Building an RGB LED Display Part 1

In video series we build a scalable RGB LED Display or matrix and control it with Arduino. In part 1 we take a close look at the magic of the WS2812B RGB IC and Arduino options for controlling a large display of them.

//***************Arduino Code from Video*************************************
/* This Arduino sketch was made for a tutorial entitled "Building a Fun and Scalable RGB LED Display Part 1" for the ForceTronics YouTube Channel
 *  This sketch was leveraged from an example with the Adafruit NeoPixel library.This sketch was used to compare performance of an Arduino UNO versus 
 *  the Altrium Sno FPGA based Arduino for controlling the ADafruit NeoMatrix. This sketch randomly changes each pixel's brightness and color in a timed
 *  loop.
 *  This code is free for others to use and modify at their own risk
 */

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h> //uncomment this library when using an AVR based Arduino
//#include <XLR8NeoPixel.h> //uncomment this library when using the SNO

// Defines single pin to control NeoMatrix from Arduino
#define PIN            6

//defines number of pixels in the NeoMatrix that was used
#define NUMPIXELS      64

// When we setup the NeoPixel library, we tell it how many pixels, and which pin to use
//We can also set the comm speed and settings related to the how the NeoMatrix is configured
//For more information on how to use arguments for this function go to: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neopixel-uberguide/neomatrix-library
Adafruit_NeoPixel pixels = Adafruit_NeoPixel(NUMPIXELS, PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800); //decomment this function if you are using an AVR based Arduino
//XLR8NeoPixel pixels = XLR8NeoPixel(NUMPIXELS, PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800); //uncomment this function if you are using the SNO FPGA Arduino

int delayval = 10; // delay for 10 msec

void setup() {
  pixels.begin(); // This initializes the NeoPixel or XLR8NeoPixel library.
}

void loop() {

  // For a set of NeoPixels the first NeoPixel is 0, second is 1, all the way up to the count of pixels minus one.
  //This loops through all the pixels (1 to 64) and then starts back at 1
  for(int i=0;i<NUMPIXELS;i++){
    //This function sets the brightness of a pixel. Brightness can be 0 to 255. Using random() to generate psuedo random value between 0 and 255
    pixels.setBrightness(random(0,255));
    //This function sets the color scheme of an RGB LED, so values are red 0 to 255, green 0 to 255, blue 0 to 255.
    //'i' is the pixel number that is being set and the other arguments are the RGB values which are set using psuedo random values between 0 and 255
    pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(random(0,255),random(0,255),random(0,255))); // Moderately bright green color.
    //This function updates the pixels
    pixels.show(); // This sends the updated pixel color to the hardware.
    delay(delayval); // Delay for a period of time (in milliseconds).
  }
}