Show HN: LuxBase – Open-Source Smart Lighting Control System (opens in new tab)

You can also use the pins of a RaspberryPi as a PWN output and do the same thing with only 3 inexpensive power transistors: http://mitchtech.net/raspberry-pi-pwm-rgb-led-strip/

Instead of servoblaster I recommend you to use PiBlaster: https://github.com/sarfata/pi-blaster

I picked up a http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017CKVG7G a couple of months ago - it's pretty terrible in terms of build quality and range, but it's a simple Bluetooth LE protocol for full RGB control of the lights, and you can run multiple sets off a single machine with a bluetooth 4.0 controller. Rather than using a custom protocol I bridged it to something that emulates enough of a Hue hub for the Amazon Echo to let me control it. I don't know how the economics compare, but there's plenty of avenues to explore here.

rather than using addressable LED strips I've been using some RGBW LED Par Cans over DMX.

I use a raspberry pi running openlighting to act as bridge between artnet, osc and a few other protocols and control it over the network.

openlighting: https://www.openlighting.org/

I also made this. https://medium.com/@christophe.smet1/flux-irl-building-a-hue...

But a bit more, custom pcb and just an app. Keeping it simple. Cool to see other people's projects

If anyone is looking for an out-of-the-box solution to get started writing Lighting control applications, you can pick up a MagicShifter right now for a good price and get cracking:

http://magicshifter.net/

Open Source, full repo for the onboard MS3KOS here:

http://github.com/magicshifter/

The MagicShifter is an open source Light Synthesizer with 16 RGB LED's, fully controllable over Wifi, with cool features such as an onboard web application for designing your own POV images, MIDI control (great for musicians who want their own custom light-show in sync with the drum machine), and a few other cool things: magnetometer, accelerometers, etc.

We have a lot more planned for this synth, so if you're interested in the subject - consider joining us!

The ESP8266 is an even smarter solution as it has Wifi built in. Control your lights directly from your phone!

Kudos for sharing. Btw I read your blog post on the project and really enjoyed it; you write well!