My previous Instructable, making custom Printed Circuit Boards on a CNC Router (Instructables link), was pretty cool. It even won second prize in the Instructables Tips & Tricks Challenge (link).
This new one puts that knowledge to practical use and creates a WiFi controller for two LED light strips. This is a start-to-finish DIY solution to controlling LED light strips over a WiFi network. It comes complete with Open Source software and mobile apps, which you don’t have to be a developer to install because they’re available on the app stores. (iOS App Store link) (Android Play Store link). If you’re the kind of person who likes to play with code, it’s available on github. (github link)
I don’t leave out any details. If you have the desire to build your own WiFi controller for LED light strips, everything you need to know is there (even if you can’t make your own PCB or don’t have a CNC router).
Check it out, and if you like it, scroll to the bottom and vote for it in the “Make it Glow” challenge. I like winning stuff. It’s already been very popular, and has been featured by Instructables.com staff in the Technology category.
Here’s the article: (Instructables link)
Keep watching over the next couple of weeks. I’m finalizing the last article in this series – making backlit signs. That’s the end-product of the controller and software I wrote for these Instructables. It turned out much better than I first imagined. Truth be told, my imagination may have been allowed to take over for a little too long. What I ended up with is a professional product that I made myself because of newly accessible technology. I think I may have gone a little overboard, but the results are amazing.
I’ve installed four signs with twelve WiFi controllers around our house, and I can tell you that it’s been a lot of fun watching the family play with them. My wife and I have “fights” overriding each other’s colors, and my young nephew was spinning around the room changing three different signs and learning the effects of mixing primary colors. Fun, fun, fun!