Ok, no more shouty caps

I was just looking online (ok, Amazon) at 5 volt LED light strips. I don't see any reason why they couldn't be used for drones!? They're WS2812B, addressable, and run on 5 volt. Hmmm...

Of what I've found, they have densities ranging from 60 to 144 LEDs per meter. The 60 per meter i think would look pretty weak at 12mm between LEDs. The 74 per meter are 8.78mm apart. The 96 are 5.44mm, the 100 are 5.09mm, and the most dense I've found are 144 per meter at a tiny 1.92mm between them!!

With Betaflight having programmability for 32 LEDs, I could see the 100per might be a good choice? As sweet as the 144's would look, I think I'd max out the 32 in Betaflight pretty quick and maybe not cover much 'ground'.

I see most (all) of the LED strips can be cut to length, so making them fit would be easy. The strips can be found from around 3 feet to over 16 feet. Obviously more than what could reasonably fit on a quad.

I'm doing on the math on what it would take for a full 360 wrap (or 2?) and what good looking density to pick to do so. How cool would a cinewhoop be all lit up?!!

I want to turn my Green Hornet into a UFO

I would have to keep an eye on the amperage draw, as the Green Hornet FC does have an LED pad. Good for about 2 amps? Unfortunately I'm not an ampologist, I'd have to Google how much they would draw. Could I make a relay type thing if too many amps? Run 64 of them in parallel....hmm?!


Comments welcome!

Have used these type LED strips for quite a few years on planes for night flying. Using them set in Blue and White on the underside, they illuminate the ground for landing a slow flyer.

Have also used them as rear LEDS on quads, usually a maximum of eight. Some colours get lost in daylight and I have settled on orange for rear indication.

Would have thought Amazon would be dearer then the direct chinese suppliers.

(01-Apr-2022, 07:46 AM)BadRaven Wrote: Would have thought Amazon would be dearer then the direct chinese suppliers.

Yes, but I could have them like...tomorrow vs waiting 2 months off the slow boat lol

I do have a small, already cut strip, but not sure of the wiring connection. There are 4 pads, one with an arrow, and B, R, G.

To me, that seems Blue, Red, Green, or..no?

How would I wire those? The lights, I don't care so much, I just don't want to let the smoke out of my flight controller lol

Amazon has all of these ones and more:   iFlight LEDS ?  
or these FPV Drone LEDS ??  
or these mini LEDs with Controller ??
or these LED RC strip light board ??  

You might also check out Tiny's LEDS. 

PyroDrone, RDQ, and other vendors also have many LED options.

While you can probably use just about any LED, I would go with something that is meant to
be used on a quadcopter.  I tried a "generic" LED on a quad some time ago and was not
very successful. Maybe you will have better success.

(01-Apr-2022, 03:12 PM)iFly4rotors Wrote: Amazon has all of these ones and more:   iFlight LEDS ?  
or these FPV Drone LEDS ??  
or these mini LEDs with Controller ??
or these LED RC strip light board ??  

You might also check out Tiny's LEDS. 

PyroDrone, RDQ, and other vendors also have many LED options.

While you can probably use just about any LED, I would go with something that is meant to
be used on a quadcopter.  I tried a "generic" LED on a quad some time ago and was not
very successful. Maybe you will have better success.

I am looking for the flexible type, so that I can wrap it around a cinewhoop like it would be on the edge of a Frisbee.RDQ has the flexible kind, but I think it's 144 per meter density, and only like 6 inches long

However, in checking the circumference of my iiFight Green Hornet I would need roughly 2 feet. That would be way too many to power at 100 per meter.

This is a cool idea but perhaps not practical if I can only draw 2 amps from the flight controller

I'll do some more digging...

The 4 pads on the strip I have are confusing me lol it shouldn't be that difficult...

Thanks

if you like to add a lot leds, it make sense to choose an led with the voltage range of the battery. run a lot leds over a regulator does provide higher risks to fail.