Materials Required

• WS2812B LED Strip (5-meter strip with 300 LEDs)
• Arduino Board (e.g., Arduino Uno, Arduino Nano, or any other 5V compatible board that supports the FastLED library)
• Connecting Wires
• Soldering Iron
• Solder
• Safety Glasses

Step 1: Obtaining the LED Strip

Purchase a WS2812B LED strip from a reputable electronics retailer or online marketplace. Recommend the strip has 300 LEDs in a 5-meter length.

Step 2: Preparing Your Workspace

Ensure your workspace is clean, well-lit, and all materials and tools are laid out for easy access.

Step 3: Connecting the LED Strip to Arduino

1. Wire Connections
   • Connect the 5V pin of the LED strip to the 5V pin on your Arduino board
   • Connect the Data input pin on the LED strip to the data output pin on your Arduino board
   • Connect the ground pin of the LED strip to the ground pin on your Arduino board
   • Connect the Arduino board to your computer using a USB cord. The Arduino will receive power and serial data for controlling the LED strip through this connection.
2. Code Upload:
   • For more detailed help uploading to an Arduino board, see our Software Tutorial
   • Download and install the FastLED library from the Arduino Library Manager.
   • Open the Arduino IDE, and upload a basic example sketch like strandtest to your Arduino board. Make sure to set the data pin in the code to the pin that you connected your LED data pin to

Step 4: Testing Your Setup

Once the code is uploaded, you should see the LEDs on the strip animate as per the strandtest sketch.

Step 5: Uploading LED20 Code

Download the LED20 Arduino sketch and upload it to your board.