LED Cube 8x8x8 - All

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Createyourown8x8x8LEDCube3dimensionaldisplay!
WebelievethisInstructableisthemostcomprehensivestepbystepguideto
buildan8x8x8LEDCubeeverpublishedontheintertubes.Itwillteachyou
everythingfromtheoryofoperation,howtobuildthecube,totheinnerworkings
ofthesoftware.Wewilltakeyouthroughthesoftwarestepbystep,boththelow
leveldrivers/routinesandhowtocreateawesomeanimations.Thesoftware
aspectofLEDcubesisoftenoverlooked,butaLEDcubeisonlyasawesome
asthesoftwareitruns.
AbouthalfwaythroughtheInstructable,youwillactuallyhaveafullyfunctional
LEDcube.Theremainingstepswillshowyouhowtocreatethesoftware.
Avideoisworthathousandwords.I'lljustleaveituptothisvideotoconvince
youthatthisisthenextprojectyouwillbebuilding:
AboutThisInstructable
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Posted:
Jan01,2011
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ImadethisLEDcubetogetherwithmyfriendchiller.Thebuildtookabout4days
fromsmallscaleprototypingtocompletedcube.Thenanothercoupleofhoursto
debugsomefaultytransistors.
Thesoftwareisprobablyanother45daysofworkcombined.
Step1:Skillsrequired
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Atfirstglancethisprojectmightseemlikeanoverlycomplexanddauntingtask.
However,wearedealingwithdigitalelectronicshere,soeverythingiseitheron
oroff!
I'vebeendoingelectronicsforalongtime,andforyearsistruggledwithanalog
8x8x8/)
Addinstructableto:
; Group
circuits.Theanalogcircuitsfailedoverhalfthetimeevenififollowed
instructions.Oneresistororcapacitorwithaslightlywrongvalue,andthecircuit
doesn'twork.
About4yearsago,Idecidedtogivemicrocontrollersatry.Thiscompletely
changedmyrelationshipwithelectronics.Iwentfromonlybeingabletobuild
simpleanalogcircuits,tobeingabletobuildalmostanything!
Adigitalcircuitdoesn'tcareifaresistoris1kohmor2kohm,aslongasitcan
distinguishhighfromlow.Andbelieveme,thismakesitALOTeasiertodo
electronics!
Withthatsaid,therearestillsomethingsyoushouldknowbeforeventuringout
andbuildingthisratherlargeproject.
Youshouldhaveanunderstandingof:
Basicelectronics.(Wewouldrecommendagainstbuildingthisasyourvery
firstelectronicsproject.ButpleasereadtheInstructable.You'llstilllearna
lot!)
Howtosolder.
Howtouseamultimeteretc.
WritingcodeinC(optional.Weprovideafullyfunctionalprogram,readyto
go)
Youshouldalsohavepatienceandagenerousamountoffreetime.
Step2:Componentlist
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ShowAllItems
HereiswhatyouneedtomakeaLEDcube:
512xLEDs(plussomeextraformakingmistakes!)
64xresistors.(seeseparatestepforohmvalue)
1xor2xlargeprototypePCBs.Thetypewithcopper"eyes",seeimage.
1xATmega32microcontroller(youcanalsousethepincompatible
ATmega16)
3xstatusLEDs.Youchoosecolorandsize.
3xresistorsforthestatusLEDs.
8x74HC574ICs
16xPN2222transistors
16x1kresistors
1x74HC138IC
1xMaximMAX232IC
1x14.7456MHzcrustal
2x22pFceramiccapacitors
16x0.1uFceramiccapacitors
3x1000uFelectrolyticcapacitor
3x10uFelectrolyticcapacitor
1x100uFelectrolyticcapacitors
8x20pinICsockets
1x40pinICsocket
2x16pinICsocket
1x2pinscrewterminal
1x2wirecablewithplugs
9x8pinterminalpins
1x4pinterminalpins,rightangle
2x16pinribboncableconnector
1x10pinribboncableconnector
Ribboncable
2xpushbuttons
2xribboncableplugs
9x8pinfemaleheaderplugs
Serialcableand4pinfemalepinheader
Pieceofwoodfortemplateandbase
8xoptionalpullupresistorsforlayers
5vpowersupply(seeseparatestepforpowersupply)
Totalestimatedbuildcost:67USD.Seeattachedpricelist.
pricelist.xls(/files/orig/FI7/UP2U/GIJG3QAC/FI7UP2UGIJG3QAC.xls)
Step3:Orderingcomponents
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WeseealotofpeopleaskingforpartnumbersforDigiKey,Mouserorotherbig
electronicsstores.
Whenyou'reworkingwithhobbyelectronics,youdon'tnecessarilyneedthe
mostexpensivecomponentswiththebestquality.
Mostofthetime,itismoreimportanttoactuallyhavethecomponentvalueat
handwhenyouneedit.
WearebigfansofbuyingreallycheapcomponentlotsoneBay.Youcanget
assortmentsofresistor,capacitors,transistorsandeverythinginbetween.Ifyou
buythesetypesofassortments,youwillalmostalwayshavethepartsyouneed
inyourpartcollection.
For17USDyoucanget2000resistorsof50differentvalues.Greatvalue,and
veryconvenient.
TrydoingsomeBaysearchesandbuysomecomponentsforfutureprojects!
AnotheroneofourfavoritestoresisFuturlec(http://www.futurlec.com/
(http://www.futurlec.com/)).Theyhaveeverythingyouneed.Thethingtheydon't
haveis1000differentversionsofthatthingthatyouneed,sobrowsingtheir
inventoryisalotlessconfusingthanbuyingfromthosebiggercompanies.
Step4:WhatisaLEDcube
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ALEDcubeislikeaLEDscreen,butitisspecialinthatithasathirddimension,
makingit3D.Thinkofitasmanytransparentlowresolutiondisplays.Innormal
displaysitisnormaltotrytostackthepixelsascloseaspossibleinorderto
makeitlookbetter,butinacubeonemustbeabletoseetroughit,andmore
spacingbetweenthepixels(actuallyit'svoxelssinceitisin3d)isneeded.The
spacingisatradeoffbetweenhoweasythelayersbehinditisseen,andvoxel
fidelity.
SinceitisalotmoreworkmakingaLEDcubethanaLEDdisplay,theyare
usuallylowresolution.ALEDdisplayof8x8pixelsisonly64LEDs,butaLED
cubein8x8x8is512LEDs,anorderofmagnitudehardertomake!Thisisthe
reasonLEDcubesareonlymadeinlowresolution.
ALEDcubedoesnothavetobesymetrical,itispossibletomakea7x8x9,or
evenoddlyshapedones.
Step5:HowdoesaLEDcubework
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ThisLEDcubehas512LEDs.Obviously,havingadedicatedIOportforeach
LEDwouldbeveryimpractical.Youwouldneedamicrocontrollerwith512IO
ports,andrun512wiresthroughthecube.
Instead,LEDcubesrelyonanopticalphenomenoncalledpersistenceofvision
(POV).
Ifyouflashaledreallyfast,theimagewillstayonyourretinaforalittlewhile
aftertheledturnsoff.
Byflashingeachlayerofthecubeoneafteranotherreallyreallyfast,itgivesthe
illusionofa3dimage,whenintfactyouarelookingataseriesof2dimages
stackedontoponeanother.Thisisalsocalledmultiplexing.
Withthissetup,weonlyneed64(fortheanodes)+8(foreachlayer)IOportsto
controltheLEDcube.
Inthevideo,theprocessissloweddownenoughforyoutoseeit,thenitruns
fasterandfasteruntiltherefreshrateisfastenoughforthecameratocatchthe
POVeffect.
Step6:TheanatomyofaLEDcube
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Wearegoingtobetalkingaboutanodes,cathodes,columnsandlayers,solets
takeamomenttogetfamiliarwiththeanatomyofaLEDcube.
AnLEDhastwolegs.Onepositive(theanode)andonenegative(cathode).In
ordertolightupanLED,youhavetoruncurrentfromthepositivetothe
negativeleg.(Ifiremembercorrectlytheactualflowofelectronsistheotherway
around.Butlet'ssticktotheflowofcurrentwhichisfrompositivetonegativefor
now).
TheLEDcubeismadeupofcolumnsandlayers.Thecathodelegsofevery
LEDinalayeraresolderedtogether.Alltheanodelegsinonecolumnare
solderedtogether.
Eachofthe64columnsareconnectedtothecontrollerboardwithaseparate
wire.Eachcolumncanbecontrolledindividually.Eachofthe8layersalsohave
aseparatewiregoingtothecontrollerboard.
Eachofthelayersareconnectedtoatransistorthatenablesthecubetoturnon
andofftheflowofcurrentthrougheachlayer.
Byonlyturningonthetransistorforonelayer,currentfromtheanodecolumns
canonlyflowthroughthatlayer.Thetransistorsfortheotherlayersareoff,and
theimageoutputtedonthe64anodewiresareonlyshownontheselected
layer.
Todisplaythenextlayer,simplyturnoffthetransistorforthecurrentlayer,
changetheimageonthe64anodewirestotheimageforthenextlayer.Then
turnonthetransistorforthenextlayer.Rinseandrepeatveryveryfast.
Thelayerswillbereferredtoaslayers,cathodelayersorgroundlayers.
Thecolumnswillbereferredtoascolumns,anodecolumnsoranodes.
Step7:CubesizeandIOportrequirements
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TodriveaLEDcube,youneedtwosetsofIOports.OnetosourcealltheLED
anodecolumns,andonetosinkallthecathodelayers.
Fortheanodesideofthecube,you'llneedx^2IOports,wherex^3isthesizeof
yourLEDcube.Foran8x8x8(x=8),youneed64IOportstodrivetheLED
anodes.(8x8).Youalsoneed8IOportstodrivethecathodes.
KeepinmindthatthenumberofIOportswillincreaseexponentially.Sowillthe
numberofLEDs.YoucanseealistofIOpinrequirementfordifferentcubesizes
intable1.
ForasmallLEDcube,3x3x3or4x4x4,youmightgetawaywithconnectingthe
cathodelayersdirectlytoamicrocontrollerIOpin.Foralargercubehowever,
thecurrentgoingthroughthispinwillbetoohigh.Foran8x8x8LEDcubewith
only10mAperLED,youneedtoswitch0.64Ampere.Seetable2foran
overviewofpowerrequirementsforaLEDlayerofdifferentsizes.Thistable
showsthecurrentdrawwithallLEDson.
Ifyouareplanningtobuildalargercubethan8x8x8orrunningeachLEDat
morethan10ishmA,remembertotakeintoconsiderationthatyourlayer
transistorsmustbeabletohandlethatload.
Step8:IOportexpansion,moremultiplexing
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Wegatheredfromthelaststepthatan8x8x8LEDcuberequires64+8IOlines
tooperate.NoAVRmicrocontrollerwithaDIPpackage(thekindofthrough
holechipyoucaneasilysolderoruseinabreadboard,DualInlinePackage)
havethatmanyIOlinesavailable.
Togetgettherequired64outputlinesneededfortheLEDanodes,wewill
createasimplemultiplexercircuit.Thiscircuitwillmultiplex11IOlinesinto64
outputlines.
Themultiplexerisbuiltbyusingacomponentcalledalatchoraflipflop.Wewill
callthemlatchesfromhereon.
Thismultiplexerusesan8bitlatchICcalled74HC574.Thischiphasthe
followingpins:
8inputs(D07)
8outputs(Q07)
1"latch"pin(CP)
1outputenablepin(OE)
Thejobofthelatchistoserveasakindofsimplememory.Thelatchcanhold8
bitsofinformation,andthese8bitsarerepresentedontheoutputpins.Consider
alatchwithanLEDconnectedtooutputQ0.ToturnthisLEDon,applyV+(1)to
inputD0,thenpulltheCPpinlow(GND),thenhigh(V+).
