© 2013-2014 Designer Systems Page 1 of 8
CNTRL20.06.13 Revision 1.01
Designer
Systems
.co.uk
PRODUCT DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING
LED Lighting Shield
for Arduino™ and Raspberry-PI™
Technical Data
Features
ArduinoTM UNO Shield
standard form factor for
simple integration into any
Arduino project
I2C interface for simple con-
nection to Arduino or Rasp-
berry-PI
A complete mono or colour
lighting system for rooms,
aquariums, fish ponds, ex-
ternal lighting etc.
Four [4] high current
[350mA each] LED driver
channels supporting 1-12
LED’s per string [1.75 to
17Watts (5-48VDC supply)].
I2C address links allow up to
four [4] shields to be used
together
Simple register based con-
trol of brightness / colour
and sun-rise, sun-set and
moon light simulation modes
R.G.B.W high brightness
LED module with heatsink
supplied as standard [other
modules available]
LVD, RoHS and WEEE
compliant product
Description
The Designer Systems DS-
RGBW.S is a four [4] channel
high current LED driver shield
capable of driving four [4] 1-12
LED chains.
Specifically targeted at the Ar-
duino UNO board user [all other
Arduino boards supported] and the
Raspberry-PI the RGBW.S fea-
tures high speed I2C communica-
tion for easy project integration
and smooth brightness control.
Each of the four [4] 350mA capa-
ble channels features a 1024 step
brightness control, open/short cir-
cuit protection, current monitoring
and can support a LED chain of 1-
12 LED’s [dependant on power
supply connected]. This allows the
user to create RGBW lighting ef-
fects, using the supplied RGBW
lamp, or driving external RGB
strips /coins etc. or 4x white strips
/coins for accent lighting, room
lighting, aquarium lighting etc.
The built in aquarium mode pro-
vides advanced control of the sup-
plied RGBW lamp, or external
10Watt RGBW lamp, to provide
simulation of moonlight, sunrise,
day and sunset cycles which run
on an internal 24 hour timer.
The on-board I2C pull-ups are
jumper configurable to allow dis-
connection when connecting to the
Raspberry-PI, which has its own
pull-ups.
The supplied RGBW 4W lamp
features high quality OSRAM
OSLON LED’s, finned heatsink
and has a maximum light output
level of 340 lumens.
Applications
The DS-RGBW.S has many
applications in domestic room
lighting, outside lighting, fish
ponds, accent lighting and
aquarium lighting to name a
few. The built in aquarium
mode provides timed set and
forget moonlight/sunrise/sunset
simulation for large or small
aquariums.
Selection Guide
Description
Part Number
LED Lighting Shield w. RGBW LED lamp
DS
-
RGBW.S
6500K Cool white LED lamp [4x White 424 lm max.]
DS
-
-
W
3500K Warm white LED lamp
[4x White 336 lm max.]
DS
-
-
WW
Raspberry-PI, Arduino, NANO, UNO & MEGA are trademark
Note: A 12VDC [500mA] power supply is required
DS-RGBW.S
CONTROL MODULES
© 2013-2014 Designer Systems Page 2 of 8
CNTRL20.06.13 Revision 1.01
Power requirements
The DS-RGBW.S requires two
power supplies for operation.
Controller power
The power necessary for on-board
controller operation (approx. 2-
10mA) is taken from an external
battery, mains power adaptor or
from the Arduino or Raspberry-PI
board.
The RGBW provides three PCB
pads, two marked ‘GND’ and one
marked ‘Vin’ in the same format as
that present on the UNO board,
which should be connected to nega-
tive and positive battery/power sup-
ply terminals respectively. The input
voltage range is 4.75 - 16VDC with
the internal circuitry being protected
against power supply reversal.
LED power
The power necessary for LED op-
eration is taken from an external
battery or mains power adaptor.
Connection of the external supply to
the RGBW module is through a two
(2) way pluggable screw terminal
block marked ‘48VDC MAX’. The
positive connection is marked
‘+++++’ but is internally polarity
protected to prevent damage to the
LED drivers.
A supply voltage should be selected
dependant on the number of LED’s
connected in series as a chain to the
LED output. A good rule of thumb
is [Number of LED’s in string x 4V]
but a minimum input voltage of
12VDC is recommended.
