If the Mode button is toggled, it will bypass the K.I.T.T & bouncing LED sequences and go direct to parking/brake. Default is that it goes into the K.I.T.T (Larson Scanner) & LED bounce sequence, then onto a normal “parking” light which triggers high (brighter) when braking. When the vehicle is started the system can do one of 2 things depending on the mode button toggle. Something I don’t want to chance with a voltage divider as it assumes a specific voltage. However, as GND is common across the system, it makes that somewhat moot! But, it does protect the Nano from voltage variation of a vehicle system (can range from ~11-15 Volts) by isolating those at the Opto itself. The real purpose of an Opto is to separate high voltage from low. The 12V brake signal runs through the 4N35 OptoIsolator which, when triggered, sends a signal (actually it’s HIGH by default and drops LOW when brakes are on) to the Nano on pin 3 (see code).I use the auto lighting feature, so it’s pretty much automated as well. As I wanted to make sure this add-on would not drain the battery, it is only powered when the car starts/accessory is on (as note above – from the parking light power).The Opto specifically uses 3v3 signal from the Nano. The system takes 12V DC and runs it through a switching regulator to drop the voltage to 5V – which is necessary for the Nano, NeoPixel strip and the OptoIsolator as they all use 5V.This way I can change it up later if I get bored or get new ideas. The entire system can all be tweaked via code using the Arduino Nano. In this case, I’m only using red and varying brightness. The controller has a mode button so I can turn features (the “bouncy” bit) on/off (see future thoughts further down).Īs this is a NeoPixel RGB LED colour strip each LED (90) can be individually controlled with millions of colours (and brightness control). When brakes are applied, the LEDs sweep outwards in brake mode. For the rest of the time, the lights remain on as running lights while the controller monitors the brake signal. When the car starts, parking gets power which fires up the controller/LEDs with a “bouncy” LED sequence intro on car start. The controller takes 12V power from the rear parking light, GND and 12V signal from the brake lights (when applied). The heart is an Arduino Nano microcontroller with an Adafruit NeoPixel RGB LED light strip. These pages provide info to build this version, or the whole enchilada! Phase II ( details here), takes it to the next level by adding Master controller / display in the front console that allows remote (wireless) control of the LED strip sequences. It has 2 LED sequence modes that can be changed by a button on the controller (all inside the trunk or boot for our UK peeps!). Phase I (this page) is about the LED strip with standalone controller. Update Oct 2021: Check out the latest version here! This project consists of 2 phases. Combining that with my passion of microcontrollers and LEDs ( see similar ) and taking inspiration from others before me ( this), here’s what I ended up with. Already added sequential LED turn signals & side markers all around, but not being the type to leave well enough alone, I needed a little spice to make it my own. It’s only been a few weeks since I’ve had my new 2021 Mazda Miata MX-5. Who wants one? Saddle over to my dedicated page for more info on how to get your hands on one of these kits.
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