WhentheCPpinchangesfromlowtohigh,thestateoftheinputD0is"latched"
ontotheoutputQ0,andthisoutputstaysinthatstateregardlessoffuture
changesinthestatusofinputD0,untilnewdataisloadedbypullingtheCPpin
lowandhighagain.
Tomakealatcharraythatcanremembertheon/offstateof64LEDsweneed8
oftheselatches.TheinputsD07ofallthelatchesareconnectedtogetherinan
8bitbus.
Toloadtheon/offstatesofallthe64LEDswesimplydothis:Loadthedataof
thefirstlatchontothebus.pulltheCPpinofthefirstlatchlowthenhigh.Load
thedataofthesecondlatchontothebus.pulltheCPpinofthesecondlatchlow
thenhigh.Loadthedataofthethirdlatchontothebus.pulltheCPpinofthe
thirdlatchlowthenhigh.Rinseandrepeat.
Theonlyproblemwiththissetupisthatweneed8IOlinestocontroltheCPline
foreachlatch.Thesolutionistousea74HC138.ThisIChas3inputlinesand8
outputs.Theinputlinesareusedtocontrolwhichofthe8outputlinesthatwill
bepulledlowatanytime.Therestwillbehigh.Eachouttheoutputsonthe
74HC138isconnectedtotheCPpinononeofthelatches.
Thefollowingpseudocodewillloadthecontentsofabufferarrayontothelatch
array:
//PORTA=databus
//PORTB=addressbus(74HC138)
//charbuffer[8]holds64bitsofdataforthelatcharray
PORTB=0x00//ThispullsCPonlatch1low.
for(i=0i<8i++)
{
PORTA=buffer[i]
PORTB=i+1
}
Theoutputsofthe74HC138areactiveLOW.Thatmeansthattheoutputthatis
activeispulledLOW.Thelatchpin(CP)onthelatchisarisingedgetrigger,
meaningthatthedataislatchedwhenitchangesfromLOWtoHIGH.Totrigger
therightlatch,the74HC138needstostayonestepaheadofthecounteri.Ifit
hadbeenanactiveHIGHchip,wecouldwritePORTB=iYouareprobably
thinking,whathappenswhenthecounterreaches7,thatwouldmeanthatthe
outputonPORTBis8(1000binary)onthelastiterationofthefor()loop.Only
thefirst8bitsofPORTBareconnectedtothe74HC138.SowhenportB
outputs8or1000inbinary,the74HC138reads000inbinary,thuscompleting
itscycle.(itstartedat0).The74HC138nowoutputsthefollowingsequence:12
345670,thusgivingachangefromLOWtoHIGHforthecurrentlatch
accordingtocounteri.
multiplex_theoretical.sch(/files/orig/FHJ/ASA2/GICYB6DA/FHJASA2GICYB6DA.tmp)
Step9:IOportexpansion,alternativesolution
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Thereisanothersolutionforprovidingmoreoutputlines.Wewentwiththelatch
basedmultiplexerbecausewehad8latchesavailablewhenbuildingtheLED
cube.
Youcanalsouseaserialinparalleloutshiftregistertoget64outputlines.
74HC164isan8bitshiftregister.Thischiphastwoinputs(mayalsohavean
outputenablepin,butwewillignorethisinthisexample).
data
clock
Everytimetheclockinputchangesfromlowtohigh,thedatainQ6ismoved
intoQ7,Q5intoQ6,Q4intoQ5andsoon.Everythingisshiftedonepositionto
theright(assumingthatQ0istotheleft).Thestateofthedatainputlineis
shiftedintoQ0.
Thewayyouwouldnormallyloaddataintoachiplikethis,istotakeabyteand
bitshiftitintothechiponebitatatime.ThisusesalotofCPUcycles.However,
wehavetouse8ofthesechipstogetourdesired64outputlines.Wesimply
connectthedatainputofeachshiftregistertoeachofthe8bitsonaportonthe
microcontroller.Alltheclockinputsareconnectedtogetherandconnectedtoa
pinonanotherIOport.
Thissetupwilluse9IOlinesonthemicrocontroller.
Intheprevioussolution,eachbyteinourbufferarraywasplacedinit'sownlatch
IC.Inthissetupeachbytewillbedistributedoverall8shiftregisters,withone
bitineach.
Thefollowingpseudocodewilltransferthecontentsofa64bitbufferarrayto
theshiftregisters.
//PORTA:bit0connectedtoshiftregister0'sdatainput,bit1toshiftregister1
andsoon.
//PORTB:bit0connectedtoalltheclockinputs
//charbuffer[8]holds64bitsofdata
for(i=0i<8i++)
{
PORTB=0x00//Pulltheclocklinelow,sowecanpullithighlaterto
triggertheshiftregister
PORTA=buffer[i]//LoadabyteofdataontoportA
PORTB=0x01//Pulltheclocklinehightoshiftdataintotheshift
registers.
}
Thisisperhapsabettersolution,butwehadtousewhatwehadavailablewhen
buildingthecube.Forthepurposesofthisinstructable,wewillbeusingalatch
basedmultiplexerforIOportexpansion.Feelfreetousethissolutioninsteadif
youunderstandhowtheybothwork.
Withthissetup,thecontentsofthebufferwillbe"rotated"90degreescompared
tothelatchbasedmultiplexer.Wireupyourcubeaccordingly,orsimplyjustturn
it90degreestocompensate)
multiplex_alternative.sch(/files/orig/FAH/098K/GICYB6DK/FAH098KGICYB6DK.tmp)
Step10:Powersupplyconsiderations
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Thisstepiseasytooverlook,asLEDsthemselvesdon'tdrawthatmuchcurrent.
Butrememberthatthiscircuitwilldraw64timesthemAofyourLEDsiftheyare
allon.Inadditiontothat,theAVRandthelatchICsalsodrawscurrent.
TocalculatethecurrentdrawofyourLEDs,connectaledtoa5Vpowersupply
withtheresistoryouintendtouse,andmeasurethecurrentinmA.Multiplythis
numberby64,andyouhavethepowerrequirementsforthecubeitself.Addto
that1520mAfortheAVRandacoupleofmAforeachlatchIC.
Ourfirstattemptatapowersupplywastouseastepdownvoltageregulator,
LM7805,witha12Vwallwart.Atover500mAand12Vinput,thischipbecame
extremelyhot,andwasn'tabletosupplythedesiredcurrent.
Welaterremovedthischip,andsolderedawirefromtheinputtotheoutputpin
wherethechipusedtobe.
Wenowusearegulatedcomputerpowersupplytogetastablehighcurrent5V
supply.
Step11:Buyapowersupply
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Ifyoudon'thavethepartsnecessarytobuilda5VPSU,youcanbuyone.
eBayisagreatplacetobuythesethings.
Searchfor"5vpowersupply"andlimitthesearchto"Business&Industrial",and
you'llgetalotofsuitablepowersupplies.About15buckswillgetyouanice
PSU.
Step12:Buildapowersupply
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AcoupleofyearsbeforewebuilttheLEDcube,wemadeourselfanicelittlelab
powersupplyfromanoldexternalSCSIdrive.Thisiswhatwehavebeenusing
topowertheLEDcube.
PCpowersuppliesarenice,becausetheyhaveregulated12Vand5Vrailswith
highAmpereratings.
YoucanuseeitheraregularATorATXpowersupplyorandoldexternalhard
driveenclosure.
IfyouwanttouseanATXpowersupply,youhavetoconnectthegreenwireon
themotherboardconnectortoground(black).Thiswillpoweritup.
Externalharddriveenclosuresareespeciallynicetouseaspowersupplies.
Theyalreadyhaveaconvenientenclosure.Theonlythingyouhavetodoisto
addexternalpowerterminals.
LEDCube8x8x8
by
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chr(/member/chr/)intechnology(/tag/typeid/categorytechnology/)Eleds(/tag/typeid/categorytechnology/channelleds/)
Powersupplieshavealotofwires,buttheeasiestplacetogetthepoweryou
Download
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h(/id/LedCube8x8x8/) 72Steps .
needisthroughamolexconnector.Thatisthekindofplugyoufindonhard
drives(beforetheageofSATA).
BlackisGNDYellowis+12VRedis+5V
HereisanimageofourlabPSU.Wehave12Voutput,5Voutputwithan
amperemeterand5Voutputwithoutanamperemeter.Weusethesecond5V
outputtopoweran80mmPCfantosuckorblowfumesawaywhenwesolder.
Wewon'tgetintoanymoredetailsofhowtomakeapowersupplyhere.I'm
sureyoucanfindanotherinstructableonhowtodothat.
Step13:ChooseyourLEDs
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TherearemanythingstoconsiderwhenchoosingLEDs.
1)
YouwanttheLEDcubetobeequallyvisiblefromallsides.Thereforewe
stronglyrecommendusingdiffusedLEDs.AclearLEDwillshootthemajorityof
IMadeit!
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it'slightoutthetopoftheLED.AdiffusedLEDwillbemoreorlessequallybright
fromallsides.ClearLEDsalsocreateanotherproblem.Ifyourcubeismadeup
ofclearLEDs.TheLEDswillalsopartiallyilluminatetheLEDsabovethem,
(/contest/epilog/)
sincemostofthelightisdirectedupwards.Thiscreatessomeunwanted
LEDCube8x8x8 by
ghostingeffects.
chr(/member/chr/)intechnology(/tag/typeid/categorytechnology/)
Eleds(/tag/typeid/categorytechnology/channelleds/)
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IMadeit!
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WeactuallyordereddiffusedLEDsfromeBay,butgot1000clearLEDsinstead.
ShippingthembacktoChinatoreceiveareplacementwouldhavetakentoo
muchtime,sowedecidedtousedtheclearLEDsinstead.Itworksfine,butthe
cubeisalotbrighterwhenviewedfromthetopasopposedtothesides.
TheLEDsweorderedfromeBaywereactuallydescribedas"DefusedLEDs".
Maybeweshouldhavetakenthehint)Defusingissomethingyoudotoabomb
whenyouwanttopreventitfromblowingup,hehe.
2)
LargerLEDsgivesyouabiggerandbrighterpixel,butsincesincethecubeis8
layersdeep,youwantenoughroomtoseeallthewaythroughtothefurthest
level.Wewentwith3mmLEDsbecausewewantedthecubetobeas
"transparent"aspossible.Ourrecommendationistouse3mmdiffusedLEDs.
3)
Youcanbuyverycheaplotsof1000LEDsoneBay.Butkeepinmindthatthe
qualityoftheproductmaybereflectedinit'sprice.Wethinkthatthereisless
chanceofLEDmalfunctionifyoubuybetterquality/moreexpensiveLEDs.
4)
SquareLEDswouldprobablylookcoolto,butthenyouneedtomakea
solderingtemplatethatcanaccommodatesquareLEDs.With3mmroundLEDs,
allyouneedisa3mmdrillbit.
5)
Sincethecubereliesonmultiplexingandpersistenceofvisiontocreateimages,
eachlayerisonlyturnedonfor1/8ofthetime.Thisiscalleda1/8dutycycle.To
compensateforthis,theLEDshavetobebrightenoughtoproducethewanted
brightnesslevelat1/8dutycycle.
6)
Leglength.ThecubedesigninthisinstructableusesthelegsoftheLEDs
themselvesastheskeletonforthecube.TheleglengthoftheLEDsmustbe
equaltoorgreaterthanthedistanceyouwantbetweeneachLED.
Step14:Chooseyourresistors
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72Steps
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Therearethreethingstoconsiderwhenchoosingthevalueofyourresistors,the
LEDs,the74HC574thatdrivetheLEDs,andthetransistorsusedtoswitchthe
layersonandoff.
1)
IfyourLEDscamewithadatasheet,thereshouldbesomeampereratingsin
there.Usually,therearetworatings,onemAforcontinuousload,andmAfor
burstloads.TheLEDswillberunningat1/8dutycycle,soyoucanrefertothe
burstrating.
