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LED Modes

Ravi Singh edited this page May 7, 2026 · 1 revision

LED Modes

v6.x ships 11 light modes. Pick from LEDs tab → Light mode. The Live tab's LED preview reflects your choice instantly.

Mode 0 — Distance Cluster (default)

The signature AmbiSense effect. A bright cluster of LEDs follows the target's position on the strip. Outside the distance window, only background lighting (if enabled).

Tunable: span, center shift, trail, direction light, color, brightness, background mode.

Use when: hallway / staircase / under-bed lighting that follows a person.

Mode 1 — Rainbow

Full strip cycles through hues continuously.

Tunable: effect speed (cycle rate), brightness.

Use when: ambient mood lighting, no need to track motion.

Mode 2 — Wave

A travelling sine wave of color across the strip.

Tunable: effect speed, effect intensity (wave amplitude), color (the hue the wave centers around), brightness.

Use when: gentle dynamic background that doesn't track the user.

Mode 3 — Breathe

The whole strip gently inhales and exhales — brightness oscillates from low to high in a sine pattern.

Tunable: effect speed (breathing rate), color, brightness (peak).

Use when: very subtle ambient cue. Bedside lighting that signals "the system is alive" without being distracting.

Mode 4 — Solid

Every pixel the same color, the same brightness. No animation.

Tunable: color, brightness.

Use when: you just want a solid-color strip and aren't using the radar feature.

Mode 5 — Comet

A bright comet with a fading tail chases across the strip in one direction, wraps, and repeats.

Tunable: effect speed (comet speed), effect intensity (tail length), color, brightness.

Use when: directional motion cue without distance tracking. Good for a stair railing where you want a "running light" effect on entry.

Mode 6 — Pulse

A bright pulse expands outward from the centre of the strip.

Tunable: effect speed (pulse rate), effect intensity (pulse width), color, brightness.

Use when: alert / notification feel. Pair with the System Active toggle for a "system armed" indicator.

Mode 7 — Ember

Flickering, warm-color simulation — looks like glowing embers in a fireplace. Random brightness fluctuations across the strip.

Tunable: effect speed (flicker rate), effect intensity (flicker depth), brightness. Color is automatic warm-orange palette.

Use when: fireplace ambiance, cozy reading nook lighting.

Mode 8 — Marquee

Old-school theatre-marquee dot pattern — bright pixels every N positions, scrolling.

Tunable: effect speed (scroll rate), effect intensity (dot spacing), color, brightness.

Use when: festive / playful settings. Halloween / Christmas decorations.

Mode 9 — Scan

Two scanners start at opposite ends and meet in the middle, then reverse.

Tunable: effect speed (scanner speed), color, brightness.

Use when: KITT / Cylon vibes. Or a "scanning" feedback effect during system bring-up.

Mode 10 — Particles

Sparks spawn from the target's position and fade away.

Tunable: effect speed (spawn rate), effect intensity (particle lifetime), color, brightness.

Use when: you want the distance-tracking feel but with a "magic / sparkle" instead of a solid cluster.


Background mode (applies to several modes)

In modes 0 / 5 / 6 / 9 / 10 (motion-aware modes), the background mode controls what happens to LEDs that aren't currently active:

  • Off — non-active LEDs are dark.
  • Dim — non-active LEDs render a low-brightness version of the active color.
  • Color cycle — non-active LEDs slowly rotate through hues, providing ambient lighting even when no one's near.

Cycling modes from outside the UI

The mode is just a uint8_t in NVS at led.mode. You can change it via:

curl -X POST http://ambisense-XXXX.local/api/settings \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"light_mode": 5}'

Useful for Home Assistant / Node-RED automations that switch modes based on time of day.

Roadmap

  • Per-target rendering — when LD2450 reports multiple targets, render a cluster for each.
  • Audio-reactive mode — analyze a microphone or line-in signal and pulse the strip to music.
  • Custom palettes — define your own gradient and use it in any mode.

Open an issue if you want to propose a new mode.

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