rpi_ws281x

Tip for author: you can drastically reduce hardware & software complexity of this project by removing the Arduino and use this library which allows controlling WS281x strips directly from your Raspberry Pi: https://github.com/jgarff/rpi_ws281x I use it myself on a Pi 4 to control a WS2815 strip of 466 pixels on the fascia of my house, for holiday decorations.

Connect the led strip data pin to an available Io pin on the pi, connect the strips and to pi gnd pin and to a 5V power supply gnd pin, and connect the strips + to the 5V power supply. Then use a library on the pi, for example this: https://github.com/jgarff/rpi_ws281x

This looks a very interesting project! One thing I couldn't tell though, could you 'stream' LED pixel values over wifi instead of generating them on the hardware? Using the ws2812b Lights and the: https://github.com/jgarff/rpi_ws281x library, I made my LEDs pulse out an ID, which I read with a webcam, then used it to make a simple webapp, to 'paint' my Christmas tree's lights. https://www.anfractuosity.com/projects/painting-a-christmas-... This year I'm planning on buying some APA102 lights though, and taking it outdoors :) (So i'm looking at the IP68 versions). Ideally I want to create a 3D map of the LEDs this year, but I need to do a lot of reading on that!