Hey so I just got a beginner's Arduino kit with a breadboard. I'm new with it but I thought a great project would be to rig up some custom tails for my xB.

I have the stock 08 tails with some LED spider bulbs inside but I'm curious to know if anyone on here has wired up and installed any custom LED pcb inside the housing. And if so, how much harder would it be to hook it up to the Arduino to add some cool effects such as the turn signal turning on LEDs in a wave motion across the board.

I don't know to be honest. I'm just hoping there are some more advanced Arduino nerds on this forum that might be able to help me get started. I've already checked Instructables.com and can't really find any good DIY builds for LED tails. Maybe its a pipe dream for now but I look forward to any cool ideas.

 

I've had some experience with the Arduino via a EE degree in college. You're probrably better off at an Arduino forum. They will help with any and all coding questions you have. As far as the harware goes, I doubt the arduino itself has enough capacity to drive the current that the tail lights require. That being said, It isn't impossible, just a lot more difficult than you think. You will most likely have to run the LEDs through some sort of relay system using the arduino's low level signals as inputs on the relay. There are also several add-on kits produced for the arduino, so there may be a kit that could help you do this.