Chapter 11: WS2812 Programmable LED Strip Connection and Configuration

Connect the WS2812 LED strip using three wires: GND, 4~7V, and IN. Terminate them in a 2.54 mm 3-pin Dupont connector and plug it directly into a PWM servo output. Eight illuminated LEDs consume approximately 100mw, which places a relatively small load on the flight controller’s 5V servo supply.

The following example uses PWM6 on the flight controller as the WS2812 LED strip interface.

Set the following parameters in All Parameters:

SERVO6_FUNCTION 120 (default 0; SERVO X corresponds to the PWM output number)

NTF_LED_LEN 8 (8 is the number of LEDs in the connected strip. The theoretical maximum is 32; the practical maximum has not been fully tested.)

NTF_LED_TYPE 455

NTF_LED_OVERRIDE 0

0 (flight controller armed: solid blue; flight controller disarmed: flashing blue)

2 (flight controller armed: solid red; flight controller disarmed: solid green)

3 (flight controller armed: flashing red; flight controller disarmed: flashing yellow)

Testing confirms that two WS2812 strips can be connected in series, but a third strip does not operate. The test used straight WS2812 strips with eight LEDs each. For two eight-LED strips in series, set NTF_LED_LEN 16.

Multiple PWM outputs can be used as LED strip interfaces simultaneously. Three WS2812 strips with eight LEDs each were tested on PWM 6, 7, and 8, corresponding to SERVO6, SERVO7, and SERVO8. Set each corresponding FUNCTION to 120; all three strips operate normally.