2)
The74HC574alsohassomemaximumratings.IfalltheLEDsononeanode
columnareon,thischipwillsupplycurrent8/8ofthetime.Youhavetokeep
withinthespecifiedmaximummAratingfortheoutputpins.Ifyoulookinthe
datasheet,Youwillfindthisline:DCOutputSourceorSinkCurrentperOutput
Pin,IO:25mA.AlsothereisaVCCorGNDcurrentmaximumratingof50mA.In
ordernottoexceedthis,yourLEDscanonlyrunat50/8mAsincethe74HC574
has8outputs.Thisgivesyou6.25mAtoworkwith.
3)
Thetransistorshavetoswitchonandoff64xthemAofyourLEDs.Ifyour
LEDsdraw20mAeach,thatwouldmeanthatyouhavetoswitchonandoff1.28
Ampere.
Theonlytransistorswehadavailablehadamaximumratingof400mA.
Weendedupusingresistorsof100ohms.
WhileyouarewaitingforyourLEDcubepartstoarriveinthemail,youcanbuild
theguyinthepicturebelow:http://www.instructables.com/id/Resistorman/
(http://www.instructables.com/id/Resistorman/)
IMadeit!
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Step15:Choosethesizeofyourcube
(/contest/epilog/)
LEDCube8x8x8 by
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72Steps
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(/file/FOTII3AGI0TDN1V/)
WewantedtomaketheLEDcubeusingasfewcomponentsaspossible.We
hadseensomepeopleusingmetalrodsfortheirdesigns,butwedidn'thaveany
metalrods.Manyofthemetalroddesignsalsolookedalittlecrooked.
Wefiguredthattheeasiestwaytobuildaledcubewouldbetobendthelegsof
theLEDssothatthelegsbecomethescaffoldingthatholdstheLEDsinplace.
WebentthecathodelegononeoftheLEDsandmeasuredittobe26mmfrom
thecenteroftheLED.BychoosingaLEDspacingof25mm,therewouldbea
1mmoverlapforsoldering.(1inch=25.4mm)
Withasmall3mmLED25mmbetweeneachledgaveusplentyofopenspace
insidethecube.Seeingallthewaythroughtothefurthestlayerwouldn'tbea
problem.Wecouldhavemadethecubesmaller,butthenwewouldhavetocut
everysingleleg,andvisibilityintothecubewouldbecompromised.
OurrecommendationistousethemaximumspacingthatyourLEDcanallow.
Add1mmmarginforsoldering.
Step16:Howtomakestraightwire
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InordertomakeanicelookingLEDCube,youneedsomestraightsteelwire.
Theonlywirewehadwasonspools,soithadtobestraightened.
Ourfirstattemptatthisfailedhorribly.Wetriedtobenditintoastraightwire,but
nomatterhowmuchwebent,itjustwasn'tstraightenough.
Thenwerememberedanepisodeof"Howit'smade"fromtheDiscovery
Channel.Theepisodewasabouthowtheymakesteelwire.Theystartoutwith
aspoolofreallythickwire,thentheypullitthroughsmallerandsmallerholes.
Werememberedthatthewirewastotallystraightandsymmetricalafterbeing
pulledlikethat.
Sowefiguredweshouldgivepullingatry,anditworked!100%straightmetal
wirefromaspool!
Hereishowyoudoit.
cutofthelengthofwireyouneedfromthespool,plusaninchortwo.
Removetheinsulation,ifany.
Getafirmgripofeachendofthewirewithtwopairsofpliers
Pullhard!
Youwillfeelthewirestretchalittlebit.
Youonlyneedtostretchitacoupleofmillimeterstomakeitniceandstraight.
Ifyouhaveavice,youcansecureoneendintheviceanduseonepairofpliers.
Thiswouldprobablybealoteasier,butwedon'townavice.
Step17:Practiceinsmallscale
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WheneverMythBustersaretestingacomplexmyth,theystartbysomesmall
scaleexperiments.
Werecommendthatyoudothesamething.
Beforewebuiltthe8x8x8LEDcube,westartedbymakingasmallerversionof
it,4x4x4.Bymakingthe4x4x4versionfirst,youcanperfectyourcubesoldering
techniquebeforestartingonthebigone.
Checkoutour4x4x4LEDcubeinstructableforinstructionsonbuildingasmaller
"prototype".
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDCube4x4x4/
(http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDCube4x4x4/)
Step18:Buildthecube:createajig
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InordertomakeanicelookingLEDcube,itisimportantthatitiscompletely
symmetrical,thatthespacebetweeneachLEDisidentical,andthateachLED
pointsthesameway.Theeasiestwaytoaccomplishthisistocreatea
temporarysolderingjig/template.
1)
Findapieceofwoodorplasticthatislargerthanthesizeofyourcube.
2)
FindadrillbitthatmakesaholethatfitsaLEDsnuglyinplace.Youdon'twantit
tobetotight,asthatwouldmakeitdifficulttoremovethesolderedlayerfrom
thejigwithoutbendingit.Iftheholesaretoobig,someoftheLEDsmightcome
outcrooked.
3)
Usearulerandanangleirontodrawupagridof8by8linesintersectingat64
points,usingtheLEDspacingdeterminedinapreviousstep.
4)
Useasharppointyobjecttomakeindentionsateachintersection.These
indentionswillpreventthedrillfromslidingsidewayswhenyoustartdrilling.
5)
Drilloutalltheholes.
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6)
TakeanLEDandtryeveryholeforsize.Iftheholeistoosnug,carefullydrillit
againuntiltheLEDfitssnuglyandcanbepulledoutwithoutmuchresistance.
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LEDCube8x8x8 by
7)
Somewherenearthemiddleofoneofthesides,drawasmallmarkorarrow.A
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steelwirewillbesolderedinhereineverylayertogivethecubesomeextra
stiffening.
Step19:Buildthecube:solderingadvice
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YouaregoingtobesolderingVERYclosetotheLEDbody,andyouare
probablygoingtobeusingreallycheapLEDsfromeBay.LEDsdon'tlikeheat,
cheapLEDsprobablymoresothanothers.Thismeansthatyouhavetotake
someprecautionsinordertoavoidbrokenLEDs.
Solderingironhygiene
Firstofall,youneedtokeepyoursolderingironniceandclean.Thatmeans
wipingitonthespongeeverytimeyouuseit.Thetipofyoursolderingiron
shouldbecleanandshiny.Whenevertheyouseethetipbecomingdirtywith
fluxoroxidizing,thatmeansloosingit'sshinyness,youshouldcleanit.Evenif
youareinthemiddleofsoldering.HavingacleansolderingtipmakesitALOT
easiertotransferheattothesolderingtarget.
Solderingspeed
WhensolderingsoclosetotheLEDbody,youneedtogetinandoutquickly.
Wipeyourironclean.Applyatinyamountofsoldertothetip.Touchthepartyou
wanttosolderwiththesideofyourironwhereyoujustputalittlesolder.Letthe
targetheatupfor0.51seconds,thentouchtheothersideofthetargetyouare
solderingwiththesolder.Youonlyneedtoapplyalittlebit.Onlythesolderthat
istouchingthemetalofbothwireswillmakeadifference.Abigblobofsolder
willnotmakethesolderjointanystronger.Removethesolderingiron
immediatelyafterapplyingthesolder.
Mistakesandcooldown
Ifyoumakeamistake,forexampleifthewiresmovebeforethesolderhardens
oryoudon'tapplyenoughsolder.Donottryagainrightaway.Atthispointthe
LEDisalreadyveryhot,andapplyingmoreheatwiththesolderingironwillonly
makeithotter.ContinuewiththenextLEDandletitcooldownforaminute,or
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blowonittoremovesomeheat.
Solder
(/contest/epilog/)
WerecommendusingathinsolderforsolderingtheLEDs.Thisgivesyoualot
LEDCube8x8x8 by
morecontrol,andenableyoutomakenicelookingsolderjointswithoutlarge
blobsofsolder.Weuseda0.5mmgaugesolder.Don'tusesolderwithoutflux.If
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yoursolderisveryoldandthefluxisn'tcleaningthetargetproperly,getnewer
solder.Wehaven'texperiencedthis,butwehaveheardthatitcanhappen.
Areweparanoid?
Whenbuildingthe8x8x8LEDCube,wetestedeachandeveryLEDbefore
usingitinthecube.WealsotestedeveryLEDafterwefinishedsolderinga
layer.SomeoftheLEDsdidn'tworkafterbeingsolderedinplace.We
consideredthesethingsbeforemakingasinglesolderjoint.Evenwithcareful
soldering,someLEDsweredamaged.
ThelastthingyouwantisabrokenLEDnearthecenterofthecubewhenitis
finished.Thefirstandsecondlayerfromtheoutsidecanbefixedafterwards,but
anyfurtherinthanthat,andyou'llneedendoscopicsurgicaltools)
Step20:Buildthecube:testtheLEDs
(/file/FEWIH1EGI0TK33N/)
WegotourLEDsfromeBay,reallycheap!
WetestedsomeoftheLEDbeforewestartedsoldering,andrandomlystumbled
onaLEDthatwasalotdimmerthantherest.SowedecidedtotesteveryLED
beforeusingit.WefoundacoupleofdeadLEDsandsomethatweredimmer
thantherest.
ItwouldbeverybadtohaveadimLEDinsideyourfinishedLEDcube,sospend
thetimetotesttheLEDsbeforesoldering!Thismightbelessofaproblemifyou
areusingLEDsthataremoreexpensive,butwefounditworthwhiletotestour
LEDs.
Getoutyourbreadboard,connectapowersupplyandaresistor,thenpopthe
LEDsinoneatatime.YoumightalsowanttohaveanotherLEDwithitsown
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resistorpermanentlyonthebreadboardwhiletesting.Thismakesiteasierto
LEDCube8x8x8 by
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Step21:Buildthecube:solderalayer
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Eachlayerismadeupof8columnsofLEDsheldtogetherbythelegsofeach
LED.AtthetopofeachlayereachLEDisrotated90degreesclockwise,sothat
thelegconnectswiththetopLEDofthenextcolumn.Onthecolumntotheright
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thislegwillstickoutofthesideofthelayer.Weleavethisinplaceanduseitto
LEDCube8x8x8 by
connectgroundwhentestingalltheLEDsinalaterstep.
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1)Prepare64LEDs
BendthecathodelegofeachLED90degrees.Makesurethelegsarebentin
thesamedirectiononalltheLEDs.LookingattheLEDsittinginaholeinthe
templatewiththenotchtotheright,webentthelegupwards.
2)Startwiththerowatthetop
StartbyplacingthetoprightLEDinthetemplate.Thenplacetheonetotheleft,
positioningitsothatit'scathodelegistouchingthecathodelegoftheprevious
LED.RinseandrepeatuntilyoureachtheleftLED.Solderallthejoints.
3)Solderall8columns
Ifyouarerighthanded,werecommendyoustartwiththecolumntotheleft.
Thatwayyourhandcanrestonthewoodentemplatewhenyousolder.Youwill
needasteadyhandwhensolderingfreehandlikethis.StartbyplacingtheLED
secondfromthetop,aligningitsoit'slegtouchesthesolderjointfromthe
previousstep.ThenplacetheLEDbelowthatsothatthecathodelegtouches
theLEDabove.Repeatuntilyoureachthebottom.Solderallthejoints.
4)Addbraces
Younowhavealayerthatlookslikeacomb.Atthispointthewholethingisvery
flimsy,andyouwillneedtoaddsomesupport.Weusedonebracingnearthe
bottomandonenearthemiddle.Takeastraightpeaceofwire,roughlyalignit
whereyouwantitandsolderoneendtothelayer.Finetunethealignmentand
soldertheotherendinplace.Now,makesolderjointstotheremaining6
columns.Dothisforbothbraces.
5)TestalltheLEDs
Thisiscoveredinthenextstep.Justmentioningheresoyoudon'tremovethe
layerjustyet.
