Arduino project: ultrasonic sensor + 5M 5050 RGB LED strip lights

Question

I'm relatively new to electronics, and as a newbie, I am seeking advice.

I'm my current project, I would like to test out the combination of RGB LED strip controlled by one ultrasonic sensor. I am starting to gather my materials and components, however I am having some trouble to determine which type of resistors I should use for the circuit. I'm not too familiar with how to find or work out the Forward Current \$I_f\$ (mA) and Forward Voltage \$V_f\$ (Volts).

I bought my LED strip package from eBay. The components included in the 5MT LED Kit were:

• one 5050 5MT RGB LED Flex Strip Waterproof IR Controller;
• 44 Key Remote controller; and
• a power supply adapter.

According to the information from the seller it should be 150pcs of LED/5M.

Power Supply Specification:

• Input Voltage: 100-240V 1.5A
• Output Voltage: 12V DC
• Output Current: 0 - 5A
• Output Power: 60W
• Safety Compliance: CCC/ FCC / CE / UL / GS
• Working Temperature: 0°C-40°
• Storage Temperature: -20°C-60°C

My next inquiry is: has anyone been able to find an Arduino project example combining an ultrasonic sensor with an RGB LED strip such as the one I bought?

I've found some youtube videos, however, aside from the video, there are no extra information I could use as reference.

Answer 1

If you look closely at the LED strip, besides the LEDs, you'll see there are black surface mount resistors on the strip. So you don't need any resistors for the strip.

However you can't just power a 12V strip directly from an Arduino 5V pin. You'd need a MOSFET or power-transistor for those kinds of voltage and currents.

Here's a tutorial for the RGB LED strip.

And here's one for Reading the ultrasonic sensor.

I don't see why you need an example that precisely matches yours. Just read the distance; based on that distance calculate a color; send that color to the LED strip. It's more fun if it hasn't been done for you.