Alia 4 - Beta Alia eVTOL LED Animation Controller

LED animation controller for a scale model of the Beta Alia eVTOL aircraft. Features realistic flight simulation with dynamic prop and tail animations.

Key Documents

Document	Description	QR Code
GitHub Repo (https://github.com/johncohn/alia_blinky)	Top-level repository — browse, download, or fork
TUTORIAL.md (https://github.com/johncohn/alia_blinky/blob/main/TUTORIAL.md)	Complete setup and customization guide
SOLDER.md (https://github.com/johncohn/alia_blinky/blob/main/SOLDER.md)	Photo guide: soldering & gluing the PCB

Version: 1.2.0 Build: 16 Hardware: Supports multiple boards (auto-detected) + 41 WS2812B LEDs

• Seeed XIAO RP2040
• Adafruit QT Py RP2040
• Seeed XIAO ESP32-S3
• Adafruit QT Py ESP32-S3 (no PSRAM)

Features

Auto-cycles through 5 animation patterns:

1. FLIGHT (~36s) - Realistic eVTOL flight simulation with 5 phases
   • Lift, transition in, conventional flight, transition out, landing
   • Non-linear prop acceleration/deceleration
   • Counter-rotating props, variable tail speed
2. SLOW RAINBOW (10s) - Full rainbow color cycle
3. FAST WHITE (10s) - Running white lights with sine wave
4. RAINBOW PROPS (10s) - Theater chase rainbow effect
5. CUSTOM (10s) - Your editable pattern slot (see Customization below)

Quick Start

Requirements

• Arduino IDE 2.x
• One of the supported boards (see Hardware section below)
• Adafruit NeoPixel library

Setup (Arduino IDE)

1. Get the code

   • Open alia_blinky.ino → right-click → Save As → save it as alia_blinky.ino
   • (Want the PCB design files or soldering photos too? Grab the full repo instead — see Documentation below.)

2. Install Board Support

   For RP2040 boards:

   • Tools → Board → Boards Manager
   • Search "rp2040"
   • Install "Raspberry Pi Pico/RP2040" (v5.4.3+)
   • Select your board:
     • Tools → Board → Seeed XIAO RP2040, or
     • Tools → Board → Adafruit QT Py RP2040

   For ESP32-S3 boards:

   • Tools → Board → Boards Manager
   • Search "esp32"
   • Install "esp32 by Espressif Systems" (v3.3.3+)
   • Select your board:
     • Tools → Board → esp32 → XIAO_ESP32S3, or
     • Tools → Board → esp32 → Adafruit QT Py ESP32-S3 no psram

3. Install Library

   • Tools → Manage Libraries
   • Search "Adafruit NeoPixel"
   • Install (v1.15.2+)

4. Upload

   • Open the alia_blinky.ino you saved in step 1
   • Select your board (step 2) and port
   • Click Upload (→)

Hardware

LED Layout (41 WS2812B LEDs)

• Prop 1-4: 9 LEDs each (0-8, 9-17, 18-26, 27-35)
• Tail: 5 LEDs (36-40)

Pin Assignments

The code automatically detects your board and uses the correct GPIO pins. All boards use the same physical pin positions (TX, RX, SCK, MISO):

Board	Starboard (TX)	Port (RX)	Nose (SCK)	WS2812B (MISO)
Seeed XIAO RP2040	GPIO 0	GPIO 1	GPIO 2	GPIO 4
Adafruit QT Py RP2040	GPIO 20	GPIO 5	GPIO 6	GPIO 4
Seeed XIAO ESP32-S3	GPIO 43	GPIO 44	GPIO 8	GPIO 7
Adafruit QT Py ESP32-S3	GPIO 5	GPIO 16	GPIO 36	GPIO 37

Physical Connections:

• TX pin → Starboard navigation light (green)
• RX pin → Port navigation light (red)
• SCK pin → Nose navigation light (white)
• MISO pin → WS2812B data line

PCB Design Files

alia_blinky_kicad.zip contains complete KiCad project files for a custom PCB. The same PCB works with all supported boards - just swap the microcontroller!

Customization

Add Your Own Pattern

The easiest option: the auto-cycle already includes an editable CUSTOM slot, customPattern() (~line 1073) — just replace its body with one of TUTORIAL.md's sample patterns and re-upload. No other changes needed.

See TUTORIAL.md for that walkthrough, several ready-to-paste samples, and how to add a whole additional pattern (which does require 4 edits):

1. Write pattern function in CUSTOM PATTERNS section (~line 1062)
2. Update NUM_PATTERNS constant (line 78)
3. Add case to switch statement (line 1194)
4. Add name to subModeNames array (line 1179)

Adjust Settings

Brightness (line 83):

#define brightness 50  // 0-255 (lower for USB-A power)

Pattern Duration (line 134):

const int AUTO_CYCLE_DURATION = 10000;  // milliseconds

Power Considerations

• USB-C: 2-3A (recommended)
• USB-A: 500mA (reduce brightness to 25)
• External 5V: 2A+ (best)

Pattern power draw:

• FLIGHT: 0.5-1.0A (sparse LEDs)
• RAINBOW: 2.0-2.5A (all LEDs)

Troubleshooting

LEDs brownout on USB-A power:

• Reduce brightness to 25
• Use USB-C or external 5V supply
• ESP32-S3 draws more power than RP2040 - use high-power USB port

Compilation errors:

• For RP2040: Ensure arduino-pico core v5.4.3+
• For ESP32: Ensure esp32 core v3.3.3+
• Verify Adafruit NeoPixel library installed
• Check you selected the correct board in Tools → Board

LEDs not working:

• Check serial monitor (115200 baud) - should show detected board type
• Verify correct board selected in Arduino IDE
• Check WS2812B connection (MISO pin - see Pin Assignments table)
• Verify 41 LEDs total
• ESP32-S3: Ensure "no psram" variant selected for QT Py

Wrong board detected:

• Serial monitor shows detected board on startup
• Ensure correct board selected in Tools → Board menu
• Code auto-detects based on compiler flags

Documentation

• TUTORIAL.md - Complete step-by-step guide
• SOLDER.md - Photo guide for soldering the microcontroller and gluing the diffuser covers
• LICENSE - MIT License
• In-code comments - Extensive documentation throughout

Credits

Created by: John Cohn, PhD Original Date: December 2024 Updated: January 2025 (Multi-board support added) Contact: jcohn@beta.team | johncohnvt@gmail.com

Developed with major assistance from Anthropic Claude.

Please reach out if you have comments, questions, or suggestions!

License

MIT License - Copyright (c) 2024 John Cohn

See LICENSE file for full text.