This is the description of the Visual Basic .NET API bindings for the LED Strip Bricklet. General information and technical specifications for the LED Strip Bricklet are summarized in its hardware description.
An installation guide for the Visual Basic .NET API bindings is part of their general description.
The example code below is Public Domain (CC0 1.0).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 | Imports System
Imports Tinkerforge
Module ExampleSimple
Const HOST As String = "localhost"
Const PORT As Integer = 4223
Const UID As String = "XYZ" ' Change XYZ to the UID of your LED Strip Bricklet
Sub Main()
Dim ipcon As New IPConnection() ' Create IP connection
Dim ls As New BrickletLEDStrip(UID, ipcon) ' Create device object
ipcon.Connect(HOST, PORT) ' Connect to brickd
' Don't use device before ipcon is connected
' Set first 10 LEDs to green
ls.SetRGBValues(0, 10, _
new Byte(){0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}, _
new Byte(){255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}, _
new Byte(){0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0})
Console.WriteLine("Press key to exit")
Console.ReadLine()
ipcon.Disconnect()
End Sub
End Module
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 | Imports System
Imports Tinkerforge
Module ExampleCallback
Const HOST As String = "localhost"
Const PORT As Integer = 4223
Const UID As String = "XYZ" ' Change XYZ to the UID of your LED Strip Bricklet
Const NUM_LEDS As Integer = 16
Dim rIndex As Integer = 0
Dim r() As Byte = {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}
Dim g() As Byte = {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}
Dim b() As Byte = {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}
' Use frame rendered callback to move the active LED every frame
Sub FrameRenderedCB(ByVal sender As BrickletLEDStrip, ByVal length As Integer)
b(rIndex) = 0
If rIndex = NUM_LEDS-1 Then
rIndex = 0
Else
rIndex = rIndex + 1
End If
b(rIndex) = 255
' Set new data for next render cycle
sender.SetRGBValues(0, NUM_LEDS, r, g, b)
End Sub
Sub Main()
Dim ipcon As New IPConnection() ' Create IP connection
Dim ls As New BrickletLEDStrip(UID, ipcon) ' Create device object
ipcon.Connect(HOST, PORT) ' Connect to brickd
' Don't use device before ipcon is connected
' Set frame duration to 50ms (20 frames per second)
ls.SetFrameDuration(50)
' Register frame rendered callback to subroutine FrameRenderedCB
AddHandler ls.FrameRenderedCallback, AddressOf FrameRenderedCB
' Set initial rgb values to get started
ls.SetRGBValues(0, NUM_LEDS, r, g, b)
Console.WriteLine("Press key to exit")
Console.ReadLine()
ipcon.Disconnect()
End Sub
End Module
|
Since Visual Basic .NET does not support multiple return values directly, we
use the ByRef
keyword to return multiple values from a function.
All functions and procedures listed below are thread-safe.
BrickletLEDStrip
(ByVal uid As String, ByVal ipcon As IPConnection)¶Creates an object with the unique device ID uid
:
Dim ledStrip As New BrickletLEDStrip("YOUR_DEVICE_UID", ipcon)
This object can then be used after the IP Connection is connected.
BrickletLEDStrip.
SetRGBValues
(ByVal index As Integer, ByVal length As Byte, ByVal r() As Byte, ByVal g() As Byte, ByVal b() As Byte)¶Parameters: |
|
---|
Sets length RGB values for the LEDs starting from index.
To make the colors show correctly you need to configure the chip type
(SetChipType()
) and a 3-channel channel mapping (SetChannelMapping()
)
according to the connected LEDs.
Example: If you set
the LED with index 5 will be red, 6 will be green and 7 will be blue.
Note
Depending on the LED circuitry colors can be permuted.
The colors will be transfered to actual LEDs when the next
frame duration ends, see SetFrameDuration()
.
Generic approach:
FrameRenderedCallback
callback.FrameRenderedCallback
callback.This approach ensures that you can change the LED colors with a fixed frame rate.
The actual number of controllable LEDs depends on the number of free
Bricklet ports. See here for more
information. A call of SetRGBValues()
with index + length above the
bounds is ignored completely.
BrickletLEDStrip.
GetRGBValues
(ByVal index As Integer, ByVal length As Byte, ByRef r() As Byte, ByRef g() As Byte, ByRef b() As Byte)¶Parameters: |
|
---|---|
Output Parameters: |
|
Returns length R, G and B values starting from the given LED index.
The values are the last values that were set by SetRGBValues()
.
BrickletLEDStrip.
SetFrameDuration
(ByVal duration As Integer)¶Parameters: |
|
---|
Sets the frame duration.
Example: If you want to achieve 20 frames per second, you should set the frame duration to 50ms (50ms * 20 = 1 second).
For an explanation of the general approach see SetRGBValues()
.
BrickletLEDStrip.
