LEDs are a stupendous addition to any challenge. Offering massive quantities of energy safely to lengthy strips may be difficult. Alessandro Alfonzetti addresses these challenges with YULC, “Sure, a USB Sort-C LED Controller.” YULC is a dual-channel LED controller able to supplying 240 watts to power-hungry strips, and it’s launching quickly on Crowd Provide.
YULC’s design is exceptionally versatile. There are a number of choices for getting energy into and out of YULC. The compact board has header pins which might be breadboard-compatible. And the USB-C port permits direct programming of the ESP32-S3 microcontroller.
YULC with USB-C and barrel jack linked (📷: AAElectronics)
Getting energy in begins with deciding on one of many two enter ports. A generic barrel jack helps as much as 24 volts and 20 amps (240 watts). The USB-C connector helps Energy Supply (PD) 3.0. A WCH CH224K PD sink controller handles the protocol negotiation. YULC has a header pin block for choosing 5, 9, 12, 15, or 20 volts. At 20 volts, USB-C can present as much as 5 amps for 100 watts.
There are two output channels, every with a devoted MOSFET. The MOSFET replaces a relay and might use pulse width modulation (PWM) to differ the brightness of voltage-controlled LED strips. Each channels share the identical energy supply: direct energy from the enter supply or a built-in buck converter that outputs 5 or 12 volts and as much as 20 amps (100 or 200 watts). An automotive blade-style fuse offers overcurrent safety for direct or regulated output.
YULC, rear (📷: AAElectronics)
The output channels function a level-shifter for addressable WS2812B LEDs, also referred to as NeoPixels. These widespread LED strips use a serial protocol to regulate the colour and brightness of every LED individually. The management sign is infamous for needing 5 volts to function accurately.
The ESP32-S3 stays useful even when the output fuse blows as a result of YULC has a separate regulator for the logic circuits. This functionality allows YULC to offer an alert when a fault happens. Different security options embody ESD safety for the USB-C port and ESP32-S3 SoC.
Alongside one facet of YULC are 15 unpopulated pins. These hook up with a number of management indicators and 9 unused GPIOs, with two pins obtainable for UART communication. These indicators allow you to construct a challenge round YULC. You’ll be able to join YULC on to a breadboard to connect with different units utilizing header pins.
YULC schematic (📷: AAElectronics)
YULC is an open-source challenge. You’ll be able to already obtain a PDF of the schematic from this GitHub repository. Alfonzetti plans so as to add extra documentation sooner or later. Join notifications on the YULC product web page to know when the pre-order Crowd You’ll be able to join YULC on to a breadboard to connect with different units utilizing header pinsSupply marketing campaign goes dwell.