Controlling multiple ledborgs with one pi

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Cant it be done?

piborg's picture

It is possible to connect multiple LedBorgs to a single Raspberry Pi, but it requires some wiring.
You could either solder wires onto the LedBorgs or use some kind of breakout board to do this.

See here for pin locations:
http://pi.gadgetoid.com/pinout/ledborg

On all of the LedBorgs you need the following pins connected to the Raspberry Pi:
  • 5V - pin 2
  • GND - pin 6
Each LedBorg has three signal pins for red, green, and blue:
  • Red - pin 11
  • Green - pin 13
  • Blue - pin 15
To control each LedBorg separately each signal pin for each LedBorg needs to be connected to a different pin.

For example we could add some wires to connect two LedBorgs like so:
Job LedBorg pin Raspberry Pi pin for LedBorg #1 Raspberry Pi pin for LedBorg #2
5V pin 2 pin 2 pin 2
GND pin 6 pin 6 pin 6
Red signal pin 11 pin 11, WiringPi 0 pin 8, WiringPi 15
Green signal pin 13 pin 13, WiringPi 2 pin 10, WiringPi 16
Blue signal pin 15 pin 15, WiringPi 3 pin 18, WiringPi 1

If you are using WiringPi or Pi4J you can then use the WiringPi numbers to control each LedBorg:
  • LedBorg #1
    • Red - 0
    • Green - 2
    • Blue - 3
  • LedBorg #2
    • Red - 15
    • Green - 16
    • Blue - 1

thanks for the last response. I was looking at b+ header breakout and i cant really tell which gpio i can use. What is the maximum number of ledborgs that can be controlled by one pi?

piborg's picture

Assuming you are not using any GPIO pins for anything else...

We have a total of 26 usable pins, they are labelled GPIO # in this diagram:
http://pi.gadgetoid.com/pinout
Each LedBorg needs 3 pins: one for red, one for green, and one for blue.

This means we can have 8 LedBorgs and 2 spare GPIO pins.
All 8 need to be connected to the 5V and GND pins.

You say "It is possible to connect multiple LedBorgs to a single Raspberry Pi, but it requires some wiring."
I think it should be useful to view wiring details/instructions on this page to avoid dangerous errors.
In particular, I do not understand if I have to create (on LedBorg circuit) some wired connections between the standard pins (11, 13, 15) and the new pins (8, 10, 18) , or if I have to disconnect/desolder the standard pins and connect the new ones instead.

piborg's picture

To be clear the question was asked if controlling multiple LedBorgs attached to a single Raspberry Pi is possible.

The simple answer is that it can be done, but it does require altering the connections between the Raspberry Pi and the LedBorgs to make it work.

We do not recommend you do this unless you are confident you know what to do, and that you accept there is a risk of causing problems if a mistake is made.

When connecting multiple LedBorgs, one of them can be connected normally, using the standard pins (11, 13, 15).
The other LedBorgs need to be connected to different pins to be controllable.
The other LedBorgs should not be connected to the standard pins as well.

All of the LedBorgs need to have pins 2 and 6 connected to get power.
All of the LedBorgs should be connected at their end on pins 11, 13, and 15.

You should not connect two different GPIO pins together, they are not designed to work that way and you may damage the Raspberry Pi trying to do so.

There is an example wiring digram attached, the pin numbers are based on the previous table.

Images: 

Thank you for details (it's all very clear).
Now i'll try to realise a compact wired circuit (on prepunched PCB) with place for two LedBorgs (with different connections as above shown).
If i'll be able (and everything works fine), i'll post a photo.

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