ws2812b ledstrip as motorcycle indicator

[spikey1973]

Hello,

just a quick question,

i'm thinking about making a ledstrip as an extra indicator on my motorcycle (audi style)
for this i want to use a attiny85, with an on board 500mA 5V Regulator
the only issue here is that there is place for 9 pcs 5050 ws2812b which use 9x60mA which is 540mA,
which is ofcourse 40mA more then the 5V regulator is set for (additional, 8%)
taken in account that i intent this to be "long time usage"

could this work? or should i get an alternative power source (or cut off a led )

ps: connected it to external psu, and with full white light it drew only 0.214A, so maybe i just answered my own question here. just wondering under what conditions it would indeed use this 0.54A if full white light doesn't.

 

[dave9]

First, what are you trying to do with these parts, indicate what and some sequence or different colors or? I don't understand why you need a microcontroller and LED controller, if there is a simple more efficient and lower cost solution that does away with a linear 5V regulator to power LEDs?

The attiny85 itself doesn't have a built in 5V regulator, rather it is on some board where they've also put a 500mA regulator. The thing is, that doesn't mean it has enough heatsinking to last at full rated current, particularly mounted in some (presumably) weatherproof enclosure on a motorcycle which may be a hot environment. Using a linear regulator you're dropping whatever the electrical system voltage is, say 14V, down to 5V, so 9V drop * 0.2A is 1.8W heat. I would not want that much heat on a tiny little PCB.

What exactly is this "9 pcs ws2812B", can you link to one?

Where are you putting white LEDs? They may be illegal anywhere but the front headlights and 214mA, even 540mA worth of LED light is not enough for a headlight. If they are meant for a side or rear indicator behind a colored lens, you should pick LEDs as near the same color as the lens as possible to maximize the amount of light transmission.

Suppose something like red LEDs, you could just put 2 parallel strands of 5 LEDs and a resistor in series directly on the electrical system. LEDs don't need a linear voltage regulator circuit. A setup with an integrated controller might be set up for 5V, but that seems pretty lossy as you can't get two white LEDs in series before their forward voltage exceeds that 5V.

I could be wrong, have speculated a lot without the info I mentioned above.

 

[Audioguru]

Red, green and blue LEDs at maximum allowed current do not produce white light, maybe it is yellow. Two of the color levels must be reduced to produce white. Then their total current is less than half of the current if they are at maximum current.

What indicator? Vehicle laws say the required color for brake lights and turn signal lights and it ain't white or yellow.

 

[spikey1973]

It will be an addition to.. so not primary headlight nor primary indicators. just an extra visibility.

i will mount it in acerbis dual road handprotectors.
https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/acerbis-dual-road-handguards

acerbis supplies white light leds, but they are costly and i would like to use them also as indicators, as said.
so for this change from white to blinking orange (like the newer audi's they have a running light as indicator) and back i need the attiny to control this.

don't worry i will check for the right color temperature to be legal.

all so it is not on a hot surface at all, rather more in the direct wind.