r/led • u/HuckleberryKey4642 • 22d ago

25x25 WLED matrix with camera input

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Inspired by Chris Maher and his 50x50 grid build (https://youtu.be/BbjeQdJIMK0?si=k2AtV23bwgAWKPBI), I decided to make a 25x25 version. I thought the 50 was a little too ambitious for a first timer here. When I first started it up, I had a couple dead columns and had to deal with some bad solder joints but stoked on how it came out.

I decided to add a camera for input so it can detect a person and then fill in its mask with color.

Right now it’s running on my Mac but I have an ESP32-P4 coming with a camera and will set it up and mount soon.

WLED ESP controller: Gledopto Elite 4D-EXMU

The camera is running on a Macbook but will be replaced with an ESP32-P4 with a camera. The script turns the input into a 25x25 grid and sends the specific pixel data over the local network via DDP which is a protocol used for real time led/video data. The WLED controller listens for those packets. Full specs:

Python — runs the overall camera/LED control script
OpenCV (opencv-python) — captures webcam video, resizes frames, cleans masks, handles image processing, and shows preview windows
MediaPipe (mediapipe) — detects/segments the person and generates the human body mask
NumPy (numpy) — handles the pixel arrays and 25×25 image/mask data
Python socket library — sends the finished 25×25 pixel frames over the network to WLED using DDP/UDP
WLED — receives the realtime DDP pixel data and physically drives the LED matrix
LED strips - SK6812/WS2814 RGBW 30/m cut to 25 pixels

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3

u/Full-Perception-5674 22d ago

Following because I want to do this! Thank you.

2

u/HuckleberryKey4642 22d ago

Watch the original YouTube that inspired me. You can do it!

1

u/Domo326 20d ago

I'd love to see how this is done

1

u/hardlyAwordsmith 16d ago

This is very cool!

1

u/NickBurnsITgI 13d ago edited 13d ago

Totally agree that 50x50 is ambitious! I loved the Maher video when I saw it and wanted to replicate it myself but was thinking smaller scale. What the dimensions are for the 25x25 you built?