Examples:
Each channel has 6x RED, BLUE and
GREEN LED’s connected in a series chain,
therefore input supply = 6 x 4V = 24VDC.
Each channel has 12x RED, BLUE and
GREEN LED’s connected in a series chain,
therefore input supply = 12 x 4V = 48VDC.
DO NOT exceed the maximum
input voltage of 48VDC !
A supply of 12VDC @ 500mA is
recommended for the supplied
RGBW 4W lamp.
LED connection
The LED interface is an eight (8) pin
horizontal 2.54mm pitch header,
pinned as follows:
RED -
RED +
GREEN -
GREEN +
BLUE -
BLUE +
WHITE -
WHITE +
The corresponding chain of coloured
LED’s should be connected with its
CATHODE connected to ‘-‘ and its
ANODE end connected to ‘+’.
I2C connection
The I2C connections are marked
‘SDA’ and ‘SCL’ and allow connec-
tion to the Arduino UNO board
‘ANALOG IN’ pins 4 and 5 or the
Rasperberry-PI GPIO port pins 3
and 5 (see Fig. 2.0) or another I2C
Master device.
The DS-RGBW.S is fitted with pull-
up jumpers that can be configured to
provide the source current necessary
for I2C communication. The follow-
ing jumpers should normally be set
when using the UNO board, as long
as the I2C bus does not have existing
pull-up’s provided by another de-
vice. These jumpers MUST be
removed when using the Raspber-
ry-PI:
I2C communication
Up to four DS-RGBW.S modules
may be connected to the same UNO
/ Raspberry-PI board or I2C bus and
accessed individually using their
own individual address.
The address is configured with the
following jumpers:
The following table shows how the
jumpers are placed for the different
binary addresses:
Address xx A0 A1
00 (default) ON ON
01 OFF ON
10 ON OFF
11 OFF OFF
The binary address (xx) above is
used in conjunction with the device
ID 11100xxD to form the complete
device address i.e. if both jumpers
are left connected (default) then the
device address would be
1110000Dbinary.
The ‘D’ bit determines if a read or a
write to the RGBW is to be per-
formed. If the ‘D’ bit is set ‘1’ then
a register read is performed or if
clear ‘0’ a register write.
To access individual registers a de-
vice write must be undertaken by the
I2C Master which consists of a Start
condition, device ID (‘D’ bit
cleared), register to start write, one
or more bytes of data to be written
and a stop condition (see Figure 1.0
for I2C write protocol).
There are 20 individual registers that
can be written to within the RGBW
that control WHITE, RGB, HSB and
R.G.B.W levels, Clock, Sun-
rise/Sunset and Moonlight configu-
ration as follows:
N
7
N
6
N
5
N4
N
3
N
2
N
1
N0
RGBW I2C address
1. 1 1 1 0 0 X X 0
XX = RGBW address
Register address
R0 U U U B B B B B
B..B = 0 to 20
U..U = unused on this implementation
Configuration register
R1 U U U U U U X W
W = 0 or 1 (0 = Normal mode, 1 = Aquarium mode)
X = 0 or 1 (0 = Moonlight OFF, 1 = Moonlight ON)
U..U = unused on this implementation
WHITE brightness value register
R2 U D D D D D D D
D..D = 0 to 100% (WHITE brightness value)
RGB RED value register
R3 D D D D D D D D
D..D = 0 to 255 (RED RGB value)
RGB GREEN value register
R4 D D D D D D D D
D..D = 0 to 255 (GREEN RGB value)
RGB BLUE value register
R5 D D D D D D D D
D..D = 0 to 255 (BLUE RGB value)
HSB HUE value register
R6 D D D D D D D D
D..D = 0 to 255 (Hue value)
HSB SATURATION value register
R7 D D D D D D D D
D..D = 0 to 255 (Saturation value)
SDA
SCL
PULL UP
A0
A1
ADDRESS
© 2013-2014 Designer Systems Page 3 of 8
CNTRL20.06.13 Revision 1.01
HSB BRIGHTNESS value register
R8 D D D D D D D D
D..D = 0 to 255 (Brightness value)
Sunrise hour value register
R9 U U U D D D D D
D..D = 0 to 23 (Sunrise hour value)
U..U = unused on this implementation
Sunset hour value register
R10 U U U D D D D D
D..D = 0 to 23 (Sunrise hour value)
U..U = unused on this implementation
Current time hour value register
R11 U U U D D D D D
D..D = 0 to 23 (Current time hour value)
U..U = unused on this implementation
Current minute value register
R12 U U D D D D D D
D..D = 0 to 59 (Current time minute value)
U..U = unused on this implementation
RED brightness MSB register
R13 U U U U U U D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0x03 (MSB of brightness value)
U..U = unused on this implementation
