RGB LEDs: Onstar Characterization…
Though incorrectly marked as common cathode, these common anode high power tri-color LEDs are standard fare across most discount parts websites, eBay included. They are sold with a 3W designation, each color drawing 350mA for a three watt total. Mounted on a star, they should be heatsinked with proper thermal paste if running for any extended period at normal operating levels.
Characterization at 350mA yields the following results:
Color | Voltage | Wavelength | Lumens |
Red | 2.70 volts | 625 nm | 32 lm |
Green | 3.45 volts | 530 nm | 35 lm |
Blue | 3.30 volts | 470 nm | 12 lm |
Running them in voltage mode with PWM will require careful attention to the maximum duty cycle value. Using PWM we calculate the maximum duty cycle with the equation (LED Voltage x Bits / Supply Voltage). The chart below indicates the maximum PWM value at some common bit resolutions when running from a 5 volt supply:
Color | 8 bit (255) | 9 bit (511) | 10 bit (1023) |
Red | 138 | 276 | 552 |
Green | 176 | 353 | 706 |
Blue | 168 | 337 | 675 |
Staying under these maximum values on Arduino is greatly assisted by the Modulo operation and/or the map command:
// sets the redledpin as output pinMode(redledPin, OUTPUT); // Scale PWMoutput to achieve full range 0-183 // Using map(value, fromLow, fromHigh, toLow, toHigh) PWMoutput = map (PWMoutput, 0, 255, 0, 183); // Use Modulo to limit output PWMoutput= PWMoutput % 183; // Set output using analogWrite analogWrite(redledPin, PWMoutput);
And finally a macro shot of all three chips, check out those awesome miniature crop circles: