the Red LED input, and on the other side there are the Green and Blue inputs. It’s better indicated in the figure below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Arduino-RGB-LED-Pinout\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We use Arduino PWM output to control the RGB inputs for the 3 LEDs (Red, Green, and Blue). By varying the duty cycle for each color input, we can get a desired specific color code as we’ll see hereafter in this tutorila.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Arduino boards have several PWM output pins usually. Those pins are designated with a (~<\/strong>) mark next to the pin number on the board. Before discussing how to use the PWM output pins, let’s first define what is the PWM technique and what are the properties of a PWM signal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    P<\/strong>ulse W<\/strong>idth M<\/strong>odulation (PWM<\/strong>) is a technique for generating a continuous HIGH\/LOW alternating digital signal and programmatically controlling its pulse width and frequency. Certain loads like (LEDs, Motors, etc) will respond to the average voltage<\/strong> of the signal which gets higher as the PWM signal’s pulse width is increased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As you can see, the LED gets brighter as the pulse width (duty cycle) increases, and it gets dimmer as the pulse width decreases. And this is typically what we use the PWM output for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Check the tutorial below to learn more about Arduino PWM. It’s a prerequisite for this project to help you understand the topic in more detail.<\/p>\n\n\n

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    ???? Also Read<\/div>\n\n
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    \"Arduino<\/a><\/figure>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n
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    Arduino PWM Tutorial<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n

    This tutorial will provide you with more in-depth information about Arduino PWM output. Starting from the basics of PWM signal, its frequency, duty cycle, and resolution, and will discuss in detail how it works and how to use it in various Arduino control projects.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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    Arduino RGB LED Interfacing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

    Here is the wiring diagram for Arduino with RGB LED. You can use 220\u03a9 or 330\u03a9 current-limiting resistor for each LED color input pin. The complete connection diagram will be as shown below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Note that I’m using pins (9, 10, and 11) for RGB control because those Arduino pins have PWM output capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Arduino-RGB-LED-Wiring-Diagram\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To write a color to the RGB LED with Arduino, we’ll create the following function that we can use to directly write any color code that we want and get it shown by the RGB LED without repeating the analogWrite()<\/code> function calls. We’ll call it setColor()<\/code> function, and here is how it’s implemented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    void setColor(int R, int G, int B)\n{\n  analogWrite(LED_R_PIN, R);\n  analogWrite(LED_G_PIN, G);\n  analogWrite(LED_B_PIN, B);\n}<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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    Arduino RGB LED Color Code Generator<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
    To first Arduino RGB LED control project would be to give it a specific color code and see if it’s going to generate a light with a similar color or not. But we first need to pick a color and get its (R, G, B) code in decimal or HEX format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For this, you can use the online RGB Color Code Generator (Color Picker)<\/a><\/strong> tool. It’s designed to help you with Arduino or any microcontroller projects that include RGB LED control or RGB LED Strips. Just click the button and select from the color palette, click away and it’s going to update the preview color box and give you the (R, G, B) color code. And it’ll also give you a function call to directly set the RGB color to the one you’ve picked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For this tutorial project example, you can use this tool below. But I’d recommend checking the RGB Color Code Generator (Color Picker) Tool<\/a> page and keep it bookmarked because you’ll definitely need it later on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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