ShiftBrite V2.0

The ShiftBrite V2.0 is an RGB LED module with a built-in driver featuring 10-bit digital brightness control on each color channel (over one billion colors). Multiple modules can easily be chained together and controlled from a single microcontroller to create large LED displays. This version has several improvements over the original ShiftBrite, including mounting holes and better power handling. This configuration comes with male header pins soldered in.

ShiftBrites are modules by macetech that integrate the Allegro A6281 3-channel constant current LED driver with a large, high-brightness RGB LED. Using just three digital output pins and a simple protocol, your microcontroller can control a long chain of these modules. Each ShiftBrite in the chain can be independently changed to any of the 1,073,741,824 possible colors to create dynamic displays and decorations. Adjustable current for each color channel lets you correct for slight differences in brightness. In addition, the LED driver is protected from overheating by automatic over-temperature shutdown.

Several ShiftBrite applications are shown below, including an example setup using a Micro Maestro as a ShiftBrite controller. In the Micro Maestro example, digital outputs 0, 1 and 2 are used to send the control signals to the clock, latch, and data lines, the enable line is connected directly to GND, and 6 V power to the Maestro is delivered from the ShiftBrite chain. Maestro source code to control a ShiftBrite is available in the Example Scripts section of the Maestro User’s Guide. Our Orangutan robot controllers can also be used to control ShiftBrites, as can the Arduino. Source code for the Orangutan is available at the bottom of this page.

Dimensions

General specifications