LED Orchestra
Offline distributed LED show controller that synchronizes ESP32-C6 strip segments over a Matter-over-Thread mesh.
Tech Stack
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Key Outcomes
- Built ESP32-C6 controller and LED-node firmware for offline control over Matter and Thread
- Proved synchronized scheduled scenes across two physical nodes within roughly 10 ms
- Implemented durable node configuration, scene persistence, calibration, group commands, and an append-only effect registry
- Validated a split architecture with a dedicated controller and S3+H2 Thread Border Router on real hardware
- Added brick-safe OTA requestor and offline OTA provider foundations for field firmware updates
Overview
LED Orchestra is an offline, distributed controller for addressable LED installations. Each ESP32-C6 node drives one physical WS2812B strip segment, while all nodes render as one continuous virtual strip over a private Matter-over-Thread mesh.
The system is designed for installations where venue Wi-Fi or internet access may be unreliable. Once a scene reaches the nodes, rendering continues locally even if the controller or border router becomes unavailable.
How It Works
- A separate ESP32-C6 acts as the Matter controller and commissioner.
- An ESP32-S3 + ESP32-H2 board provides the OpenThread Border Router and 802.15.4 radio.
- Thread-only ESP32-C6 LED nodes each own a contiguous range of the global LED index space.
- Effects use the global LED index and synchronized time, allowing waves, gradients, and reveals to cross physical strip boundaries cleanly.
- USB serial and a controller-local Wi-Fi access point provide offline operator ingress.
Architecture
The active implementation is written in C++ with ESP-IDF and ESP-Matter. LED commands travel only through Matter over Thread; Wi-Fi is limited to operator and future control-plane ingress.
The controller commissions nodes, manages the Matter fabric, and sends custom-cluster commands. LED nodes persist their configuration and last valid scene in NVS, render locally, and continue operating through temporary network outages.
The selected topology came from hardware validation. An all-in-one controller and border-router design failed its offline gate, so the system uses a dedicated ESP32-C6 controller alongside an S3+H2 border router.
Synchronization and Effects
Each node maps its physical LEDs into a shared global index space. The effect engine combines that index with a synchronized clock so separately powered strips behave like one installation.
The firmware includes group scene commands, scheduled activation, per-node calibration, color correction, brightness limits, and an append-only effect registry. A two-node hardware test activated the same scheduled scene on both nodes within roughly 10 ms.
Reliability
Node configuration and the active scene are versioned, checksummed, and stored in NVS. Nodes keep the last valid state when a command is malformed or connectivity drops. Firmware updates are designed around a Matter OTA requestor/provider path with dual OTA slots and rollback protection.
Current Status
Controller and LED-node firmware build successfully, the selected topology has been validated on hardware, and multi-node group control and synchronized scenes work on a real bench setup. Scale and soak testing, declarative show-bundle transport, and complete end-to-end OTA validation remain in progress.
Why This Project Matters
LED Orchestra combines embedded firmware, distributed timing, wireless mesh networking, hardware bring-up, and resilience engineering. The result is a lighting system designed around the operational constraints of a real installation rather than a cloud-dependent demo.