TLC5940 controller / 16 RGB LEDs

Eric Moore 1/25/2009

http://www.stonedcoder.org/~druid/balloon/Files and image of circuitALL PIN NUMBERS ARE SIMPLIFIED

Materials

• 1 Breadboard• Jumper cables – either bought or made• 1 Arduino• 16 RGB LEDs• 3 resistors – anything with a k that works

You need a laptop and cable to load the code in to the arduino. If you haven’t done that before, stop and follow the tutorials at arduino.cc

Insert chip on board, leave 1 pin open on the left, and 2 open between chips – use ruler /

straightedge to bend pins if needed

Note the 2 spaces between chips, now tie pins 1 and 14 on each chip

to pins 1 and 16 on the opposite side of the breadboard

Note the yellow lines, now we will add our power lines to the chip

Insert ties to ground (7 and 10)

Insert ties to high (8) and connect SOUT (12) to SIN (3)

Now tie pin 11 to pin 11 on chips 2 and 3

Do the same with pins: 2, 4, 5, and 6

Now pins 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11 should be connected on the

third chip

When you are done, your board should look like this, hopefully

cleaner

Tie pin 9 to ground w/ a resistor on all 3 chips

Arduino time!

Pin 4 on the first chip…

Goes to pin 8 on the ‘duino

Pins 9 and 10 on the ‘duino go to pins 5 and 6 on the first chip

Arduino 12 goes to chip1 pin2Arduino 13 goes to chip1 pin3

11 arduino goes to chip1 pin11

Your board should look like

this

Connect red to anode AKA high (+5 or +3.3)

Connect blue to black cathode AKA low or ground

Connect to either a power supply, or

the arduino directly.

Now for the LEDs!The long leg is the anode, and run

to high.

Bend the anode (long leg) away from the other legs, making sure that the pin that is alone on one side is to your left, and you bend toward you. This ensures all the

LEDs are in the same order.

Insert the LED into breadboard pins 1-2-3 with anode in the RED bus

15 LEDs later…

Connect the RED bus on one side of the board with the RED bus you just inserted all the anodes in to.

All done! Program your arduino and enjoy!