Microcontroller-controlled multi-color LED apparatus

A lighting object for providing a plurality of light shows to an observer, comprising:

• at least three LEDs, each of which emits light of a different wavelength;
• a microcontroller;
• the at least three LEDs being linked to the microcontroller by circuitry,
• the microcontroller being programmed to control intensity levels of the LEDs to vary colors perceived by the observer during the plurality of light shows;
• a memory linked to the microcontroller;
• each of the plurality of light shows is defined by stored data indicative of the intensity levels for each of the LEDs at starting points and target points,
• the microcontroller being programmed to calculate intermediated intensity levels of the LEDs indicated by the stored data such that the colors perceived by an observer in viewing the each of the plurality of light shows as each of the plurality of light shows proceeds from the starting point to the target point, which perceived colors are dictated by a combination of emissions from each of the LEDs, exist within an area of CIE 1931 Color Diagram defined by at least one of the following sets of coordinates:
• (i) (0.15, 0.10), (0.12, 0.19), (0.85, 0.42) and (0.65, 0.35);
• (ii) (0.15, 0.02), (0.10, 0.10), (0.13, 0.02), (0.24, 0.31), and (0.34, 0.16);
• and (iii) (0.58, 0.42), (0.70, 0.30), (0.60, 0.30) and (0.56, 0.40);
• and
• a user interface linked to the microcontroller, the user interface comprising at least one switch for switching the operation of the microcontroller between a plurality of settings selected from the group consisting of power on, power off, freezing a light show in progress and switching from one of the plurality of light shows to another of the plurality of light shows.

A method of controlling lighting object to provide a light show to an observer, comprising the steps of:

• providing at least two LEDs, each of which emits light of a different wavelength;
• independently controlling the intensity levels of the LEDs to vary colors perceived by the observer during the light show;
• reading from a memory, for each of the LEDs, a starting intensity level at a starting point and a target intensity level at a target point and timing information for at least one segment of the light show between the starting and target points;
• calculating a plurality of intermediate intensity levels for each of the LEDs for the duration of the segment based on the starting and target intensity levels, and the timing information for each of the LEDs;
• and
• controlling the LEDs to operate at each of the calculated intermediate intensity levels during the segment.