GetFrameDuration
() As Integer¶Returns: |
|
---|
Returns the frame duration as set by SetFrameDuration()
.
BrickletLEDStrip.
GetSupplyVoltage
() As Integer¶Returns: |
|
---|
Returns the current supply voltage of the LEDs.
BrickletLEDStrip.
SetClockFrequency
(ByVal frequency As Long)¶Parameters: |
|
---|
Sets the frequency of the clock.
The Bricklet will choose the nearest achievable frequency, which may
be off by a few Hz. You can get the exact frequency that is used by
calling GetClockFrequency()
.
If you have problems with flickering LEDs, they may be bits flipping. You can fix this by either making the connection between the LEDs and the Bricklet shorter or by reducing the frequency.
With a decreasing frequency your maximum frames per second will decrease too.
Note
The frequency in firmware version 2.0.0 is fixed at 2MHz.
New in version 2.0.1 (Plugin).
BrickletLEDStrip.
GetClockFrequency
() As Long¶Returns: |
|
---|
Returns the currently used clock frequency as set by SetClockFrequency()
.
New in version 2.0.1 (Plugin).
BrickletLEDStrip.
SetChipType
(ByVal chip As Integer)¶Parameters: |
|
---|
Sets the type of the LED driver chip. We currently support the chips
The following constants are available for this function:
For chip:
New in version 2.0.2 (Plugin).
BrickletLEDStrip.
GetChipType
() As Integer¶Returns: |
|
---|
Returns the currently used chip type as set by SetChipType()
.
The following constants are available for this function:
For chip:
New in version 2.0.2 (Plugin).
BrickletLEDStrip.
SetRGBWValues
(ByVal index As Integer, ByVal length As Byte, ByVal r() As Byte, ByVal g() As Byte, ByVal b() As Byte, ByVal w() As Byte)¶Parameters: |
|
---|
Sets length RGBW values for the LEDs starting from index.
To make the colors show correctly you need to configure the chip type
(SetChipType()
) and a 4-channel channel mapping (SetChannelMapping()
)
according to the connected LEDs.
The maximum length is 12, the index goes from 0 to 239 and the rgbw values have 8 bits each.
Example: If you set
the LED with index 5 will be red, 6 will be green, 7 will be blue and 8 will be white.
Note
Depending on the LED circuitry colors can be permuted.
The colors will be transfered to actual LEDs when the next
frame duration ends, see SetFrameDuration()
.
Generic approach:
FrameRenderedCallback
callback.FrameRenderedCallback
callback.This approach ensures that you can change the LED colors with a fixed frame rate.
The actual number of controllable LEDs depends on the number of free
Bricklet ports. See here for more
information. A call of SetRGBWValues()
with index + length above the
bounds is ignored completely.
The LPD8806 LED driver chips have 7-bit channels for RGB. Internally the LED Strip Bricklets divides the 8-bit values set using this function by 2 to make them 7-bit. Therefore, you can just use the normal value range (0-255) for LPD8806 LEDs.
The brightness channel of the APA102 LED driver chips has 5-bit. Internally the LED Strip Bricklets divides the 8-bit values set using this function by 8 to make them 5-bit. Therefore, you can just use the normal value range (0-255) for the brightness channel of APA102 LEDs.
New in version 2.0.6 (Plugin).
BrickletLEDStrip.
GetRGBWValues
(ByVal index As Integer, ByVal length As Byte, ByRef r() As Byte, ByRef g() As Byte, ByRef b() As Byte, ByRef w() As Byte)¶Parameters: |
|
---|---|
Output Parameters: |
|
Returns length RGBW values starting from the given index.
The values are the last values that were set by SetRGBWValues()
.
New in version 2.0.6 (Plugin).
BrickletLEDStrip.
SetChannelMapping
(ByVal mapping As Byte)¶Parameters: |
|
---|
Sets the channel mapping for the connected LEDs.
SetRGBValues()
and SetRGBWValues()
take the data in RGB(W) order.
But the connected LED driver chips might have their 3 or 4 channels in a
different order. For example, the WS2801 chips typically use BGR order, the
WS2812 chips typically use GRB order and the APA102 chips typically use WBGR
order.
The APA102 chips are special. They have three 8-bit channels for RGB and an additional 5-bit channel for the overall brightness of the RGB LED making them 4-channel chips. Internally the brightness channel is the first channel, therefore one of the Wxyz channel mappings should be used. Then the W channel controls the brightness.
If a 3-channel mapping is selected then SetRGBValues()
has to be used.
Calling SetRGBWValues()
with a 3-channel mapping will produce incorrect
results. Vice-versa if a 4-channel mapping is selected then
SetRGBWValues()
has to be used. Calling SetRGBValues()
with a
4-channel mapping will produce incorrect results.
The following constants are available for this function:
For mapping:
New in version 2.0.6 (Plugin).