RED brightness LSB register
R14 D D D D D D D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0xFF (LSB of brightness value)
GREEN brightness MSB register
R15 U U U U U U D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0x03 (MSB of brightness value)
U..U = unused on this implementation
GREEN brightness LSB register
R16 D D D D D D D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0xFF (LSB of brightness value)
BLUE brightness MSB register
R17 U U U U U U D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0x03 (MSB of brightness value)
U..U = unused on this implementation
BLUE brightness LSB register
R18 D D D D D D D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0xFF (LSB of brightness value)
WHITE brightness MSB register
R19 U U U U U U D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0x03 (MSB of brightness value)
U..U = unused on this implementation
WHITE brightness LSB register
R20 D D D D D D D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0xFF (LSB of brightness value)
The RGBW also auto increments the
register specified for every addition-
al write requested by the Master I2C
device, which allows more than one
register to be written in one transac-
tion.
This allows for example Register 1
to Register 5, RGB and WHITE
levels, to be written in one transac-
tion (see Figure 1.1 for I2C write
protocol).
To read individual data and status
registers a device write then read
must be undertaken by the I2C Mas-
ter.
The write consists of a Start condi-
tion, device ID (‘D’ bit clear), regis-
ter to start read and a Stop condition.
This is followed by a read, which
consists of a Start condition, device
ID (‘D‘ bit set), followed by data
from the register specified and ter-
minated with a Stop condition.
Status registers
There are 12 individual registers that
can be read within the RGBW as
follows:
N
7
N
6
N
5
N
4
N
3
N
2
N
1
N
0
RGBW Address
1. 1 1 1 0 0 X X 1
XX = Address select pins
Configuration register
R1 U U U U U U X W
W = 0 or 1 (0 = Normal mode, 1 = Aquarium mode)
X = 0 or 1 (0 = Moonlight OFF, 1 = Moonlight ON)
U..U = unused on this implementation
RED brightness MSB register
R2 U U U U U U D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0x03 (MSB of brightness value)
U..U = unused on this implementation
RED brightness LSB register
R3 D D D D D D D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0xFF (LSB of brightness value)
GREEN brightness MSB register
R4 U U U U U U D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0x03 (MSB of brightness value)
U..U = unused on this implementation
GREEN brightness LSB register
R5 D D D D D D D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0xFF (LSB of brightness value)
BLUE brightness MSB register
R6 U U U U U U D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0x03 (MSB of brightness value)
U..U = unused on this implementation
BLUE brightness LSB register
R7 D D D D D D D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0xFF (LSB of brightness value)
WHITE brightness MSB register
R8 U U U U U U D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0x03 (MSB of brightness value)
U..U = unused on this implementation
WHITE brightness LSB register
R9 D D D D D D D D
D..D = 0x00 to 0xFF (LSB of brightness value)
Current time hours value register
R10 U U U D D D D D
D..D = 0 to 23 (Current hour value)
U..U = unused on this implementation
Current time minutes value register
R11 U U D D D D D D
D..D = 0 to 59 (Current minutes value)
U..U = unused on this implementation
DS-RGBW.S Firmware
R12 M M M M L L L L
L..L = Firmware minor version 0-15
M..M = Firmware major version 0-15
R.G.B Colour registers…
The RGB colour registers allow a
standard RED, GREEN, BLUE
(sRGB) colour value to be displayed
on the connected LED’s. The colour
values set are internally converted to
the CIE1931 XYZ colour space for
better visual perception.
H.S.B Colour registers…
The HSB colour registers allow a
HUE, SATURATION, BRIGHT-
NESS [also known as VALUE] col-
our value to be displayed on the
connected LED’s. The colour values
set are internally converted to the
CIE1931 XYZ colour space for bet-
ter visual perception.
