The goal of the installation is to build an interactive light system based on Arduino, interfacing a 4×4 RGB LED Matrix with a computer running software like Processing, different stimuli make the Matrix react and translate that signals into light.

The LEDS

I discovered the ShifBrite , an IC containing a bright RGB LED which turned out to be really easy to interface with others in a chain. The manufactorer provides some Arduino source code in the website so you can start using it right away (Of Course, you will first need to make the wiring)

My Chain contains 16 SBs, i use a 6V/1,5A Power supply to power up both the Arduino and the lights.

Controlling from Processing

You can do a lot of stuff with the Arduino and the led chain alone, but connecting both with Processing (through the usb serial interface) expands the possibilities enormously. I developed a controller that allows to program the matrix and interact with it both live and in a sequencer-like fashion.

This software allows to light single leds, rows, cols, diagonals and the whole matrix with selected colors, the user can set a color to each component and send a message to the Arduino to make it react.

Once a component is being configured it can be stored (by pressing “S” and clicking on the component) in a Slot to be played as a sequencer, the sequencer can be started/stopped using buttons, the pitch can be as well configured and the tempo can be influenced by the beats detected on the audio input.

Another part of the synchronisation with the audio happens when activating the HIGH/LOW/BEAT Components, the user can set a certain color to be transfered to the matrix when detecting HIGH/LOW frequencies on the audio input, as well as trigger a color when a beat is detected.

Resources

You can get here both the Arduino and the Processing sources, feel free to modify and improve it, i would really love to see people building similar matrixes and using this software to control them. if you do so, please let me know about your project.

Arduino code – LightCeilingArduino.0.9.1.pde

Processing sketch – LightCeilingProcessing.0.9.1.zip