AlienBeacon
An RGB LED strip controller that runs color programs off an SD card.
Click here to watch the video.
KIT Assembly Instructions
If you purchased the Alien Beacon KIT, then see this video for assembly instructions:
KIT Assembly Instructions video.
Power
The Alien Beacon requires 12V DC power. Like this one.
5-16V works too, as long as the input power matches the requirement of the LED strip.
When choosing the correct power rating for an LED strip, a good rule of thumb is to choose an adapter that is rated for 1A for every 300 pieces of 12V RGB LEDs.
The Alien Beacon itself is rated at 120W (ie, 10A @12V) max.
LEDs
The default LED strip pin order is BRGV. Although, the channel order outputs can be set to any order using the Alien Bacon to create color programs.
Here is an example of a 12V RGB LED strip.
Customization
Custom color programs are created using the Alien Bacon. You can find and run the program in the AlienBacon/bin folder (or build from source in the AlienBacon/src folder).
How to use: Image colors - Lets you choose an image to automatically pick out the dominant colors. Color sequence - Lets you choose a directory of images to combine into one program (the average color of each image in the folder will be used). Frame delay - Sets the delay time between every frame. Preview - Hit Play to see a preview of the colors cycling. Save - Save the program to file, and choose the channel output order.
A quick demo can be seen here.
Default programs
Deleted those awful default color presets by accident and want them back? No sweat! You can find them in the DefaultPrograms folder.