6)Removethelayer
ThefirstlayerofyourLEDcubeisalldone,nowallyouhavetodoisremoveit
fromthetemplate.Dependingonthesizeofyourholes,someLEDsmighthave
moreresistancewhenyoutrytopullitout.Simplygrabbingbothendsofthe
layerandpullingwouldprobablybreakthewholethingifacoupleoftheLEDs
arestuck.
StartbyliftingeverysingleLEDacoupleofmillimeters.Justenoughtofeelthat
thereisn'tanyresistance.WhenalltheLEDsarefreedfromtheirholes,trylifting
itcarefully.Ifitisstillstuck,stopandpullthestuckLEDsout.
Repeat8times!
Noteonimages:
Ifyouarehavingtroubleseeingthedetailinanyofourpictures,youcanviews
thefullresolutionbyclickingonthelittleiiconinthetopleftcornerofevery
image.Allourcloseuppicturesaretakenwithaminitripodandshouldhave
excellentmacrofocus.Ontheimagepage,choosetheoriginalsizefromthe
"Availablesizes"menuonthelefthandside.
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Step22:Buildthecube:testthelayer
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SolderingthatclosetothebodyoftheLEDcandamagetheelectronicsinside.
WestronglyrecommendthatyoutestallLEDsbeforeproceeding.
Connectgroundtothetabyouleftstickingoutattheupperrightcorner.Connect
awireto5Vthrougharesistor.UseanyresistorthatlightstheLEDupand
doesn'texceeditsmaxmAratingat5V.470Ohmwouldprobablyworkjustfine.
Takethewireandtapitagainstall64anodelegsthatarestickingupfromyour
template.IfaLEDdoesn'tflashwhenyoutapit,thatmeansthatsomethingis
wrong.
1)Yoursolderingisn'tconductingcurrent.
2)TheLEDwasoverheatedandisbroken.
3)Youdidn'tmakeaproperconnectionbetweenthetestwireandtheled.(try
again).
Ifeverythingchecksout,pullthelayerfromthecubeandstartsolderingthenext
one.
Step23:Buildthecube:straigthenthepins
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Inouropinion,aLEDcubeisapieceofartandshouldbeperfectlysymmetrical
andstraight.IfyoulookattheLEDsinyourtemplatefromtheside,theyare
probablybentinsomedirection.
Youwantallthelegstopointstraightup,ata90degreeanglefromthe
template.
Whilelookingatthetemplatefromtheside,straightenallthelegs.Thenrotate
thetemplate90degrees,toviewitfromtheotherside,thendothesame
process.
Younowhaveaperfectlayerthatisreadytoberemovedfromthetemplate.
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Step24:Buildthecube:bendthepins
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IntheLEDcubecolumns,wewanteachLEDtositcenteredpreciselyabovethe
LEDsbelow.ThelegsontheLEDscomeoutfromtheLEDbodyhalfa
millimeterorsofromtheedge.Tomakeasolderjoint,wehavetobendthe
anodelegsothatittouchestheanodelegontheLEDbelow.
Makeabendintheanodelegtowardsthecathodelegapproximately3mmfrom
theendoftheleg.ThisisenoughforthelegtobendaroundtheLEDbelowand
makecontactwithit'sanodeleg.
Step25:Buildthecube:solderthelayerstogether
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Nowcomesthetrickypart,solderingitalltogether!
Thefirsttwolayerscanbequiteflimsybeforetheyaresolderedtogether.You
maywanttoputthefirstlayerbackinthetemplatetogiveitsomestability.
Inordertoavoidtotaldisaster,youwillneedsomethingtoholdthelayerinplace
beforeitissolderedinplace.Luckily,thewidthofa9Vbatteryisprettycloseto
25mm.Probablycloserto25.526mm,butthat'sOK.
Warning:The9voltsfroma9VbatterycaneasilyoverloadtheLEDsifthe
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contactsonthebatterycomesincontactwiththelegsoftheLEDs.Wetaped
overthebatterypolestoavoidaccidentallyruiningtheLEDsweweresoldering.
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Wehadplentyof9Vbatterieslyingaround,soweusedthemastemporary
LEDCube8x8x8
by
supports.
Startbyplacinga9Vbatteryineachcorner.Makesureeverythingisaligned
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perfectly,thensolderthecornerLEDs.
NowsolderalltheLEDsaroundtheedgeofthecube,movingthe9Vbatteries
alongasyougoaround.Thiswillensurethatthelayersaresolderedperfectly
paralleltoeachother.
Nowmovea9Vbatterytothemiddleofthecube.Justslideitinfromoneofthe
sides.SolderacoupleoftheLEDsinthemiddle.
Thewholethingshouldbeprettystableatthispoint,andyoucancontinue
solderingtherestoftheLEDswithoutusingthe9Vbatteriesforsupport.
However,ifitlookslikesomeoftheLEDsaresaggingalittlebit,slideina9V
batterytoliftthemup!
Whenyouhavesolderedallthecolumns,itistimetotesttheLEDsagain.
Rememberthattabstickingoutfromtheupperrightcornerofthelayer,thatwe
toldyounottoremoveyet?Nowit'stimetouseit.Takeapieceofwireand
solderthetabofthebottomlayertothetabofthelayeryoujustsolderedin
place.
Connectgroundtothethegroundtab.
Testeachledusingthesamesetupasyouusedwhentestingtheindividual
layers.Sincethegroundlayershavebeenconnectedbythetesttabs,andall
theanodesineachcolumnsareconnectedtogether,allLEDsinacolumn
shouldlightupwhenyouapplyvoltagetothetopone.IftheLEDsbelowitdoes
notlightup,itprobablymeansthatyouforgotasolderjoint!ItisALOTbetterto
figurethisoutatthispoint,ratherthanwhenallthelayersaresolderedtogether.
Thecenterofthecubeisvirtuallyimpossibletogettowithasolderingiron.
Younowhave2/8ofyourLEDcubesolderedtogether!Yay!
Forthenext6layers,usetheexactsameprocess,butspendevenmoretime
aligningthecornerLEDsbeforesolderingthem.Lookatthecubefromabove,
andmakesurethatallthecornerLEDsareonastraightlinewhenlookingat
themfromabove.
Rinseandrepeat!
Step26:Buildthecube:createthebase
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Wedidn'thaveanyfancytoolsatourdisposaltocreateafancystandorboxfor
ourLEDcube.Instead,wemodifiedthetemplatetoworkasabaseforthecube.
WeencourageyoutomakesomethingcoolerthanwedidforyourLEDcube!
Forthetemplate,weonlydrilledacoupleofmmintothewood.Totransformthe
templateintoabase,wejustdrilledalltheholesthroughtheboard.Thenwe
drilled8smallerholesforthe8cathodewiresrunninguptothe8cathode
layers.
Ofcourse,youdon'twanttohaveyourLEDcubeonawoodcoloredbase.We
didn'thaveanyblackpaintlyingaround,butwedidfindagiantblackmagic
marker!Stainingthewoodblackwithamagicmarkerworkedsurprisinglywell!I
thinktheoneweusedhada10mmpoint.
Step27:Buildthecube:mountthecube
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Mountthecube.Thatsoundsveryeasy,butit'snot.Youhavetoalign64LED
legstoslidethrough64holesatthesametime.It'slikethreadinganeedle,
times64.
Wefounditeasiesttostartwithoneend,thengraduallypoppingthelegsinto
place.UseapenorsomethingtopokeattheLEDlegsthatmisstheirholes.
Onceall64LEDlegsarepokingthroughthebase,carefullyturnitonit'sside.
Thenbendall64legs90degrees.Thisisenoughtoholdthecubefirmly
mountedtothebase.Noneedforglueoranythingelse.
Step28:Buildthecube:cathoderisers
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YounowhaveaLEDcubewith64anodeconnectionsontheundersideofthe
base.Butyouneedtoconnectthegroundlayerstoo.
Rememberthose8smallholesyoudrilledinapreviousstep?Wearegoingto
usethemnow.
Makesomestraightwireusingthemethodexplainedinapreviousstep.
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Westartwithgroundforlayer0.Takeashortpieceofstraightwire,Makea
bendapproximately10mmfromtheend.Pokeitthroughtheholeforground
layer0.Leave10mmpokingthroughtheundersideofthebase.Positionitso
(/contest/epilog/)
thatthebendyoumaderestsonthebackwireofgroundlayer0.Nowsolderit
LEDCube8x8x8 by
inplace.
Layer1through7arealittletrickier.Weusedahelpinghandtoholdthewirein
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placewhilesoldering.
Takeastraightpieceofwireandbendit90degrees10mmfromtheend.Then
cutittolengthsothat10mmofwirewillpokeoutthroughtheundersideofthe
base.
Pokethewirethroughtheholeandletthewirerestonthebackwireofthelayer
youareconnecting.Clampthehelpinghandontothewire,thensolderitin
place.
Rinseandrepeat7moretimes.
Carefullyturnthecubeonit'ssideandbendthe8groundwires90degrees.
Step29:Buildthecube:attachcables
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64+8wireshavetogofromthecontrollertotheLEDcube.Weusedribbon
cabletomakethingsalittleeasier.
Thegroundlayersusean8wireribboncable.
Thecathodesareconnectedwith416wireribboncables.Eachoftheseribbon
cablesaresplitintwoateitherend,togettwo8wirecables.
Atthecontrollerside,weattached0.1"femaleheaderconnectors.Theseplug
intostandard0.1"singlerowPCBheaderpins.
Theheaderconnectorisamodularconnectorthatcomesintwoparts,metal
insertsandaplasticbody.
Themetalinsertsaresupposedtobecrimpedonwithatool.Wedidn'thavethe
appropriatetoolonhand,soweusedpliers.Wealsoaddedalittlesolderto
makesurethewiresdidn'tfallofwithuse.
1)Prepareone8wireribboncableand416wireribboncablesofthedesired
length
2)Crimporsolderonthemetalinserts.
3)Insertthemetalinsertintotheplasticconnectorhousing.
4)Solderthe8wireribboncabletothecathoderisers.Pretinthecablesbefore
soldering!
5)Solderintherestofthecables.Theredstripeonthefirstwireindicatesthat
thisisbit0.
6)Tightenthescrewsonthestrainrelieftomakesureeverythingstaysinplace.
7)ConnectalltheribboncablestothePCBsinthecorrectorder.Seepictures
below.Our8wireribboncabledidn'thavearedwire.Justfliptheconnector180
degreesifyourcubeisupsidedown.
Step30:Buildthecontroller:layout
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WetookoutthebiggesttypeofPCBwehadavailable(9x15cm)andstarted
experimentingwithdifferentboardlayouts.Itsoonbecameclearthatcramming
allthecomponentsontooneboardwasn'tagoodsolution.Insteadwedecided
toseparatethelatcharrayandpowersupplypartofthecircuitandplaceitona
separateboard.Aribboncabletransfersdatalinesbetweenthetwoboards.
Choosingtwoseparateboardswasagooddecision.Thelatcharraytookup
almostallthespaceofthecircuitboard.Therewouldn'thavebeenmuchspace
forthemicrocontrollerandotherparts.
Youmaynothavetheexactsamecircuitboardsaswedo,ormaywantto
arrangeyourcomponentsinadifferentway.Trytoplaceallthecomponentson
yourcircuitboardtoseewhichlayoutbestfitsyourcircuitboard.
multiplexer_board.sch(/files/orig/FAU/I50K/GICYB6CJ/FAUI50KGICYB6CJ.tmp)
avr_board.sch(/files/orig/FA9/26YI/GICYB6CH/FA926YIGICYB6CH.tmp)
Step31:Buildthecontroller:clockfrequency
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Weuseanexternalcrystalof14.7456MHztodrivetheATmegasystemclock.
Youmaybethinkingthatthisisanoddnumbertouse,andwhywedidn'trunthe
ATmegaatthe16MHzitisratedfor.
WewanttobeabletocontroltheLEDcubefromacomputer,usingRS232.
