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Arduino LED Ring Ultrasonic Distance Sensor
2026-08-06 | By Ron Cutts
License: GNU Lesser General Public License Distance LED Strips Arduino
In this tutorial, we will learn how to use an LED ring and an ultrasonic module to measure the distance.
Watch the demonstration video.
Learn more about Visuino: What is Visuino
What You Will Need
Arduino UNO (or any other Arduino)
Visuino program: Download Visuino
The Circuit
Connect LED Ring pin [VCC] to Arduino pin [+5V]
Connect LED Ring pin [GND] to Arduino pin [GND]
Connect LED Ring pin [IN] or (DI) to Arduino digital pin [6]
Connect Ultrasonic module pin (VCC) to Arduino pin [+5V]
Connect Ultrasonic module pin (GND) to Arduino pin [GND]
Connect Ultrasonic module pin (ECHO) to Arduino digital pin [3]
Connect Ultrasonic module pin (TRIG) to Arduino digital pin (2)
Start Visuino, and Select the Arduino UNO Board Type
To start programming the Arduino, you will need to have the Arduino IDE installed from here: https://www.arduino.cc/.
Please be aware that there are some critical bugs in Arduino IDE 1.6.6. Make sure that you install 1.6.7 or higher; otherwise, this will not work! If you have not done so, follow the steps to set up the Arduino IDE to program Arduino UNO! The Visuino: https://www.visuino.eu also needs to be installed. Start Visuino as shown in the first picture. Click on the "Tools" button on the Arduino component (Picture 1) in Visuino. When the dialog appears, select "Arduino UNO" as shown in Picture 2
In Visuino, Add Components
Add "Ultrasonic Ranger(Ping)" component
Add "NeoPixels" component
Add "Ramp To Analog Value" component
Add "Analog To Unsigned" component
Add 2X "Compare Analog Value" component
Add 2X "Color Value" component
Add "RGBW Color Multi-Source Merger" component
In Visuino, Set Components
Select "RampToValue1" and in the properties window set "Slope (S)" to 1000
Select "CompareValue1" and in the properties window set "Compare Type" to ctBigger and "Value" to 10
-Select the "Value" field and click on the pin icon and select "Float SinkPin"Select "CompareValue2" and in the properties window set "Compare Type" to ctSmaller
-Select the "Value" field and click on the pin icon and select "Float SinkPin"
Select "ColorValue1" and in the properties window set "Value" to clRed
Select "ColorValue2" and in the properties window set "Value" to clLime
Double-click on the "NeoPixels1" and in the "PixelGroups" window, drag "Color Pixel" to the left
On the left side of the "PixelGroups" window, then select "Color Pixel1" and in the properties window set "Count Pixels" to 12 or 16 (Depends on how many LEDs your LED ring has)
-You can change the LED brightness if you want by changing the value in the "Brightness" field
In Visuino Connect Components
Connect "UltrasonicRanger1" pin [Ping(Trigger)] to Arduino digital pin[2]
Connect "Arduino" digital pin[3] Out to "UltrasonicRanger1" pin [Echo]
Connect "NeoPixels1" pin [Out] to Arduino digital pin[6]
Connect "UltrasonicRanger1" pin [Out] to "RampToValue1" pin[In] and "CompareValue1" pin[Value] and "CompareValue2" pin[Value]
Connect "RampToValue1" pin[Out] to "AnalogToUnsigned1" pin [In] and "CompareValue1" pin[In] and "CompareValue2" pin[In]
Connect "CompareValue1" pin[Out] to "ColorValue1" pin[clock]
Connect "CompareValue2" pin[Out] to "ColorValue2" pin[clock]
Connect "ColorValue1" pin[Out] to "RGBWColorMultiMerger1" Pin[0]
Connect "ColorValue2" pin[Out] to "RGBWColorMultiMerger1" Pin[1]
Connect "RGBWColorMultiMerger1" pin [Out] to "NeoPixels1">Color Pixel1 pin[Color]
Connect "AnalogToUnsigned1" to "NeoPixels1">Color Pixel1 pin[U32 Index]
Generate, Compile, and Upload the Arduino Code
In Visuino, Press F9 or click on the button shown in Picture 1 to generate the Arduino code, and open the Arduino IDE
In the Arduino IDE, click on the Upload button to compile and upload the code (Picture 2)
Play
If you power the Arduino UNO module, the LED ring should start showing the range distance, and if you add an obstacle in front of the range finder module, the LED ring should change its color.
Congratulations! You have completed your project with Visuino. Also attached is the Visuino project that I created for this; you can download it here and open it in Visuino: https://www.visuino.eu
