Interactive RGB LED Matrix, Controlled by Twitch Chat.

by BGprojectz

14K13316

Intro: Interactive RGB LED Matrix, Controlled by Twitch Chat.

In this video you can see the LED matrix contolled by other people.

I hang the matrix on a wall, point a camera on it and stream it on Twitch.

The people watching my stream on Twitch can type commands in the chat. (for example !001 red)

With these commands they can give every pixel the color they want.

This makes the matrix an ever changing canvas on my wall :) (if it's online)

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This instructable is about the idea, what the state is now, and how it came to be.

It's still a work in progress!

STEP 1: It All Started With Ordering LEDs

On the internet i came across some very nice LEDs.

Type WS2812B, addressable RGB LEDs with build in controller chip, so i bought some :)

After they arrived i started doing some experiments,

I used the fastled arduino library to write programs: Fastled library

I can really recommend this library, it makes life a lot easier!

A lot of example programs can be found on this site.

STEP 2: Building the Led Matrix


After a lot of testing with the Ws2812B LEDs, I decided to build a wooden 10x10 grid to put the LEDs in.

You can do this in many different ways, other materials, bigger or smaller,...

In this video u can see the steps i took to make the grid, how i placed the leds and wires,

and in the end some initial testing.

I'm no expert in woodworking and don't have the right tools, but I think it turned out OK.

Also using a LED strip would be easier, i had to strip and solder a lot of wires!

STEP 3: What to Do With It...


Finally, my RGB LED matrix was working,

but what do you use it for?

Inspired by other matrix projects here on Instructables,

I started working on more complex arduino programs.

Again using the Fastled library, there is really good support for matrix layouts.

After a lot of testing, looking how other people solved their problems, adding more and more code, adding a bluetooth module and writing my own app.

I didn't really know what to add more and the project was gathering dust in a corner for a while.

(For building an app, i really can recommend MIT App Invetor 2 I never made one before but with this it's easy!)

STEP 4: Why Not Make It Interactive?



After some time had passed, I started looking to give the matrix a new use.

As a long time Twitch user, and inspired by "Twitch plays pokemon",

I was thinking, why not make this matrix interactive?? And let people from all over the world use it.

And so it went.

The idea was to read Twitch IRC chat with a Python script,

let it do some magic if it sees a pre-defined command, and send the correct info to the arduino

which in turn controls the LEDs in the matrix.

I started really simpel as u can see in the 2 videos.

First only one led on/off

Then changing the colors

And after that the full matrix (the video on top of this instructable.)

It is still a work in progress, more commands and functions will be added.

Even I do not know when and if it will be ever finished. :-)

13 Comments

defrisselle 1 year ago

Where is the code used to make all this possible

chananmoll 3 years ago

He, are you guys still active? I am a Twitch Partner seeking contact to create this. Of course paying for services. Can somebody contact me if you still active?

dillonthomasross 4 years ago

how large can i scale this? and can i make it so chat would enter a specific rgb value?

TaranA4 4 years ago

what's the animation called at 1:52?

NamchapZ 5 years ago

Where is the code?
I need the code for both the arduino and the IRC
What did youyy use?
mIRC?
What is the phyton code?
Thanks

festosti 6 years ago

that is very nice, friend, what arduino you use. can i could use arduino uno?

SergioG105 7 years ago

This project its awesome. I love it.

I want do similar project with 100 or 200 leds. What type of conection can i do?

What type of power supply I need? Could you please recomend me any?

Thanks!

BGprojectz 7 years ago

I used 100 leds all in one chain.

Something like this: http://i.stack.imgur.com/Iq1on.png

But i also added a large capacitor (1000uF) across the + and - terminals. This will help prevent damage to your LEDs if u turn them on all at once.

200 leds in one chain will also work. But u can also make for example 2 chains of 100 LEDs, i know the Fastled library supports this, but i've never done that myself so i'll not get into this now.

I used the 5V from a PC power supply. But u can use whatever you want. Just keep in mind 100 WS2812B leds will draw around 6A at max brigtness and white color.

For 200 LEDs it will be 12A

And better take a powersupply that can deliver a bit more Amps than you actually need.

SergioG105 7 years ago

Thanks for your time. :)

If I use 200 LEds in 2 chains I should conect the chains in parallel to have 6 Amps in each chain? So i could buy 5V and 12 Amp power supply?

Maybe i Will try first with 100 leds and one chain. Could I power all leds from 5V output of the arduino mega?

Thanks for all

SergioG105 7 years ago

What type of wall you put over the leds to see perfect squares and not see the leds?
Thanks.
Amazing

BGprojectz 7 years ago

Thank you! And very good idea!! They are really fun to play around with :)