Serialcommunicationrequiresprecisetiming.Ifthetimingisoff,onlybyalittle
bit,somebitsaregoingtobemissedorcounteddoublefromtimetotime.We
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won'tberunninganyerrorcorrectingalgorithmsontheserialcommunications,
soanyerroroverthelinewouldberepresentedintheLEDcubeasavoxel
beingonoroffinthewrongplace.
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Togetflawlessserialcommunication,youhavetouseaclockfrequencythat
canbedividedbytheserialfrequencyyouwanttouse.
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14.7456MHzisdividablebyallthepopularRS232baudrates.
(14.7456MHz*1000*1000)/9600baud=1536.0
(14.7456MHz*1000*1000)/19200baud=768.0
(14.7456MHz*1000*1000)/38400baud=384.0
(14.7456MHz*1000*1000)/115200baud=128.0
TheformulainsidetheparenthesesconvertsfromMHztoHz.First*1000gives
youKHz,thenextHz.
AsyoucanseealloftheseRS232baudratescanbecleanlydividedbyour
clockrate.Serialcommunicationwillbeerrorfree!
Step32:Buildthecontroller:protoboardsolderingadvice
(/file/FMEU2JUGI0TK2NC/)
WeseepeopledoalotofweirdstuffwhentheysolderonprototypePCBs.
Beforeyoucontinue,wejustwanttosharewithyoutheprocessweuseto
createtracksonprototypePCBswithsoldereyes.Onceyoumasterthis
technique,youwillprobablystartusingitalot.
1)Filleachpointofthetrackyouwanttomakewithsolder.
2)Connecteveryotherpointsbyheatingthemandaddingalittlesolder.
3)Connectthe2holelongpiecesyounowhavespanningthedesiredtrack.
4)Lookhowbeautifultheresultis.
Youcanseeinthevideohowwedoit.Wehadtotouchsomeofthepointstwice
tojointhem.Itwasabithardtohavethecamerainthewaywhenwewere
soldering)
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Step33:Buildthecontroller:Powerterminalandfiltering
capacitors
(/file/FJG78B4GI0TMGP4/)
(/file/F6B65GZGI0TDNNW/)
(/file/FUCZDZ6GI0TK2NG/)
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Thecubeiscomplete,nowallthatremainsisamonstercircuittocontrolthe
thing.
LEDCube8x8x8
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Let'sstartwiththeeasiestpart,the"powersupply".
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ThepowersupplyconsistsofascrewterminalwhereyouconnecttheGNDand
VCCwires,somefilteringcapacitors,aswitchandaanLEDtoindicatepower
on.
Initially,wehaddesignedanonboardpowersupplyusinganLM7805step
downvoltageregulator.However,thisturnedouttobeabigfail.
Weusedthiswitha12Vwallwart.Butasyoumayalreadyknow,mostwall
wartsoutputhighervoltagesthantheonesspecifiedonthelabel.Ours
outputtedsomethinglike14volts.TheLM7805isn'taverysophisticatedvoltage
regulator,itjustusesresistancetostepdownthevoltage.Toget5voltsoutput
from14voltsinputmeansthattheLM7805hastodrop9volts.Theexcess
energyisdispersedasheat.Evenwiththeheatsinkthatyouseeinthepicture,
itbecameveryveryhot.Waytohottotouch!Inadditiontothat,theperformance
wasn'tgreateither.Itwasn'tabletosupplythenecessarycurrenttorunthecube
atfullbrightness.
TheLM7805waslaterremoved,andawirewassolderedbetweentheinputand
outputpins.Insteadweusedanexternal5Vpowersource,ascoveredina
previousstep.
Whysomanycapacitors?
TheLEDcubeisgoingtobeswitchingabout500mAonandoffseveralhundred
timespersecond.Themomentthe500mAloadisswitchedon,thevoltageis
goingtodropacrosstheentirecircuit.Manythingscontributetothis.Resistance
inthewiresleadingtothepowersupply,slownessinthepowersupplyto
compensatefortheincreaseinload,andprobablysomeotherthingsthatwe
didn'tknowabout)
Byaddingcapacitors,youcreateabufferbetweenthecircuitandthepower
supply.Whenthe500mAloadisswitchedon,therequiredcurrentcanbedrawn
fromthecapacitorsduringthetimeittakesthepowersupplytocompensatefor
theincreaseinload.
Largecapacitorscansupplylargercurrentsforlongerperiodsoftime,whereas
smallercapacitorscansupplysmallbutquickburstsofenergy.
Weplaceda1000uFcapacitorjustafterthemainpowerswitch.Thisworksas
ourmainpowerbuffer.Afterthat,thereisa100uFcapacitor.Itiscommon
practicetohavealargecapacitorattheinputpinofanLM7805andasmaller
capacitoratit'soutputpin.The100uFcapacitorprobablyisn'tnecessary,butwe
thinkcapacitorsmakeyourcircuitlookcooler!
TheLEDisconnectedtoVCCjustafterthemainpowerswitch,viaaresistor.
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Step34:Buildthecontroller:ICsockets,resistorsand
connectors
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(/file/FA78F69GI0TK2NJ/)
(/file/FUMBFZQGI0TDNOM/)
Inthisstepyouwillbesolderinginthemaincomponentsofthemultiplexer
array.
Ourmaindesignconsiderationherewastominimizesolderingandwiring.We
optedtoplacetheconnectorsasclosetotheICsaspossible.Ontheoutput
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side,thereisonlytwosolderjointsperLEDcubecolumn.ICresistor,resistor
connector.Theoutputsofthelatchesarearrangedinorder07,sothisworks
outgreat.Ifweremembercorrectly,thelatchweareusingisavailableintwo
(/contest/epilog/)
versions,onewiththeinputsandoutputsinsequentialorder,andonewiththe
LEDCube8x8x8 by
inandoutputsinseeminglyrandomorder.Donotgetthatone!)Don'tworry,it
hasadifferent74HCxxxname,soyou'llbegoodifyousticktoourcomponent
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list.
Inthefirstpicture,youcanseethatwehaveplacedalltheICsockets,resistors
andconnectors.Wesqueezeditastightaspossible,toleaveroomfor
unforeseenstuffinthefuture,likebuttonsorstatusLEDs.
Inthesecondpicture,youcanseethesolderjointsbetweentheresistorsand
theICsocketsandconnectors.NotethattheinputsideofthelatchICsockets
haven'tbeensolderedyetinthispicture.
Step35:Buildthecontroller:PowerrailsandICpower
(/file/FVY329LGICYB1BJ/)
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(/file/FDGRX36GICYB1BM/)
Rememberthatprotoboardsolderingtrickweshowedyouinapreviousstep?
Wetoldyouitwouldcomeinhandy,andhereiswhereyouuseit.
Largecircuitboardslikethisone,withlotsofwires,canbecomequiteconfusing.
WealwaystrytoavoidliftingtheGNDandVCClinesofftheboard.Wesolder
themascontinuoussolderlines.Thismakesitveryeasytoidentifywhatis
GND/VCCandwhatissignallines.
IftheVCCandGNDlinesneedstocrosspaths,simplyrouteoneofthemover
theotherusingapieceofwireonthetopsideofthePCB.
Inthefirstpictureyoucanseesomesoldertracesinplace.
Thetwohorizontaltracesisthe"mainpowerbus".ThelowestoneisVCCand
thetoponeisGND.ForeveryrowofICsaGNDandVCClineisforkedoffthe
mainpowerbus.TheGNDlinerunsundertheICs,andtheVCClinerunsunder
theresistors.
Wewentalittleoverboardwhenmakingstraightwireforthecube,andhad
somepiecesleftover.WeusedthatfortheVCClinethatrunsunderthe
resistors.
Inthebottomrightcorner,youcanseethatwehavestartedsolderingthe8+1bit
busconnectingallthelatchICs.Lookhoweasyitistoseewhatissignalwires
andwhatispowerdistribution!
Inthesecondpicture,youcanseetheboardrightsideup,withsomeadditional
componentssolderedin,justignorethemforthemoment.
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ForeverylatchIC(74HC574),thereisa100nF(0.1uF)ceramiccapacitor.
Thesearenoisereductioncapacitors.Whenthecurrentontheoutputpinsare
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switchedonandoff,thiscancausethevoltagetodropenoughtomesswiththe
LEDCube8x8x8 by
internalworkingsoftheICs,forasplitsecond.Thisisunlikely,butit'sbetterto
besafethansorry.Debuggingacircuitwithnoiseissuescanbeveryfrustrating.
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Besides,capacitorsmakethecircuitlookthatmuchcoolerandprofessional!The
100nFcapacitorsmakesurethatthereissomecurrentavailablerightnexttothe
ICincasethereisasuddendropinvoltage.Wereadsomewherethatitis
commonengineeringpracticetoplacea100nFcapacitornexttoeveryIC,"Use
themlikecandy".Wetendtofollowthatprinciple.
Beloweachrowofresistors,youcanseeatinypieceofwire.ThisistheVCC
linemakingalittlejumptothetopsideoftheboardtocrossthemainGNDline.
Wealsoaddedacapacitoronthefarendofthemainpowerbus,forgood
measure.
Step36:Buildthecontroller:ConnecttheICs,8bitbus+OE
(/file/FUOUVFTGI0TDNOZ/)
Inthepicture,you'llnoticealotofwireshavecomeintoplace.
Allthetinybluewiresmakeupthe8+1bitbusthatconnectsallthelatchICs.8
bitsarefordata,andthe+1bitistheoutputenableline.
Atthetopoftheboard,wehaveaddeda16pinconnector.Thisconnectsthe
latchboardtothemicrocontrollerboard.Nexttothat,youseethe74HC138.
ThetinybluewiresareKynarwire.Thisisa30or32AWG(americanwire
gauge)wire.Verytiny.Weloveworkingwiththistypeofwire.Becauseitisso
thin,itdoesn'ttakeupthatmuchspaceonthecircuitboard.Ifwehadused
thickerwire,youwouldn'tbeabletoseetheboardthroughallthewires.Kynar
wireiscoatedwithtin,soyoucansolderdirectlyafterstrippingit.Noneedfor
pretinning.ThetinybluewiresareconnectedtothesamepinoneverylatchIC.
Fromtheconnectoratthetop,youcansee8greenwiresconnectedtothebus.
LEDCube8x8x8
by
Thisisthe8bitdatabus.Weuseddifferentcolorsfordifferentfunctionsto
bettervisualizehowthecircuitisbuilt.
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Theorangewireconnectedtothebusistheoutputenable(OE)line.
Ontherighthandsideoftheconnector,thefirstpinisconnectedtoground.
Step37:Buildthecontroller:Addressselector
(/file/FFCWI1TGICYB1D8/)
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The74HC138isresponsiblefortogglingtheclockpinonthe74HC574latch
ICs.Wecallthisanaddressselectorbecauseitselectswhichoneofthe8bytes
inthelatcharraywewanttowritedatato.Thethreebluewiresrunningfromthe
connectortothe74HC138isthe3bitbinaryinputusedtoselectwhichofthe8
outputsispulledlow.Fromeachoftheoutputsonthe74HC138,thereisawire
(white)runningtotheclockpinonthecorresponding74HC574latchIC.
StartbysolderingtheGNDandVCCconnections.Ifyouusethesoldertrace
methodtorunGND/VCClinesyouwanttodothisbeforeyousolderanyother
wiresinplace.A100nFceramicfilteringcapacitorisplacedclosetotheVCC
andGNDpinsofthe74HC138.
Thenconnecttheaddresslinesandthe8clocklines.
Ifyoulookcarefullyattheconnector,youcanseetwopinsthatarenotused.
ThesewillbeusedforabuttonanddebugLEDlater.
Step38:Buildthecontroller:AVRboard
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(/file/F47L5JEGICYB1EZ/)
(/file/F45JMFQGICYB1F5/)
(/file/FWEP48IGI0TMGRB/)
(/file/FDS0O6SGI0TMGRC/)
Braaaaainzz!!!
