forked from mnltake/AutosteerPCBv2LB
This is a porting of mnltake's lightbar code to the latest version of the AgOpenGPS machine code (5.5+).
Requires the Adafruit Neopixel library (version 1.4 or higher)
Note: For version 5.5 you will need to use a modified version of the AgOpenGPS, AgIO and AgDiag executables, which are available from AgOpenGPS_v5-5_with_lightbar_pgn.zip. The modified source code is also available should you wish to inspect it and compile it yourself.
Select your AOG version using the branches in github
- V5.5 - Released (Latest AOG version)
- V5.1 - Released (Legacy AOG installations)
- V4.3.10 - Released (Legacy AOG installations)
Open the Arduino client (version 1.12 or higher is recomended), and open the Tools menu. Select the "Manage Libraries..." option:
Using the library manager, search for "Neopixel". Find the library in the results called "Adafruit Neopixel" as shown in the third item in the window below. Note that there are several libraries with similar names - for the Arduino Nano the standard Adafruit Neopixel library is the correct one.
If you are using the AgOpenGPS PCB, the WS2812B strip may get its 5V supply from the PCB power supply. This is not a problem for a 5V Nano, but if you use a 3.3V Nano or one of the form factor compatible boards (such as the ST Nucleo STM32G431) the WS2812B LEDs can behave erratically. This is due to a requirement for the data signal to be >0.7x the supply voltage. This problem can be solved by placing a diode between the 5V supply from the PCB and the WS2812 strip to cause a 0.7V drop of the supply to 4.3V.
If you have a large string of LEDs that have high brightness settings, the Nano (or similar microcontroller) can be overwhelmed by the initial current spike when the LEDs are first powered on. This can be solved by placing a large electrolytic capacitor (220 to 1000 uF) between the 5V and 0V supply to the LED strip. If you use the AgOpenGPS PCB to supply the power to the LEDs and the microcontroller is only supplying the control signal, this should not be a problem.