Tag Archives: christmas

Christmas tree – Arduino Leds

Video: https://youtu.be/7wwv_Az_uWw

Actually this is a project which I started last year and was not able to finish it then.

Using WS2811 led lights (not strips) I thought about making a Christmas tree light being able to control every single led using an Arduino. This is actually very simple. For about 100 lights, I used a 10A power source just to be sure. Also next year I might add another 50 lights to it.

The best part about it is the programming. I found a lot of programs online. Took the nicest one, combined and tweaked them, and here is the result…

Outdoor christmas decoration

So I got theese outdoor Christmas leds from China, solar powered ones. Like I expected, the lack of sun in Germany, especially on that side of the house where I intended to put them, was a big issue.

Another slight issue was that the children were so happy about the first snow, that they didn’t see it and ripped of the wire.

So my solution was to put everything on 4 AA batteries, and also on a Attiny85 microcontroller, and program the leds to automatically light up at 18:00 o’clock and turn off at 22:00.

Automating Christmas Trees (Attiny/Arduino)

Christmas is coming and everyone gets out all decorations and lightnings from the basement. It’s a wonderfull time of the year to remember every light bulb from the lightning, which was broken last year, and when there was no time to fix it, etc.

IMG_20161211_192514

Also to remember which decorations were not so appreciated. This is the case with our two little trees which we got for the childrens room. They had to be turned on every evening and off after going to sleep. An unnecessary process which I wanted to fix.

I remembered some time ago I controlled a simple light with a little Attiny85. This had to be done again.

I used a Arduino Uno as a programmer for the Attiny. I had to remember the whole process again, so I’ll better write it here for the future.

Arduino softare has in properties a field for the link to get additional board managers. There I added: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/damellis/attiny/ide-1.6.x-boards-manager/package_damellis_attiny_index.json

In the boardmanager I installed it. I uploaded AndroidISP into the Android Uno, connected the Attiny like in the picture, and then uploaded using the programmer the following code:

void setup() {  pinMode(0, OUTPUT); }
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(0, HIGH);
  delay(21600000);
  digitalWrite(0, LOW);
  delay(64800000);
}

A simple program to turn the tree on for 6 hours and off for 18. This means if started in the evening at 18:00, it will always turn on at 18:00 and off at 00:00.

The electronics in the tree couldn’t have been easier to understand and adapt.

Didn’t test it yet, but I hope it works good enough even using the Attiny internal clock.