R.G.B.W Brightness registers…
The R.G.B.W brightness registers
allow individual control of the
brightness level on each of the four
LEDs. The output level is adjustable
from zero [0x0000], or OFF, to 1023
[0x03FF], or maximum brightness,
by converting the value into hexa-
decimal and writing the Most Sig-
nificant Byte [MSB] to the first reg-
ister and the Least Significant Byte
[LSB] to the second register. For
example if a brightness level of 589
was required the hexadecimal repre-
sentation of this would be 0x024D.
The 0x02 hex would be written to the
first register and the 0x4D hex to the
second.
These registers may also be read to
return the internally converted RGB
and HSB values.
Aquarium mode…
The RGBW.S provides an aquarium
mode of operation that can simulate
sunrise/sunset and moonlight illu-
mination. Aquarium mode is simply
enabled by writing the current time,
hour and minute, into the I2C clock
registers and then the sunrise hour,
sunset hour and configuration con-
trol into the relevant I2C registers.
Sunrise is initiated when the clock
and sunrise hour (06:00 default) are
the same and will continue over a
period of 30 minutes until full day-
light is reached (5600K).
Sunset is initiated when the clock
and the sunset hour (21:00 default)
are the same and will continue over
a period of 30 minutes until dark-
ness is reached.
If the moonlight flag is also set the
moon will rise as darkness falls and
remain constant during the night
until sunrise starts once more.
See the website at
www.designersystems.co.uk for
sample Raspberry-PI and Arduino
applications.
© 2013-2014 Designer Systems Page 4 of 8
CNTRL20.06.13 Revision 1.01
Electrical Characteristics (TA = 25oC Typical)
Parameter
Minimum
Max
i
mum
Units
Notes
Supply Voltage (LED
power)
6
48
V
1
Supply Current (LED
power)
0
1200
mA
2
Supply Voltage (on
-
board VCC)
4.75
16
V
Supply Current (on
-
board VCC)
2
10
mA
I
2
C speed
-
400
kHz
I
2
C p
ull
-
up resistance
-
4700
3
LED driver output current
0
350
mA
LED’s per channel
1
12
LEDs
LED forward voltage
3
3.8
V
4
Absolute Maximum Ratings
Parameter
Minimum
Max
i
mum
Units
Supply Voltage (LED power
)
-
0.5
+
50
V
Environmental
Parameter
Minimum
Max
i
mum
Units
Operating Temperature
0
70
o
C
Storage Temperature
-
10
80
o
C
Humidity
0
80
%
Dimensions
Length
56.25mm, Width 53.5mm, Height 12
mm
Weight
15
g
[main board] 71g [RGBW lamp]
Immunity & emissions
See statement
on page
8
Notes:
1. Recommended minimum input voltage is 12VDC.
2. Maximum is all four channels at maximum brightness all connected to 12 LED chains with 48VDC supply.
3. Value given is to Vcc when activated with appropriate jumpers.
4. Nominal value is 3.2 to 3.5V.
Figure 1.0 (I2C write protocol)
START
ACK
ACK
RGBW ADDRESS REGISTER
ADDRESS
01 1 1 A1 A00
R / W=0
ACK
DATA
BYTE
STOP
Multiple bytes may be written before the ‘STOP’ condition. Data is written into registers starting at ‘REGISTER ADDRESS’, then ‘REGISTER AD-
DRESS’ +1, then ‘REGISTER ADDRESS’ +2 etc.
Each byte transfer is acknowledged ‘ACK’ by the RGBW until the ‘STOP’ condition.
Figure 1.1 (I2C read protocol)
START
ACK
ACK
RGBW ADDRESS REGISTER
ADDRESS
ACK
DATA
BYTE 1
STOP
START
ACK
RGBW ADDRESS
NACK
DATA
BYTE 2
01 1 1A1 A0
0
R / W=0
01 1 1 A1 A00
R / W=1
‘DATA BYTE 1 & 2’ are register values returned from the RGBW. Each byte written is acknowledged ‘ACK’ by the RGBW , every byte read is
acknowledged ‘ACK’ by the I2C Master. A Not-acknowledge ‘NACK’ condition is generated by the I2C Master when it has finished reading.