BrickletLEDStrip.
GetChannelMapping
() As Byte¶Returns: |
|
---|
Returns the currently used channel mapping as set by SetChannelMapping()
.
The following constants are available for this function:
For mapping:
New in version 2.0.6 (Plugin).
BrickletLEDStrip.
GetIdentity
(ByRef uid As String, ByRef connectedUid As String, ByRef position As Char, ByRef hardwareVersion() As Byte, ByRef firmwareVersion() As Byte, ByRef deviceIdentifier As Integer)¶Output Parameters: |
|
---|
Returns the UID, the UID where the Bricklet is connected to, the position, the hardware and firmware version as well as the device identifier.
The position can be 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g' or 'h' (Bricklet Port). A Bricklet connected to an Isolator Bricklet is always at position 'z'.
The device identifier numbers can be found here. There is also a constant for the device identifier of this Bricklet.
BrickletLEDStrip.
EnableFrameRenderedCallback
()¶Enables the FrameRenderedCallback
callback.
By default the callback is enabled.
New in version 2.0.6 (Plugin).
BrickletLEDStrip.
DisableFrameRenderedCallback
()¶Disables the FrameRenderedCallback
callback.
By default the callback is enabled.
New in version 2.0.6 (Plugin).
BrickletLEDStrip.
IsFrameRenderedCallbackEnabled
() As Boolean¶Returns: |
|
---|
Returns true if the FrameRenderedCallback
callback is enabled, false otherwise.
New in version 2.0.6 (Plugin).
Callbacks can be registered to receive time critical or recurring data from the device. The registration is done by assigning a procedure to an callback property of the device object:
Sub MyCallback(ByVal sender As BrickletLEDStrip, ByVal value As Short) Console.WriteLine("Value: {0}", value) End Sub AddHandler ledStrip.ExampleCallback, AddressOf MyCallback
The available callback property and their type of parameters are described below.
Note
Using callbacks for recurring events is always preferred compared to using getters. It will use less USB bandwidth and the latency will be a lot better, since there is no round trip time.
BrickletLEDStrip.
FrameRenderedCallback
(ByVal sender As BrickletLEDStrip, ByVal length As Integer)¶Callback Parameters: |
|
---|
This callback is triggered directly after a new frame is rendered. The parameter is the number of RGB or RGBW LEDs in that frame.
You should send the data for the next frame directly after this callback was triggered.
For an explanation of the general approach see SetRGBValues()
.
Virtual functions don't communicate with the device itself, but operate only on the API bindings device object. They can be called without the corresponding IP Connection object being connected.
BrickletLEDStrip.
GetAPIVersion
() As Byte()¶Output Parameters: |
|
---|
Returns the version of the API definition implemented by this API bindings. This is neither the release version of this API bindings nor does it tell you anything about the represented Brick or Bricklet.
BrickletLEDStrip.
GetResponseExpected
(ByVal functionId As Byte) As Boolean¶Parameters: |
|
---|---|
Returns: |
|
Returns the response expected flag for the function specified by the function ID parameter. It is true if the function is expected to send a response, false otherwise.
For getter functions this is enabled by default and cannot be disabled,
because those functions will always send a response. For callback configuration
functions it is enabled by default too, but can be disabled by
SetResponseExpected()
. For setter functions it is disabled by default
and can be enabled.
Enabling the response expected flag for a setter function allows to detect timeouts and other error conditions calls of this setter as well. The device will then send a response for this purpose. If this flag is disabled for a setter function then no response is sent and errors are silently ignored, because they cannot be detected.
The following constants are available for this function:
For functionId:
BrickletLEDStrip.
SetResponseExpected
(ByVal functionId As Byte, ByVal responseExpected As Boolean)¶Parameters: |
|
---|
Changes the response expected flag of the function specified by the function ID parameter. This flag can only be changed for setter (default value: false) and callback configuration functions (default value: true). For getter functions it is always enabled.
Enabling the response expected flag for a setter function allows to detect timeouts and other error conditions calls of this setter as well. The device will then send a response for this purpose. If this flag is disabled for a setter function then no response is sent and errors are silently ignored, because they cannot be detected.
The following constants are available for this function:
For functionId:
BrickletLEDStrip.
SetResponseExpectedAll
(ByVal responseExpected As Boolean)¶Parameters: |
|
---|
Changes the response expected flag for all setter and callback configuration functions of this device at once.
BrickletLEDStrip.
DEVICE_IDENTIFIER
¶This constant is used to identify a LED Strip Bricklet.
The GetIdentity()
function and the
IPConnection.EnumerateCallback
callback of the IP Connection have a deviceIdentifier
parameter to specify
the Brick's or Bricklet's type.
BrickletLEDStrip.
DEVICE_DISPLAY_NAME
¶This constant represents the human readable name of a LED Strip Bricklet.