Will 08M2 Run WS2812B LED/RGBWW

Bill z

Member
Being new, I used the search and was able to find several post where Arduino and 40X2 but no mention of the 08M2.

This will be my first attempt with Picaxe chips doing this but using a Raspberry Pi, I was able to drive a 120 LEDs from one pin by sending a string out the TRX pin. The 08M2 has the C.5 that is suppose to do the same, best that I recall.

Before I frustrate myself, can the 08M2 run a string of WS2812B?

What I mean by running is; have the LEDs look like they are chasing or bouncing back and forth as well as randomly changing colors. This will mostly be used to catch attention, similar to marque lights.

Here is a link to a pretty good discussion for a 40X2. If a 08M2 will work, I'll start the conversion.

' https://picaxeforum.co.uk/threads/led-light-brightness-regulator.32055/#post-333427 '
 

premelec

Senior Member
On the plus side you can run APA102 strings with PICAXE q.v. [also they have higher strobe/flicker rate]
 

Bill z

Member
So, trying to run LED Pixels with a 08M2 is a 'NO'? Please help me to understand why? Going forward, I would like to understand the limitations. I have just been introduced to Picax recently and I'm self taught.
 

jscottb

Active member
The timing of the control signals to the WS2811 is quite small and on lower-end microcontrollers like the 8M2 is built on would require driving it from the machine level, i.e. Assembly language (machine code) I do not think the Picaxe basic has a way to call ASM or load it. I could be mistaken on that part as I am very new to the PCX world myself.
 

Buzby

Senior Member
So, trying to run LED Pixels with a 08M2 is a 'NO'? Please help me to understand why?
Hi Bill,

The WS28xx LEDs use a communication method which is too fast for a PICAXE to generate easily.

The APA102 LEDs use a slower method, and any PICAXE can drive these OK.

PE6 has a few examples to get you started. ( They are for 40X2, but most will work on smaller chips. )

24007

See the 'readme.txt' file in the APA102 examples folder for lots of useful info.

Cheers,

Buzby
 
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inglewoodpete

Senior Member
So, trying to run LED Pixels with a 08M2 is a 'NO'? Please help me to understand why? Going forward, I would like to understand the limitations. I have just been introduced to Picax recently and I'm self taught.
Sure, it is straightforward to drive addressable LED strings with a PICAXE provided they use 4-wire interconnection (SPI protocol - synchronous serial). The APA102 meets this requirement.

As mentioned by others, PICAXE chips cannot drive data into WS2811 LEDs fast enough: these are a 3-wire device that requires a consistent 800 kBits/S asynchronous data signal. 0s and 1s are represented in the width of the data pulse. The 0s and 1s vary by less than 1uS.
 

Bill z

Member
OK. I have an Arduino that was given to me that I'll try something on.

Thanks for all of your input and encouragement.
 
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