TI Announces Remote-Controlled RGB LED Design Kit

Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) has announced a wireless remote control RGB light emitting diode (LED) design kit. The TPS62260LED – plus TI’s eZ430-RF2500 development tool – is said to complete a fully supported platform to design new color lighting innovations for consumer, commercial, professional and architectural applications.

The TPS62260LED board controls the color and brightness of a lamp or runs an automatic color light animation program. Designers generate color with the three OSRAM high-brightness LEDs (red, green and blue). An MSP430F2131 ultra-low power microcontroller controls the brightness of each LED with constant current generated by three TPS62260 LED drivers, one for each LED.

The design module is also pin compatible with TI’s TPS62240 buck converters for lower-current LED applications, such as indoor ambient lighting, and the TPS62290 for higher-current LED applications, such as wall washing.

Designers can utilize wireless communication by using the eZ430-RF2500 development tool, which plugs directly onto the TPS62260LED board. This allows designers to create a lighting network of RF-controlled lamps. With a RF remote, the need for additional infrastructure to control the lamp is eliminated. Utilization of RF lighting control allows for better management of LED lamp-lighting intensity and color. RF remote-controlled lighting is beneficial in applications like building automation control networks because it allows for upgrading facilities to LED lighting with minimal wiring infrastructure changes.

The TPS62260LED board is available today at a suggested resale price of $19 and includes a populated and pre-programmed MSP430 microcontroller, plus board documentation. Additionally, the eZ430-RF2500 development tool can be ordered for $49. If a designer prefers to reprogram the MSP430, a separate MSP430 Flash Emulation Tool can be ordered, such as the MSP-FET430UIF Development Tool, which has a suggested resale price of $99.