HOW-TO: DIY "Phantom" Side Indicator.

IAmOrion

Senior member
 Cambridge, UK
As promised, here is a small how-to on the 'Phantom' Side Indicator clone I made.

Let's start with the BOM (Bill Of Materials):

WS2812 5050 LED Strip 60 leds/m 0.5m - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272910838998 --> £4.49 (This is enough to complete both lenses, I used 14 per side)
Arduino Nano x 2 - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262677405087 --> £6.00
3 Pin JST x 2 (You can buy 4 pack for the same price of 2 individuals) - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152282668196 --> £2.99
Some wire (I have loads kicking around so didn't buy any... you don't need much)

Total Cost: £13.48

Software:

'Arduino IDE' (Free) --> https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software

I did also 3D Print myself 2 parts to help, but these aren't 'required', as I'm sure many could fashion their own holder of sorts and solder directly to the bulb socket if they wanted. Or I could provide the parts for a small material cost.

Wiring:

IMG_0276.jpg

In the picture above, VIN and GND goto the 3D Printed W5W/T10 male plug to fit into the socket

IMG_0263.jpg
IMG_0264.jpg
IMG_0265.jpg

5V goes to the positive of the LED strip, GND to the negative, and D3 (Digital Pin 3) goes to DIN or DI (Digital In) of the LED Strip. All connections to the LED Strip are via the 3 Pin JST connection. On my JST connectors, I used the RED wire as the 5v Positive, the WHITE wire as the GND and the GREEN middle pin as the DI/DIN pin.

How-To

First thing you need is a flat headed screwdriver or a metal spudger. I used this tool:

IMG_0273.jpg

I then started at the locating tab and worked my way around the lens. Inset the edge of the spudger into the edge of the lens and you can lever the lens up. You will hear it crack and creak as you work your way around the lens

IMG_0274.jpg

With minimal effort going all round the lens, the lens cover will separate and come off

IMG_0275.jpg

Next, I took my 3D Printed part and wrapped the LEDs around like so

IMG_0260.jpg

I then placed into the Lens...

IMG_0261.jpg

I then proceeded to program the Arduino, and placed it also into the lens in the middle of the 3D Printed part

IMG_0262.jpg

Next thing was to connect a 12v source and make sure the lens animated as intended.
NOTE: It is important to check your polarity especially when connecting to the car indicator plug. If you connect the +ve and -ve the wrong way round you're likely to destroy the ardunio

[youtube]Uq2_nLSnWyc[/youtube]

Once happy, you can now glue the lens back together and fit :)

Additional Information

A few things to note. Depending on the brand / quality of the LED strip, when they first power up they *may* flash white. One may flash or the whole strip will, it's hard to know for sure the behaviour. This is "normal" as for a split second, the Addressable LEDs do not know their state (eg, on or off) and will default to one or the other at random.

The Arduino has a bootloader in order to make it easier to write your programs to the board. This means there is roughly a 1 second delay. To overcome this you would need to build an Arduino ISP and upload the sketch via the ISP Programmer. What that does, is it over writes the bootloader (effectively removing it) and makes the code start instantly. This of course would incur an additional cost of about £7 plus the skills to build the ISP circuit. (For more information, see here: http://glumb.de/en/arduino-as-isp-to-change-the-bootloader - includes diagram to build your own)

On that note... should anyone wish, I'm more than happy to offer an exchange service as such... you send me an arduino nano, I'll send it back flashed without the code, without a bootloader.

Files

3D Printed Lens Mount: http://download.myz4.co.uk/download/961542d568e87cf12d25a051c44d1fcc.html
3D Printed W5W/T10 Male Socket: http://download.myz4.co.uk/download/a2ffddeebb62ff09b836271e1730e783.html
Arduino Code: http://download.myz4.co.uk/download/3eb67d331c4454fa5ce9b3a70b4df9d8.html

Any questions get in touch. 8)

** Download Links updated 14th April 2019 **
 
IAmOrion said:
Ducklakeview said:
Cracking write up! I may just attempt this when I get a min..

Mike

Thanks :)

If you get stuck or need any help / info just give me a shout

Did you use the 30 or 60 LEDS/M? I'm guessing 30? Waterproof or not?

Can they be sourced in orange for those of us that have clear side indicators?

Mike

EDIT - Ignore, I presume the colour refers to the backing strip, as the LED colour is controlled by the Arduino..
 
Ducklakeview said:
Did you use the 30 or 60 LEDS/M? I'm guessing 30? Waterproof or not?

Can they be sourced in orange for those of us that have clear side indicators?

Mike

EDIT - Ignore, I presume the colour refers to the backing strip, as the LED colour is controlled by the Arduino..

60 leds/m non waterproof - simply because when the unit is resealed it should be waterproof anyways.

Colour is background and a matter of preference really. I’m awaiting some white pla so I can print the lens part in white and try with white background leds as I think it’ll look better

Correct, led colour is controlled by the arduino :)
 
Ducklakeview said:
Can they be sourced in orange for those of us that have clear side indicators?

I've got a set of white backed and black backed orange LED strip to try. I'm just going for on and off replication, nothing fancy.
 
Scooba_Steve said:
I've got a set of white backed and black backed orange LED strip to try. I'm just going for on and off replication, nothing fancy.

That would be super easy! The only reason for the arduino is to give the animation to the led strip
 
Nice one! How much to 3d print me the bits you used as I don't have access to a 3d printer and they look great?
 
thecremeegg said:
Nice one! How much to 3d print me the bits you used as I don't have access to a 3d printer and they look great?

They’re printed with low infill so I’d say £10 including postage
 
Don't want to be a killjoy, because I love what you have done and Audi indicators are my favourite. but what is the legal/MOT/Insurance implications.
 
Magicarcher said:
Don't want to be a killjoy, because I love what you have done and Audi indicators are my favourite. but what is the legal/MOT/Insurance implications.

As long as it flashes at the correct rate it should pass.

I’ll have to ask my mate who runs his own garage when I next see him and I’ll get confirmation (he’s a licensed MOT tester)
 
How do the LED strips work? For example how do you terminate them, particularly when the strip has been cut. Do you just solder wires to them?
 
Magicarcher said:
How do the LED strips work? For example how do you terminate them, particularly when the strip has been cut. Do you just solder wires to them?

Do you mean how would you use the "second half", eg the section cut off. Yes you just solder wires to the +5, DI, GND pads. If you look at the LED strips you'll notice they are designed to be cut to wha ever length you want, with cut points after each LED.
 
IAmOrion said:
NOTE: It is important to check your polarity especially when connecting to the car indicator plug. If you connect the +ve and -ve the wrong way round you're likely to destroy the ardunio

A thought, it is very easy to get the surrogate bulb the wrong way round in the holder. Why not solder an inline diode in the supply to the arduino, that way if connected wrong way round accidentally no damage.
 
Magicarcher said:
A thought, it is very easy to get the surrogate bulb the wrong way round in the holder. Why not solder an inline diode in the supply to the arduino, that way if connected wrong way round accidentally no damage.

A simple Zener diode should suffice yes, I just didn't have any at the time of putting this together so thought I should make that point very clear :)
 
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