How to Control LED Lighting Intensity from LabVIEW Using PWM

[cedricuk]

I’m looking for advice on controlling LED lighting intensity from LabVIEW using PWM.

The goal is to adjust the brightness smoothly while avoiding visible flicker. I’m currently trying to determine the most suitable NI hardware and LabVIEW method for generating the PWM signal.

• Hardware: Not selected yet
• LabVIEW version: Not selected yet
• Driver/version: Not applicable yet
• Error: No error message at this stage
• Troubleshooting: I have not yet implemented the hardware setup.

Would PWM be the recommended approach for this application, and which NI hardware/module would be suitable for generating the required signal?

I can provide a VI and screenshots once I have a working test setup.

[Kyle97330]

You're new here so I don't really have a good basis to judge your experience.

Are you aware that LEDs are primarily current-driven?

NI hardware that can output waveforms of the sort you would want are primarily voltage-based.  The very few that can output current do so at the 0-20 mA level, which is meant for industrial signaling, and would be insufficient for all but the smallest LEDs.  You haven't said what this is for but it feels like it's for a larger application than just a few small LEDs.

Also, most LEDs are not just "on or off" only, and can stand to have their output level managed just by current control instead of needing to modulate the output.  PWM would likely work to dim the output, it's just that unless you're extremely limited in your choice of LEDs and are forced to use ones that can't be dimmed enough just by current reduction, PWM is likely an unnecessary complication.

What application is this all for, anyway?