Uploaded July 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In this video, I'll demonstrate how you can use a PL9823 individually-addressable LED to create an illuminated arcade button that changes colour each time you press it.
This gives you the capability to create tri-state (or more!) buttons, which toggle through an array of colours with each push.
PL9823 work in a similar way to "Neopixel"/WS2812B LED strips, except they come supplied in the same form factor as a regular 5mm LED, thus you can use them in place of a regular LED in any project so long as you accommodate GND, +5V, and a data wire. Like Neopixels, they can be chained together in series and controlled using a single Arduino GPIO pin, which can set different colours, fade brightness, set chase patterns or other animation sequences using a library like FastLED : fastled.io
You can buy PL9823 at e.g. Amazon (amzn.to/2MuLYGn) or AliExpress (aliexpress.com/item/32713415710.html).
You can buy the arcade buttons from BangGood (banggood.com/12V-25A-Round-Lit-Illuminated-Arcade-Video-Game-Push-Button-Switch-LED-Light-Lamp-p-1044391.html?ID=233&cur_warehouse=CN&p=VP240122576862201806&custlinkid=437467)
You can view the wiring diagram, Arduino code, and the .STL file for my LED holder from my Github page: github.com/playfultechnology/arduino-fruitmachine/tree/master/FruitMachineButtons
In this video, I'll demonstrate how you can use a PL9823 individually-addressable LED to create an illuminated arcade button that changes colour each time you press it.
This gives you the capability to create tri-state (or more!) buttons, which toggle through an array of colours with each push.
PL9823 work in a similar way to "Neopixel"/WS2812B LED strips, except they come supplied in the same form factor as a regular 5mm LED, thus you can use them in place of a regular LED in any project so long as you accommodate GND, +5V, and a data wire. Like Neopixels, they can be chained together in series and controlled using a single Arduino GPIO pin, which can set different colours, fade brightness, set chase patterns or other animation sequences using a library like FastLED : fastled.io
You can buy PL9823 at e.g. Amazon (amzn.to/2MuLYGn) or AliExpress (aliexpress.com/item/32713415710.html).
You can buy the arcade buttons from BangGood (banggood.com/12V-25A-Round-Lit-Illuminated-Arcade-Video-Game-Push-Button-Switch-LED-Light-Lamp-p-1044391.html?ID=233&cur_warehouse=CN&p=VP240122576862201806&custlinkid=437467)
You can view the wiring diagram, Arduino code, and the .STL file for my LED holder from my Github page: github.com/playfultechnology/arduino-fruitmachine/tree/master/FruitMachineButtons
