The easiest way to create background lighting in the living room, illuminate the head of the bed in the bedroom or a visible area in the kitchen is to use LED strip. To configure such backlighting, turn it on and off by voice, and set automation settings, you need a special driver.
Recently Aqara showed several new devices for our market. One of the new products became a diode strip driver LED strip driver. We have already tested the device, figured out various ways to connect and control the tape through this device.
Characteristics of Aqara LED strip driver
Here are the main driver parameters:
► connection to the hub – Zigbee 3.0;
► input from power supply – 12/24 V;
► output to LED strip – 12/24 V;
► maximum load on two channels – up to 12 A, on one channel – up to 6 A;
► type of connected tape – CCP WW+CW (2 channels) or RGBW (1 channel);
► dimensions – 74.5 x 33 x 19 mm.
The driver connects to the power supply of a regular diode strip and makes it smart. You can connect multi-color RGB strips or strips with adjustable glow temperatures to the device. The connection diagram is different.
By default, the driver operates in RGB mode; you can change the mode in the application.
How to connect the Aqara LED strip driver
To connect the driver to a smart home, you need a suitable hub. This could be one of the devices:
◉ Akara Hub M2 (our test of this hub);
◉ Akara Hub M1S Gen 2 (here are the features of the first edition of the hub);
◉ USB hub Aqara Hub E1;
◉ Camera Aqara Camera Hub G3 (here is our detailed review of the gadget);
◉ Camera Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro (test of the first version of this camera).
Manufacturer hubs with protocol support are also suitable. Zigby. But remember that when connecting smart devices through external hubs, some features and settings may be missing.
To connect the tape driver, do the following:
1. First, connect the tape to the driver according to the scheme chosen above. It differs for RGB strips and white strips with adjustable glow temperature.
2. Observing polarity, connect the driver to the power supply.
3. When you turn it on for the first time, the driver itself switches to connection mode. If this does not happen, press and hold the only button on the driver’s body for 5 seconds.
4. Select the driver in the Aqara application, specify the name and select the room in which it will be located.
That’s it, now you can control the color and brightness of the diode strip, like a regular RGB light bulb.
How to control a strip using the Aqara LED Strip driver
You can control the tape through the driver in several ways: through the Home application Applein the application Akara, through a speaker with a voice assistant or using a physical switch. Let’s consider all the options in more detail.
Control in the Home application. If all your smart devices are connected to HomeKit, you can control them in the Home app. The basic capabilities of the tape are available there. In this application, you cannot update the device’s firmware and there is no access to advanced features, for example, you cannot turn off the timer feed.
You can set up automation if the house has Apple TV or HomePod.
Control in the Akara application. All driver features and settings are available here; if new firmware is available, the application offers an update to the gadget. The configured automation will be performed by the Aqara hub, through which we connected the driver to the smart home.
Voice control. The driver can be controlled through Alice or Marusya, like any modern smart lamp. Commands are available to turn on, turn off, change the brightness of candles and color ribbon.
Control via a physical switch. This is a useful and common control method if the tape is used regularly. It’s inconvenient to take out your smartphone or call Alice every time; it’s easier to press a button or turn the adjustment knob.
The driver has many settings; a regular switch can only turn the tape on and off. It is better to use a multifunctional device – wireless dimmer H1. The cool thing about this switch is that it supports 5 gestures: motion, double motion, rotation, rotation with motion, and hold.
This way you can control the brightness, color, temperature of the glow, and switch the customized backlight settings in advance. You can also connect a wireless switch anywhere: by the bed, on the kitchen counter or at the entrance near the door.
The dimmer needs to first connect the hub and configure several automations in the application. For example, pressing a button will turn the tape on and off, turning it will adjust the brightness, turning it using the button will change the color.
This is how you can connect any diode strip to a smart home and set up convenient controls on the panel.
Topic: Review of Aqara T1 LED strip. If adjusting the brightness and color of the tape is not enough for you.
🛒 Buy Aqara LED strip driver – 4,990 rub.
Source: Iphones RU
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
