What is it?

The board

Luciole is a project that I’ve been developing for months and today I decided to share it with you !

This board is an RGB LEDs controller that includes an ESP8266, a micro-usb connector, a step down voltage and 3 power mosfets that can drive LEDs through pwm pins. For more information about it I made a video shared below and you also have access to the schematic and the layout of the board.

The dev board version of this one is designed to make developing applications, including LEDs, easier! Despite of it size, the board shape is made to ease its use in real application !

Each board contains a default program that permit you to control LEDs as soon as the board arrives. I will detail the steps to follow in order to make it works in the « How it works » section.

The luciole default software

The board hosts a webserver that you can be used as a controller. Thanks to it, you can choose the color you want, save your favorite ones and display them afterwards.

The Luciole software currently includes two smart functionalities. One called « smart light » will automatically turn on the light at the color you’ve set during sunset and another one during the day.

The second is almost the same, this one is made for you to turn on the LED to the color you’ve set and at an hour you’ve set too (very good to wake you up).

The webserver and the options setting up are store in spiffs and EEPROM memories and are persistent. So no matter the frequency where you connect to it, you will always recover your favorite settings !

The software is actually in development and it is possible that the version of it that you will receive with the board will be obsolete. Don’t panic, the code is open source and available on my github page (link below)

Why did you make it?

I’m a big fan of RGB LED strip and I tested a lot of different ones. Generally with LED strips you receive a controller that can drive them though IR, RF, Bluetooth or WiFi link.

The cheapest ones are generally the IR ones. These are very restrictive and if you want something more evolved you must add around 5 to 10$ and get a bluetooth controller…

Although the possibilities of these are increased, the Chinese generic app is usually poorly made. The ultimate solution is to buy the well known connected devices like Philips hue at around 25$ (pretty expensive)…

With the ESP8266 it’s now possible to fulfill the same functionalities for a derisory price, so I decided to throw me in!

What makes it special?

This board is the first of a series whose goal is to control RGB LEDs. For an honest price you will receive the board assembled and fully tested with the luciole codes already flashed and tested !

You can use this board as a commercial one (like IR, RF and Bluetooth controller) or as a classic development board thanks to his micro usb connector. It make it very flexible and complete in my opinion !

How does it work?

The board can be powered up at 5v with the micro usb connector or at 12v with the 12v plug. The switch located on the side of the board control the 12v power supply and the header at the opposite side are for the LEDs.

You have to know that the green pin is the GPIO13, the red pin is the GPIO12 and the blue pin is the GPIO14. These are placed in a very specific order so be careful, you may meet some RGB LEDs that do not have the same pins order!

When you power up the board for the first time, an access point named « webportail » will appear. Then, you need to enter your wifi credentials so that the board will connect itself and diffuse the webserver. The following is pretty obvious in my opinion but it you want more information about it, go check the video that i’ve made !

For more information you can go on my github or asked me on tindie or on socials media like twitter !