ESP32 LED Controller for Model Aircraft

Professional LED controller firmware for ESP32 with Web-BLE configuration interface. Designed for model aircraft with WS2812B LED strips.

Features

Hardware Support

• ESP32 DevKitC and ESP32-C3 MINI Development Board
• Dual WS2812B LED strip support (configurable GPIOs)
• PWM signal input for RC control
• Real-time LED animation at 60 FPS

Animation Modes

1. Black - All LEDs off
2. Red - Solid red
3. Blue - Solid blue
4. Green - Solid green
5. White - Solid white
6. Rainbow - Smooth rainbow gradient
7. Rainbow with Glitter - Rainbow with sparkles
8. Confetti - Random colored speckles
9. Sinelon - Sweeping colored dot with trails
10. BPM - Pulsing stripes at 33 BPM
11. Navigation - Aviation lights (red left, green right)
12. Chase (Red) - Red dot chase effect
13. Chase (RGB) - RGB cycling chase effect
14. Random - Random LED colors

Web-BLE Configuration

• Pin Configuration: Set GPIO pins for LED strips and PWM input
• BLE Auto-Off: Configure timeout (Never/1min/5min)
• Manual Control: Select animation modes from web interface
• PWM Emulation: Test mode switching without RC signal
• OTA Firmware Update: Upload new firmware via Bluetooth

Project Structure

led-controller-firmware/
├── main/
│   ├── main.c           # Application entry point
│   ├── control.c/h      # BLE, NVS, initialization
│   ├── led.c/h          # WS2812B control (RMT driver)
│   ├── rcsignal.c/h     # PWM signal reading
│   └── animation.c/h    # LED animation patterns
├── webapp/
│   ├── index.html       # Web-BLE interface
│   ├── app/app.js       # BLE communication logic
│   ├── css/style.css    # UI styling
│   └── data/favicon.ico
├── CMakeLists.txt
├── sdkconfig.defaults
└── partitions.csv       # OTA-enabled partition table

Build Instructions

Prerequisites

1. Install ESP-IDF v5.0 or later

2. For ESP32-C3, ensure RISC-V toolchain is installed

Building

cd led-controller-firmware

# For ESP32 DevKitC
idf.py set-target esp32
idf.py build

# For ESP32-C3 MINI
idf.py set-target esp32c3
idf.py build

Flashing

idf.py -p /dev/ttyUSB0 flash monitor

Replace /dev/ttyUSB0 with your serial port (COM3 on Windows).

Hardware Setup

Wiring

ESP32 Pin    -> Component
-----------     ----------
GPIO XX      -> WS2812B Strip A Data
GPIO XX      -> WS2812B Strip B Data
GPIO XX      -> RC PWM Signal
GND          -> Common Ground
5V           -> LED Strip Power (if current < 500mA)

LED Strips

• WS2812B strips require 5V power
• Each LED draws ~60mA at full white
• Use external power supply for >10 LEDs
• Add 100-500µF capacitor near strips
• Add 330Ω resistor on data line

PWM Signal

• Standard RC PWM: 1000-2000µs pulse width
• 1500µs threshold for mode switching
• Rising edge >1500µs after <1500µs triggers next mode

Web-BLE Configuration

Access the Interface

1. Open webapp/index.html in Chrome, Edge, or Opera (Web Bluetooth required)
2. Click "Connect via BLE"
3. Select "LED-Controller" from device list
4. Configure settings and control LEDs

Configuration Options

Pin Setup

• LED Strip A GPIO: -1 to disable, 0-48 for GPIO pin
• LED Strip B GPIO: -1 to disable, 0-48 for GPIO pin
• PWM Input GPIO: -1 to disable, 0-48 for GPIO pin

BLE Timeout

• Never: BLE stays on until manually disabled
• 1 Minute: Auto-disable after 1 min of boot (unless connected)
• 5 Minutes: Auto-disable after 5 min of boot (unless connected)

Firmware Update

1. Build firmware: idf.py build
2. Find binary: build/led_controller.bin
3. Upload via Web-BLE interface
4. Device restarts with new firmware (settings reset)

Default Configuration

On first boot or after reset:

• All pins: Not configured (-1)
• BLE timeout: Never
• Animation mode: Black (off)

Configure via Web-BLE before use.

Development

Adding New Animations

1. Add mode to animation_mode_t enum in animation.h
2. Implement animation function in animation.c
3. Add case to animation_update() switch statement
4. Update MODE_NAMES array in webapp/app/app.js

Modifying LED Count

Edit DEFAULT_NUM_LEDS_A and DEFAULT_NUM_LEDS_B in control.c. TODO

Testing

# Build and flash
idf.py build flash

# Monitor output
idf.py monitor

# Exit monitor: Ctrl+]

License

See LICENSE