ThisboardisthebrainoftheLEDcube.ThemaincomponentisanAtmelAVR
ATmega32.
Thisisan8bitmicrocontrollerwith32KBofprogrammemoryand2KBRAM.
TheATmega32has32GPIO(GeneralPurposeIO)pins.Twoofthesewillbe
usedforserialcommunication(TX+RX).ThreeIOpinsareusedforISP(In
circuitSerialProgramming).Thisleavesuswith27GPIOtodrivetheLEDcube,
buttonsandstatusLEDs.
Agroupof8GPIO(8bits,onebyte)iscalledaport.TheATmega32has4ports.
PORTA,PORTB,PORTCandPORTD.OnPORTCandPORTDsomeofthe
pinsareusedforTX/RXandISP.OnPORTAandPORTB,allthepinsare
available.Weusetheseportstodrivethedatabusofthelatcharrayandlayer
selecttransistorarray.
PORTAisconnectedtothedatabusonthelatcharray.
EachpinonPORTCisconnectedtoapairoftransistorsthatdriveaground
layer.
Theaddressselectoronthelatcharray(74HC138)isconnectedtobit02on
PORTB.Outputenable(OE)isconnectedtoPORTBbit3.
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Inthefirstimage,youseetheAVRboardrightsideup.
Thelarge40pinPDIP(PlasticDualInlinePackage)chipinthecenterofthe
(/contest/epilog/)
boardistheATmega32,thebrainz!JusttotheleftoftheATmega,youseethe
LEDCube8x8x8 by
crystaloscillatorandit'stwocapacitors.OneithersideoftheATmegathereisa
100nFfilteringcapacitor.OneforGND/VCCandoneforAVCC/GND.
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Inthetopleftcorner,thereisatwopinconnectorsandtwofilteringcapacitors.
One10uFandone100nF.TheLEDisjustconnectedtoVCCviaaresistor,and
indicatespoweron.
Thelarge16pinconnectordirectlyabovetheATmegaconnectstothelatch
arrayboardviaaribboncable.Thepinoutonthiscorrespondstothepinouton
theotherboard.
Thesmaller10pinconnectortotheleft,isastandardAVRISPprogramming
header.IthasGND,VCC,RESET,SCK,MISOandMOSI,whichareusedfor
programming.Nexttoit,thereisajumper.Whenthisisinplace,theboardcan
bepoweredfromtheprogrammer.
Caution:DONOTpowertheboardfromtheprogrammerwhentheactualLED
cubeisconnectedtothecontroller.Thiscouldpossiblyblowtheprogrammer
andeventheUSBporttheprogrammerisconnectedto!
Thesecondimageshowstheunderside.AgainallGNDandVCClinesare
solderedastracesontheprotoboardorbarewire.Wehadsomemoreleftover
straightmetalwire,soweusedthis.
TheorangewiresconnecttheATmega'sRESET,SCK,MOSIandMISOpinsto
theISPprogrammingheader.
TheGreenwiresconnectPORTAtothedatabus.
Thebluewiresaretheaddressselectlinesforthe74HC138andoutputenable
(OE)forthelatcharray.
1)Startbyplacingthe40pinICsocket,the10pinISPconnectorwithajumper
nexttoitandthe16pindatabusconnector.
2)Solderinplacethepowerconnector,capacitorsandpowerindicatorLED.
3)ConnectalltheGNDandVCClinesusingsoldertracesorwire.Placea
100nFcapacitorbetweeneachpairofGND/VCCpinsontheATmega.
4)Solderinthecrystalandthetwo22pFcapacitors.Eachcapacitoris
connectedtoapinonthecrystalandGND.
5)Runallthedatabus,addressselectandOEwires,andtheISPwires.
Transistors,buttonsandRS232willbeaddedinlatersteps.
Atthistime,theAVRboardcanbeconnectedtoanISPprogrammerandthe
ATmegashouldberecognized.
Step39:Buildthecontroller:Transistorarray
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(/file/FM43HOUGI0TK43T/)
(/file/F9ZFMQ9GI0TK43P/)
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ThetransistorarrayisresponsibleforswitchingonandoffGNDforeachlayerin
theLEDcube.
Ourfirstattemptatthiswasanepicfail.Weboughtsometransistorsratedfor
over500mA,thinkingthatwouldbeplentyofjuice.Wedon'trememberthe
modelnumber.
TheLEDcubeworked,butitwasn'tverybright,andthebrightnesswas
inverselyproportionaltothenumberofLEDsswitchedoninanygivenlayer.In
additiontothat,therewassomeghosting.Layersdidn'tswitchcompletelyoff
whentheyweresupposedtobeoff.
Needlesstosay,wewerekindofdisappointed,andstarteddebugging.Thefirst
thingwedidwastoaddpullupresistorstotrytocombattheghosting.This
removedalmostalltheghosting,yay!Butthecubewasstillverydim,bah!
Wedidn'thaveanypowerfultransistorsorMOSFETslyingaround,sowehadto
comeupwithanothersolution.
WepostedathreadintheelectronicssectionoftheAVRFreaks.netforum,
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askingifitwaspossibletousetwosmallertransistorsinparallel.Thisistheonly
optionavailabletoususingthepartswehadonhand.Thegeneralresponse
was,thiswillneverworksodon'tevenbothertrying.Theyevenhadvalid
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theoriesandstuff,butthatdidn'tdeterusfromtrying.Itwasouronlysolution
LEDCube8x8x8 by
thatdidn'tinvolvewaitingfornewpartstoarriveinthemail.
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WeendeduptryingPN2222A,NPNgeneralpurposeamplifier.Ideally,you'd
wantaswitchingtransistorforthiskindofapplication,butweneeded16
transistorsofthesametype.Thistransistorwasratedat1000mAcurrent,sowe
decidedtogiveitatry.
Foreachlayer,weusedtwoPN2222Asinparallel.Thecollectorsconnected
togethertoGND.Theemittersconnectedtogether,thenconnectedtoaground
layer.Thebaseofeachtransistorswasconnectedtoit'sownresistor,andthe
tworesistorsconnectedtoanoutputpinontheATmega.
Wesolderedinallthetransistorsandturnedthethingonagain,anditworked,
perfectly!
Ifyouknowwhatyouaredoing,youshouldprobablydosomeresearchandfind
amoresuitabletransistororMOSFET.Butoursolutionistriedandtestedand
alsodoesthetrick!
1)Startbyplacingall8alltransistorsonthePBCandsolderingeachoftheir
pins.
2)Runasoldertracebetweenthetheemittersofall16transistors.Connectthis
soldertracetoGND.
3)Solderinaresistorforeachtransistor,thesoldertheresistorstogetherin
pairsoftwo.
4)RunkynarwirefromtheoutputpinsontheATmegatoeachofthe8resistor
pairs.
5)Soldertogetherthecollectorsofthetransistorsinpairsoftwoandrunsolder
traceorwirefromthecollectorpairstoan8pinheader.
Step40:Buildthecontroller:ButtonsandstatusLEDs
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(/file/F02189QGI0TMGRN/)
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(/file/FBX85NJGI0TMGRM/)
YoucanmakeaLEDcubewithoutanybuttonsatall,butit'snicetohaveat
leastonebuttonandsomestatusLEDsfordebugging.
WeaddedoneawesomelookingbuttonwithtwobuiltinLEDs,andoneregular
buttonwithanLED.
ThefirstbuttonismountedonthelatcharrayPCB,sincethiswillsitontopof
theAVRboard,andwewantthebuttoneasilyaccessible.Thewiresarerouted
throughtheribboncable.ThesecondbuttonandLEDsitsontheAVRboard
andwasmostlyusedfordebuggingduringconstruction.
ThebuttonsareconnectedbetweenGNDandtheIOpinontheATmega.An
internalpullupresistorinsidetheATmegaisusedtopullthepinhighwhenthe
buttonisnotpressed.Whenthebuttonispressed,theIOpinispulledlow.A
logic0indicatesthatabuttonhasbeenpressed.
TheLEDsarealsoconnectedbetweenGNDandtheIOpinviaaresistorof
appropriatesize.Don'tconnectanLEDtoamicrocontrollerIOpinwithout
havingaresistorconnectedinseries.Theresistoristheretolimitthecurrent,
andskippingitcanblowtheIOportonyourmicrocontroller.
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Tofindtheappropriateresistor,justplugtheledintoabreadboardandtest
differentresistorswitha5vpowersupply.Choosetheresistorsthatmakethe
(/contest/epilog/)
LEDlightupwiththebrightnessyouwant.IfyouuseLEDswithdifferentcolors,
LEDCube8x8x8 by
youshouldtestthemsidebyside.DifferentcolorLEDsusuallyrequiredifferent
resistorstoreachthesamelevelofbrightness.
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WewillleaveituptoyoutodecidetheplacementofyourstatusLEDs,butyou
canseeinthepicturesbelowhowwedidit:
Step41:Buildthecontroller:RS232
(/file/FRSSY2QGICYB1I2/)
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Togetthetrulyamazinganimations,weneedtoconnecttheLEDcubetoaPC.
ThePCcandofloatingpointcalculationsthatwouldhavetheAVRworkingin
slowmotion.
TheATmegahasabuiltinserialinterfacecalledUSART(Universal
SynchronousandAsynchronousserialReceiverandTransmitter).
TheUSARTcommunicatesusingTTLlevels(0/5volts).Thecomputertalks
serialusingRS232.ThesignallevelsforRS232areanywherefrom+/5voltsto
+/15volts.
ToconverttheserialsignalsfromthemicrocontrollertosomethingtheRS232
portonaPCcanunderstand,andviceversa,weusetheMaximMAX232IC.
Actually,thechipweareusingisn'tfromMaxim,butitisapincompatibleclone.
Therearesome100nFceramiccapacitorssurroundingtheMAX232.The
MAX232usesinternalchargepumpsandtheexternalcapacitorstostepupthe
voltagetoappropriateRS232levels.Oneofthe100nFcapacitorsisafilter
capacitor.
TheRS232connectorisata90degreeangleforeasyaccesswhenthelatch
arrayboardismountedontopoftheAVRboard.Weuseda4pinconnectorand
cutoneofthepinsouttomakeapolarizedconnector.Thisremovesany
confusionastowhichwaytoplugintheRS232cable.
InthesecondpictureyoucanseetwoyellowwiresrunningfromtheATmegato
theMAX232.ThesearetheTTLlevelTXandRXlines.
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1)ConnecttheGNDandVCCpinsusingsoldertraceorwire.Placea100nF
capacitorclosetotheGNDandVCCpins.
2)Solderinplacetherestofthe100nFcapacitors.Youcansolderthesewith
LEDCube8x8x8
by
soldertraces,soitsbesttodothisbeforeyouconnectthetx/rxwires.
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3)Solderinplacea4pin0.1"headerwithonepinremoved.Connectthepin
nexttotheonethatwasremovedtoGND.
4)Connectthetx/rxinputlinestothemicrocontroller,andthetx/rxoutputlines
tothe4pinheader.
Thewiresgoingtothe4pinheaderarecrossedbecausethefirstserialcable
weusedhadthispinout.
Step42:Buildthecontroller:MakeanRS232cable
(/file/FFCF3PVGI0TK2Q0/)
(/file/FS1EWQ8GI0TMGRW/)
(/file/F1MDKJEGICYB1J4/)
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ToconnecttheLEDcubetoaserialportonyourcomputer,youneedtomakea
serialcablewithafemaleDSub9pinconnector.
Ouremployerdeployed70Ethernetswitcheswithmanagementlastyear.With
eachswitchcomesanRS232cablethatisneverused.Weliterallyhadabig
pileofRS232cable,sowedecidedtomodifyoneofthose.
OntheLEDcube,a0.1"pinheaderisused,sotheRS232cableneedsanew
connectoronthecubeside.
Wedidn'thavea4pinfemale0.1"connector,soweuseda4pinfemalePCB
headerinstead.
