ESP32 Embedded Firmware – Smooth Sparkler LED Animation

I am developing a wearable LED headband with a continuous, sparkler-style moving light effect. The mechanical design (SolidWorks / STEP) is fully completed and locked. This project is strictly focused on electronics and embedded firmware — no mechanical design, web, or mobile work.

The goal is to implement a high-quality LED animation engine on a microcontroller (ESP32 or equivalent) that produces smooth, continuous motion around a 360° addressable LED ring (~72 LEDs). The animation must use fractional (sub-pixel) position tracking and brightness blending across adjacent LEDs — visible LED-to-LED stepping is not acceptable.

Scope of Work: • Develop embedded C/C++ firmware for addressable LEDs (WS2812B / SK6812 or equivalent) • Implement continuous 360° motion with one or more moving “sparks” • Use floating-point or fixed-point math to blend brightness between adjacent LEDs • Create smooth trailing glow and subtle flicker (sparkler-style behavior) • Match motion speed and feel to provided reference visuals • Ensure clean, efficient, well-commented firmware suitable for manufacturing

Deliverables: • Short demo video showing slowed-down motion that clearly demonstrates sub-pixel interpolation • Brief explanation of animation logic and LED indexing • Optional: guidance on MCU/LED selection if needed

Out of Scope:

This project requires experience with embedded systems, microcontroller programming, and addressable LED animation. Please do not apply if your background is primarily web or mobile development.

Budget: USD 500 (Fixed Price)

Proposals: 15 freelancers have applied