will it WLED - Episode 2

Quick Overview

The video successfully converts two separate Govee Gaming Light Bars Pro into a single, synchronized, addressable LED output using a Gledopto ESP32 WLED Digital LED Controller, allowing independent control over the 48 total LEDs (24 per bar) for advanced lighting effects.

Key Points: The project involves modifying the Govee Gaming Light Bars Pro to work with a Gledopto ESP32 WLED Digital LED Controller, which supports up to 800 LEDs. The two light bars were physically separated by cutting the connection cable at the split point, resulting in two independent units, each with 24 individually addressable LEDs. The controller's data pins (GPIO16 for data, GPIO02 for ground) are connected to the modified light bar wires (Red for voltage, Yellow for data, Bare for ground, replacing the original configuration). In the WLED app setup, the total LED count was set to 48 (24 for Segment 0, 24 for Segment 1), and the 'Make a segment for each output' box was checked to control the bars independently. The demonstration shows that color effects and animations selected in the WLED app can be applied to each light bar separately, proving the successful segmentation. The final result showcases the setup creating immersive, customizable lighting environments, such as mirroring screen ambiance or running complex color schemes across both units.

Context: This video serves as a technical tutorial demonstrating how to integrate the Govee Gaming Light Bars Pro, which are typically used as a pair, with the highly customizable WLED firmware running on a Gledopto ESP32 controller. The goal is to bypass the original Govee software limitations and gain granular, independent control over the individually addressable LEDs within each light bar for more advanced, synchronized, or independent lighting effects.

Detailed Analysis

The creator details the process of converting the Govee Gaming Light Bars Pro into WLED-compatible devices. First, the cable connecting the two light bars is cut to create two separate, independent units (0:09-1:06). The wires are then stripped to reveal three conductors: Red (Voltage), Yellow (Data), and Bare (Ground) (1:11-1:15). This cut cable is then wired into the Gledopto ESP32 WLED Digital LED Controller (1:43-2:11). Specifically, the Red wire connects to the VCC input, the Yellow wire connects to GPIO16 (Data Out), and the Bare wire connects to GND (Ground) on the controller (1:57-2:11). The second light bar is wired similarly to the GPIO02 output slot (2:06-2:11). After connecting to the WLED Access Point network, the setup moves to the WLED app (2:41). In the 'LED & Hardware setup' section (3:15), the total LEDs are set to 48 (24 per segment), the LED type is set to WS2812, and 'Make a segment for each output' is checked (3:36-3:38). Segment 0 is configured for 24 LEDs on GPIO16, and Segment 1 is configured for 24 LEDs on GPIO02 (3:22-3:45). After saving, the creator demonstrates that the lights can be controlled independently using the 'Segments' tab, allowing different effects or colors on each bar, such as one blue and one red, showcasing the full potential of the WLED conversion (3:55-4:15, 5:57-6:11).