TheconnectorontheLEDcubePCBhasonepinremoved,tovisualizethe
directionalityoftheconnector.Thepinnumbersgoesfromrighttoleft.
PinoutoftheRS232connector:
1)GND(DSub9pin5)
2)Notconnected
3)RX(DSub9pin3)
4)TX(DSub9pin2)
FollowthesestepstomakeyourownRS232cable:
1)Cutoftheconnectoratoneendofthecable.Ifyourcablehasafemaleanda
maleconnector,makesuretoremovethemaleconnector!
2)Stripawaytheoutersheathontheendwhereyouremovedtheconnector.
3)Stripallthewiresinside.
4)Setyourmultimetertocontinuitytestmode.Thismakesthemultimeterbeep
whentheprobesareconnected.Ifyourmultimeterdoesn'thavethisoption,use
theresistancemode.Itshouldgetcloseto0ohmwhenyouconnecttheprobes.
5)ConnectonemultimeterprobetotheDSub9'spin5,thenprobeallthewires
untilyouthemultimeterbeeps.YouhavenowidentifiedthecolorofGNDinyour
cable.Repeatforpin2and3(TXandRX).
6)Writedownthecolorsyouidentified,thencutofftheotherwires.
7)Cutthethreewiresdowntosize,30mmshoulddo.
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8)Pretinthewirestomakesolderingeasier.Justapplyheatandsoldertothe
strippedwires.
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9)Slideashrinktubeoverthecable.Slidethreesmallershrinktubesoverthe
individualwires.
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10)Solderthewirestotheconnector.
11)Shrinkthesmallertubesfirst,thenthelargeone.Ifyouusealighter,don't
holdtheshrinktubeabovetheflame,justholditclosetothesideoftheflame.
Don'tmakeyourcablebasedonthecolorsweused.Testthecabletofindthe
correctcolors.
Step43:Buildthecontroller:Connecttheboards
(/file/F0PJT0OGICYB3E2/)
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Thetwoboardsareconnectedbytwocables:
AribboncablefortheDATAandAddressBUS.
A2wirecableforGNDandVCC.
Afterconnectingthesetwocables,yourboardiscomplete.
Step44:Buildthecontroller:Connectthecube
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(/file/FERUACCGICYB1O0/)
(/file/FPC6VY7GICYB1O4/)
(/file/FZGJCSYGI0TDNV9/)
(/file/FMJ7V6HGI0TMHB1/)
Connecttheribboncablesaccordingtothepinoutsshowninpicture2and3.
Thegroundlayerribboncableconnectstothepinheadernearthetransistor
array.Ifthecubeisupsidedown,justplugitintheotherway.
Step45:ProgramtheAVR:Setthefusebits
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(/file/FAC2E2EGI0TMHE8/)
(/file/F79FMGCGI0TMGS5/)
(/file/FUH6PI2GI0TK2QA/)
(/file/FI60DJNGI0TDNVG/)
(/file/FED6901GICYB1P3/)
TheATmega32hastwofusebytes.Thesecontainsettingsthathavetobe
loadedbeforetheCPUcanstart,likeclocksourceandotherstuff.Youhaveto
programyourATmegatouseanexternalhighspeedcrystaloscillatorand
disableJTAG.
Wesetthelowerfusebyte(lfuse)to0b11101111,andthehighfusebyteto
0b11001001.(0bmeansthateverythingafterthebisinbinary).
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WeusedavrdudeandUSBtinyISP(http://www.ladyada.net/make/usbtinyisp/)to
programourATmega.
(/contest/epilog/)
Inallthefollowingexamples,wewillbeusinganUbuntuLinuxcomputer.The
LEDCube8x8x8
by
commandsshouldbeidenticalifyourunavrdudeonWindows.
avrdudecusbtinypm32Ulfuse:w:0b11101111:m
avrdudecusbtinypm32Uhfuse:w:0b11001001:m
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Warning:Ifyougetthiswrong,youcouldeasilybrickyourATmega!Ifyoufor
exampledisabletheresetbutton,youwon'tbeabletoreprogramit.Ifyou
selectthewrongclocksource,itmightnotbootatall.
Step46:ProgramtheAVRwithtestcode
(/file/FOSNXR5GI0TK2QC/)
(/file/FDG4UZQGI0TDNVP/)
(/file/F5T13Q6GI0TMGSL/)
TimetotestifyourbrandnewLEDcubeactuallyworks!
WehavepreparedasimpletestprogramtocheckifalltheLEDsworkandif
theyarewiredcorrectly.
Youcandownloadthefirmwaretest.hexinthisstep,ordownloadthesource
codeandcompileityourself.
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Asinthepreviousstep,weuseavrdudeforprogramming:
avrdudecusbtinypm32B1Uflash:w:test.hex
(/contest/epilog/)
LEDCube8x8x8 by
cusbtinyspecifiesthatweareusingtheUSBtinyISPfromLadyadapm32
specifiesthatthedeviceisanATmega32B1tellsavrdudetoworkatahigher
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thandefaultspeed.Uflash:w:test.hexspecifiesthatweareworkingonflash
memory,inwritemode,withthefiletest.hex.
test.hex(/files/orig/FQX/H9M5/GICYB93T/FQXH9M5GICYB93T.tmp)
Step47:Testthecube
(/file/FLU2HHFGICYB1R3/)
Thetestcodeyouprogrammedinthepreviousstepwillletyouconfirmthat
everythingiswiredupcorrectly.
Itwillstartbydrawingaplanealongoneaxis,thenmovingitalongall8
positionsofthataxis.(byplanewemeanaflatsurface,notanairplane:p)The
testcodewilltraverseaplanethroughallthreeaxis.
Afterthat,itwilllighttheLEDsinalayeronebyone,startingatthebottomlayer.
Ifanyofthelayersorcolumnsseemtolightupinthewrongorder,youhave
probablysolderedthewrongwiretothewronglayerorcolumn.Wehadone
mistakeinourcube)
Ifyoufindanythingthatisoutoforder,justdesolderthewiresandsolderthem
backintherightorder.Youcouldofcoursemakeaworkaroundinsoftware,but
thatwouldeatCPUcycleseverytimetheinterruptroutineruns.
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Youcancompareyourcubetothetestvideobelow:
(/contest/epilog/)
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Step48:ProgramtheAVRwithrealcode
(/file/F3XMRIDGICYB1RZ/)
(/file/FIIHXWNGI0TMGST/)
(/file/FG5Q7SVGI0TK2QP/)
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Soeverythingcheckedoutinthetest.It'stimetoprogramtheATmegawiththe
realfirmware!
Forthemostpart,theprocessisthesameasinthepreviousprogrammingstep.
ButinadditionyouhavetoprogramtheEEPROMmemory.TheLEDcubehasa
basicbitmapfontstoredinEEPROM,alongwithsomeotherdata.
Firmwareisprogrammedusingthesameprocedureaswiththetestcode.
Firmware:
avrdudecusbtinypm32B1Uflash:w:main.hex
EEPROM:
avrdudecusbtinypm32B1Ueeprom:w:main.eep
Ueeprom:w:main.eepspecifiesthatweareaccessingEEPROMmemory,in
writemode.AvrgccputsalltheEEPROMdatainmain.eep.
Ifyoudon'twanttoplayaroundwiththecode,yourLEDcubeisfinishedatthis
point.Butwerecommendthatyouspendsometimeonthesoftwaresideof
thingsaswell.That'satleastasmuchfunasthehardware!
Ifyoudownloadthebinaryfiles,youhavetochangethefilenamesinthe
commandstothenameofthefilesyoudownloaded.Ifyoucompilefromsource
thenameismain.hexandmain.eep.
ledcube_8x8x8_eeprom.eep
(/files/orig/F53/QFDQ/GICYB944/F53QFDQGICYB944.tmp)
ledcube_8x8x8.hex(/files/orig/FVZ/Y8K2/GICYB945/FVZY8K2GICYB945.tmp)
Step49:Software:Introduction
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(/file/FI2CBSYGICYB7KV/)
ThesoftwareiswritteninCandcompiledwiththeopensourcecompileravr
gcc.ThisisthemainreasonweuseAtmelAVRmicrocontrollers.ThePIC
seriesfromMicrochipisalsoanicechoice,butmostoftheCcompilerscost
money,andthefreeversionshavelimitationsoncodesize.
TheAVRrouteismuchmorehasslefree.Justaptgetinstalltheavrgcc
compiler,andyou'reinbusiness.
ThesoftwareontheAVRconsistsoftwomaincomponents,thecubeinterrupt
routineandeffectcodeformakingfancyanimations.
Whenwefinallyfinishedsoldering,wethoughtthiswouldbetheeasypart.Butit
turnsoutthatmakinganimationsinmonochromeatlowresolutionsisharder
thanitsounds.
Ifthedisplayhadahigherresolutionandmorecolors,wecouldhaveusedsin()
andcos()functionsandallthattomakefancyeyecandy.Withtwocolors(on
andoff)andlowresolution,wehavetousealotofif()andfor()tomake
anythingmeaningful.
Inthenextfewsteps,wewilltakeyouonatourofsomeoftheanimationswe
madeandhowtheywork.Ourgoalistogiveyouanunderstandingofhowyou
canmakeanimations,andinspireyoutocreateyourown!Ifyoudo,pleasepost
avideointhecomments!
ledcube_8x8x8v0.1.2.tar.gz
(/files/orig/FJG/AU0K/GICYB94U/FJGAU0KGICYB94U.tmp)
Step50:Software:Howitworks
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Asmentionedinthepreviousstep,thesoftwareconsistsoftwopars.The
interruptroutineandtheeffectcode.
Communicationbetweenthesetwohappensviaavoxelarray.Thisarrayhasa
bitforeveryLEDintheLEDcube.Wewillrefertothisasthecubearrayorcube
bufferfromnowon.
Thecubearrayismadeof8x8bytes.Sinceeachbyteis8bits,thisgivesusa
bufferthatis8voxelswide,8woxelshighand8voxelsdeep(1bytedeep).
volatileunsignedcharcube[8][8]
Theinterruptroutinereadsfromthecubearrayatgivenintervalsanddisplays
theinformationontheLEDcube.
TheeffectfunctionswritesthedesiredLEDstatusestothisarray.
Wedidnotuseanysynchronizationordoublebuffering,sincethereisonlyone
producer(eithertheeffectscurrentlyrunning,orinputfromRS232)andone
consumer(theinterruptcodethatupdatesthecube).Thismeansthatsome
voxelscouldbefromthenextorprevious"frame",butthisisnotaproblem,
sincetheframerateissohigh.
Whenworkingwithmicrocontrollers,codesizeiscritical.Tosavecodesizeand
programmingwork,andtomakethecodeeasiertoread,wehavetriedtowrite
reusablecodeasoftenaspossible.
TheLEDcubecodehasabaseoflowleveldrawingfunctionsthatareusedby
thehigherleveleffectfunctions.Thedrawfunctionscanbefoundindraw.c.
Drawfunctionsincludeeverythingfromsettingorclearingasinglevoxelto
drawinglinesandwireframeboxes.
Step51:Software:IOinitialization
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(/file/FC0CBMRGICYB7YO/)
(/file/F75D9SJGICYB7YN/)
ThefirstthingtheATmegadoesafterboot,istocalltheioinit()function.
ThisfunctionsetsupIOports,timers,interruptsandserialcommunications.
AllIOportsontheATmegaarebidirectional.Theycanbeusedeitherasan
inputoranoutput.Weconfigureeverythingasoutputs,excepttheIOpinswhere
thetwobuttonsareconnected.TheRXpinfortheseriallineautomatically
becomesaninputwhenUSARTRXisenabled.
1)DDRxsetsthedatadirectionoftheIOpins.(DataDirectionRegister).1
meansoutput,0meansinput.
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2)Afterdirectionalityhasbeenconfigured,wesetalloutputsto0toavidany
blinkingLEDsetcbeforetheinterrupthasstarted.