© 2013-2014 Designer Systems Page 5 of 8
CNTRL20.06.13 Revision 1.01
Calculating binary bit values:
The registers used above use the binary notation to configure different functions. Each register is made up of eight (8) bits, which can be
set or cleared to produce the desired operation, the individual bits having a value associated with them as follows:
128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
If we take for example the Configuration register there are two bits that are configurable:
Configuration register
R1 U U U U U U X W
W = 0 or 1 (0 = Normal mode, 1 = Aquarium mode)
X = 0 or 1 (0 = Moonlight OFF, 1 = Moonlight ON)
U..U = unused on this implementation
Each bit is defined to control a particular function, so if for example we wanted to enable Aquarium mode we would need to set bit ‘W’
which controls this function. We know from the bit values defined above that the value associated with the ‘W’ bit is 1, so by writing
this value to register 1 we can enable Aquarium mode. If we need to enable additional features such as Moonlight - ‘X’ - as well, the
value of this bit is added to the value written to the register i.e. 1 + 2 = 3.
Figure 2.0 (Connection Schematic for Arduino UNO or Raspberry-Pi I2C communication)
A0
A1
SDA
SCL
PULL-UP
ADDRESS
www.arduino.cc
RESET
3V3
5V Gnd Vin 0 1 2 3 4 5
ANALOG INPOWER
P1
Raspberry Pi
GND Vin SDASCL
DS-RGBW.Shield
DV069_V1.00.02
© Designer Systems Ltd
4 Channel Mono/Colour
LED Lighting Shield
+++++
48VDC MAX
1. S1 [R] -
2. S1 [R] +
3. S2 [G] -
4. S2 [G] +
5. S3 [B] -
6. S3 [B] +
7. S4 [W] -
8. S4 [W] +
1
U1
L1
C2
Q1
R2
R1
C1
D1
R3
U2
L4
C4
Q2
R6
R5
C3
D3
R7
U4 L9
C6
Q3
R9
R8
C5
D4
R10
L3L5
L7 L2L6L8
U5 L12
C8
Q4
R14
R12
C7
D5
R15
L10
L11
U3
CN3
U6
R4
R11
R13
CN1
D2
D6 C10
C9
L13
C11
R16
BLACK
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
© 2013-2014 Designer Systems Page 6 of 8
CNTRL20.06.13 Revision 1.01
53.50
56.25
12.00
Mechanical Specifications – Units millimetres
© 2013-2014 Designer Systems Page 7 of 8
CNTRL20.06.13 Revision 1.01
53.00
Revision History:
1.00 Release version
1.01 Added Eye safety warning.
© 2013-2014 Designer Systems Page 8 of 8
CNTRL20.06.13 Revision 1.01
WEEE Consumer Notice
This product is subject to Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of the Euro-
pean Union on Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and, in jurisdictions adopting that
Directive, is marked as being put on the market after August 13, 2005, and should not be disposed of as
unsorted municipal/public waste. Please utilise your local WEEE collection facilities in the disposition and
otherwise observe all applicable requirements. For further information on the requirements regarding the disposition of
this product in other languages please visit www.designersystems.co.uk
RoHS Compliance
This product complies with Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of the Eu-
ropean Union on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) which prohibits the use of various
heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium), polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and
polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE).
Eye Safety
The RGBW LED’s are very bright. DO NOT look directly at the LED’s when they are active. Turn the
RGBW lamp away from you, or others, when operating or use a diffuser to prevent possible eye damage.
Declaration of Conformity Copyright 1997-2014 Designer Systems Limited
Apparatus name / model number DS-RGBW.S Manufacturer Designer Systems, 11 Castle Street, Truro, Cornwall
Conformity via Generic Standard EN50081-1 TR1 3AF, United Kingdom
Generic Standard EN50082-1 Description of apparatus Robotic interface peripheral
Conformity criteria For use only within commercial, residential and light industrial applications
We certify that the apparatus identified above conforms to the requirements of Council Directive 2004/108/EC & 2006/95/EC
Signed. Date 20/6/13
Having made this declaration the CE mark is affixed to this product, its packaging, manual or warranty.
The information appearing in this data sheet is believed to be accurate at the time of publication. However, Designer Systems assumes no responsibility arising from the use of the infor-
mation supplied. The applications mentioned herein are used solely for the purpose of illustration and Designer Systems makes no warranty or representation that such applications will be
suitable without further modification, nor recommends the use of its products for application that may present a risk to human life due to malfunction or otherwise. Designer Systems reserves
the right to alter its products without prior notification.