ULN2003 LED Strip Controller

Hi community! Today's project is gonna be about the ULN2003! This IC is gonna control a LED Strip with Arduino! So let's not waste any time and dive in!

Hi Community!

LED Strips are very popular nowadays, almost every teenager or gamer has one of those! And we can "hack" them with an arduino!, maybe you lost the controller that comes with the package and don't know how to change easily the colors, or you want to code a pattern of colors width arduino, you can do almost everything with arduino and the ULN2003 IC. The ULN2003APG/AFWG Series are high −voltage, high−current darlington drivers comprised of seven NPN darlington pairs. All units feature integral clamp diodes for switching inductive loads.

Materials

  1. • LED1: Green LED
  2. • LED2: Red LED
  3. • LED3: Blue LED
  4. • SW1: Red Switch
  5. • SW2: Blue Switch
  6. • SW3: Green Switch
  7. • IC1: ULN2003APG
  8. • LED Strip
  9. • 12V Power Supply

IC Datasheet Information

  1. • Output current (single output): 500 mA max
  2. • High sustaining voltage output: 50 V min
  3. • Output clamp diodes
  4. • Inputs compatible with various types of logic
  5. • Package Type-APG: DIP-16pin
  6. • Package Type-AFWG: SOL-16pin
Datasheet of ULN2003 from Toshiba

IC Datasheet Pinout

  1. Pin 1-7: Inputs
  2. Pin 8: Ground
  3. Pin 9: Common or V+
  4. Pin 10-16: Outputs
Pinout of ULN2003 from Toshiba

Applications of the IC

The IC ULN2003 is the most essential integrated circuit in the lighting area, and it's found in the applications below.

  1. • Relay
  2. • Hammer
  3. • Lamp
  4. • LED Displays

Schematic of the LED Strip Controller

Project photos

The code of this project is on the next page, make sure to check it out and test it!