(/contest/epilog/)
LEDCube8x8x8 by
3)Forpinsconfiguredasinputs,thePORTxbitchangesitsfunction.Settinga1
inthePORTxregisterbitenablesaninternalpullupresistor.Theportispulled
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uptoVCC.ThebuttonsareconnectedbetweentheportandGND.Whena
buttonispressedthecorrespondingPINxbitreadsalogic0.
4)Timer2isconfiguredandatimerinterruptenabled.Thisiscoveredina
separatestep.
5)Serialcommunicationsisconfiguredandenabled.Thisisalsocoveredina
separatestep.
Step52:Software:Modeselectionandrandomseed
(/file/F1B8RBNGI0TK45B/)
Whenwefirststartedwritingeffectsanddebuggingthem,wenoticedthatthe
functionsusingrandomnumbersdisplayedtheexactsameanimationsevery
time.Itwasrandomalright,butthesamerandomsequenceeverytime.Turns
outtherandomnumbergeneratorintheATmeganeedstobeseededwitha
randomnumbertocreatetruerandomnumbers.
Wewroteasmallfunctioncalledbootwait().Thisfunctionservestwopurposes.
1)Createarandomseed.2)Listenforbuttonpressestoselectmodeof
operation.
Itdoesthefollowing:
1)Setcounterxto0.
2)Startaninfiniteloop,while(1).
3)Incrementcounterxbyone.
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4)Usexasarandomseed.
5)Delayforawhileandsetredstatusledon.
6)Checkforbuttonpresses.Ifthemainbuttonispressed,thefunctionreturns1.
LEDCube8x8x8
by
IfthePGMbuttonispresseditreturnes2.Thereturnstatementsexitsthe
functionthusendingtheinfiniteloop.
h
7)Delayagainandsetgreenledon.
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(/id/LedCube8x8x8/)
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8)Checkforbuttonpressesagain.
9)Loopforeveruntilabuttonispressed.
Thelooploopsveryfast,sotheprobabilitythatyouwillstopitatthesamevalue
ofxtwotimesinarowisveryremote.Thisisaverysimplebuteffectivewayto
getagoodrandomseed.
Bootwait()iscalledfromthemain()functionanditsreturnvalueassignedtothe
variablei.
Ifi==1,themainloopstartsaloopthatdisplayseffectsgeneratedbythe
ATmega.Ifi==2,itentersintoRS232modeandwaitsfordatafroma
computer.
Step53:Software:Interruptroutine
(/file/FJUHIM1GI0TK2QT/)
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TheheartoftheLEDcubecodeistheinterruptroutine.
Everytimethisinterruptruns,thecubeiscleared,dataforthenewlayeris
loadedontothelatcharray,andthenewlayerisswitchedon.Thisremainson
untilthenexttimetheinterruptruns,wherethecubeisclearedagain,datafor
thenextlayerisloadedontothelatcharray,andthenextlayerisswitchedon.
TheATmega32has3timer/counters.Thesecanbesettocountcontinuously
andtriggeraninterruptroutineeverytimetheyreachacertainnumber.The
counterisresetwhentheinterruptroutineiscalled.
WeuseTimer2withaprescalerof128andanOutputComparevalueof10.
Thismeansthatthecounterisincrementedby1forevery128thcpucycle.
WhenTimer2reaches10,itisresetto0andtheinterruptroutineiscalled.With
acpufrequencyof14745600Hz,128prescalerandoutputcompareof10,the
interruptroutineiscalledevery1408thCPUcycle(128*11)or10472.7timesper
second.Itdisplaysonelayeratatime,soittakes8runsoftheinterrupttodraw
theentirecubeonce.Thisgivesusarefreshrateof1309FPS(10472.7/8).At
thisrefreshrate,theLEDcubeis100%flickerfree.Somemightsaythat1300
FPSisoverkill,buttheinterruptroutineisquiteefficient.Atthishighrefreshrate,
itonlyusesabout21%oftheCPUtime.Wecanmeasurethisbyattachingan
oscilloscopetotheoutputenableline(OE).Thisispulledhighatthestartof
eachinterruptandlowattheend,soitgivesaprettygoodindicationofthetime
spentinsidetheinterruptroutine.
Beforeanytimedinterruptscanstart,wehavetosetuptheTimer2.Thisis
doneintheioinit()function.
TCCR2(TimerCounterControlRegister2)isan8bitregisterthatcontains
settingsforthetimerclocksourceandmodeofoperation.Weselectaclock
sourcewitha1/128prescaler.ThismeansthatTimer/counter2isincrementet
by1every128thCPUcycle.
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WesetittoCTCmode.(ClearonTimerCompare).Inthismode,thecounter
valueTCNT2iscontinuouslycomparedtoOCR2(OutputCompareRegister2).
EverytimeTCNT2reachesthevaluestoredinOCR2,itisresetto0andstarts
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countingfromfrom0.Atthesametime,aninterruptistriggeredandtheinterrupt
LEDCube8x8x8 by
routineiscalled.
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Foreveryrunoftheinterrupt,thefollowingtakesplace:
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1)Allthelayertransistorsareswitchedoff.
2)Outputenable(OE)ispulledhightodisableoutputfromthelatcharray.
3)Alooprunsthroughi=07.ForeverypassabyteisoutputedontheDATA
busandthei+1isoutputedontheaddressbus.Weaddthe+1becausethe
74HC138hasactivelowoutputsandthe74HC574clocklineistriggeredonthe
risingedge(transitionfromlowtohigh).
4)Outputenableispulledlowtoenableoutputfrothelatcharrayagain.
5)Thetransistorforthecurrentlayerisswitchedon.
6)current_layerisincrementedorresetto0ifitmovesbeyond7.
That'sit.Theinterruptroutineisquitesimple.I'msuretherearesome
optimizationswecouldhaveused,butnotwithoutcompromisinghuman
readabilityofthecode.Forthepurposeofthisinstructable,wethinkreadability
isareasonabletradeoffforaslightincreaseinperformance.
Step54:Software:Lowlevelfunctions
(/file/F4NM6VYGICYB7QH/)
Wehavemadeasmalllibraryoflowlevelgraphicfunctions.
Therearethreemainreasonsfordoingthis.
Memoryfootprint
Theeasiestwaytoaddresseachvoxelwouldbethroughathreedimensional
bufferarray.Likethis:
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unsignedcharcube[x][y][z](charmeansan8bitnumber,unsignedmeansthat
it'srangeisfrom0to255.signedis128to+127)
(/contest/epilog/)
Withinthisarrayeachvoxelwouldberepresentedbyaninteger,where0isoff
LEDCube8x8x8
by
and1ison.Infact,youcouldusetheentireintegerandhave256different
brightnesslevels.Weactuallytriedthisfirst,butitturnedoutthatoureBayLEDs
hadverylittlechangeinbrightnessinrelationtodutycycle.Theeffectwasn't
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noticeableenoughtobeworththetrouble.Wewentforamonochromesolution.
Onandoff.
Withamonochromecubeandathreedimensionalbuffer,wewouldbewasting
7/8ofthememoryused.Thesmallestamountofmemoryyoucanallocateis
onebyte(8bits),andyouonlyneed1bittorepresentonandoff.7bitsforeach
voxelwouldbewasted.512*(7/8)=448bytesofwastedmemory.Memoryis
scarceonmicrocontrollers,sothisisasuboptimalsolution.
Instead,wecreatedabufferthatlookslikethis:
unsignedcharcube[z][y]
InthisbuffertheXaxisisrepresentedwithineachofthebytesinthebuffer
array.Thiscanbequiteconfusingtoworkwith,whichbringsustothesecond
reasonformakingalibraryoflowleveldrawingfunctions:
Codereadability
Settingavoxelwiththecoordinatesx=4,y=3,z=5willrequirethefollowing
code:
cube[5][3]|=(0x01<<4)
Youcanseehowthiscouldleadtosomeseriousheadscratchingwhentryingto
debugyoureffectcode)
Indraw.cwehavemadeabunchoffunctionsthattakesx,y,zasargumentsand
doesthismagicforyou.
Settingthesamevoxelasintheexampleaboveisdonewithsetvoxel(4,3,5),
whichis_alot_easiertoread!
draw.ccontainsmanymorefunctionslikethis.Linedrawing,planedrawing,box
drawing,fillingetc.Havealookindraw.candfamiliarizeyourselfwiththe
differentfunctions.
Reusablecodeandcodesize
Asyoucanseeindraw.c,someofthefunctionsarequitelarge.Writingthat
codeoverandoveragaininsideeffectfunctionswouldtakeupalotofprogram
memory.Weonlyhave32KBtoworkwith.Itsalsoboringtowritethesame
codeoverandoveragain)
Step55:Software:Cubevirtualspace
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(/file/FAZUJHTGI0TK2R0/)
(/file/FW9XO31GI0TDNZV/)
(/file/F4JKMDEGI0TDNZW/)
(/file/FCTXDX6GI0TK2QY/)
(/file/FJAKB9RGI0TK2QZ/)
(/file/FYKX4F6GI0TMGTQ/)
Nowthatwehaveacubebufferandanicelittlecollectionoflowleveldraw
functionstopopulateit,weneedtoagreeonwhichwaysiswhat,andwhatisup
andwhatisdown)
Fromnowon,thenativepositionoftheLEDcubewillbewiththecablescoming
outtotheleft.
Inthisorientation,theYaxisgoesfromlefttoright.TheXaxisgoesfromfrontto
back.TheZaxisgoesfrombottomtotop.
Coordinatesinthisinstructableisalwaysrepresentedasx,y,z.
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Position0,0,0isthebottomleftfrontcorner.Position7,7,7isthetoprightback
corner.
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WhydidweusetheYaxisforleft/rightandXforback/front?Shouldn'titbethe
LEDCube8x8x8
by
otherwayaround?Yes,wethinksotoo.WedesignedthetheLEDcubetobe
viewedfromthe"front"withthecablescomingouttheback.However,thiswas
quiteimpracticalwhenhavingtheLEDcubeonthedesk,itwasmorepractical
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tohavethecablescomingouttheside,andhavingcubeandcontrollersideby
side.Alltheeffectfunctionsaredesignedtobeviewedfromthisorientation.
Step56:Software:Effectlauncher
(/file/F8GTGAIGICYB83H/)
(/file/FTG5NCKGICYB836/)
(/file/FK06M68GICYB835/)
Wewantedaneasywaytoruntheeffectsinafixedorderorarandomorder.
Thesolutionwastocreateaneffectlauncherfunction.
launch_effect.ccontainsthefunctionlaunch_effect(inteffect).
Insidethefunctionthereisaswitch()statementwhichcallstheappropriate
effectfunctionsbasedonthenumberlaunch_effect()wascalledwith.
Inlaunch_effect.hEFFECTS_TOTALisdefined.Wesetitonenumberhigher
thanthehighestnumberinsidetheswitch()statement.
Launchingtheeffectsonebyoneisnowasimplematterofjustloopingthrough
thenumbersandcallinglaunch_effect(),likethis:
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LEDCube8x8x8 by
while(1)
for(i=0i<EFFECTS_TOTALi++)
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launch_effect(i)
}
}
Thiscodewillloopthroughalltheeffectsinincrementalorderforever.
Ifyouwantthecubetodisplayeffectsinarandomorder,justusethefollowing
code:
while(1)
{
launch_effect(rand()%EFFECTS_TOTAL)
}
The%EFFECTS_TOTALafterrand()keepstherandomvaluebetween0and
EFFECTS_TOTAL1.
Step57:Software:Effect1,rain
(/file/FOY1PD8GICYB274/)
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(/file/FA0NK40GI0TDO2S/)
(/file/FV1C9SZGICYB866/)
Letsstartwithoneofthesimplesteffects.
Ineffect.cyouwillfindthefunctioneffect_rain(intiterations).
Thiseffectaddsraindropstothetoplayerofthecube,thenletsthemfalldown
tothebottomlayer.
Mostoftheeffectshaveamainfor()loopthatloopsfromi=0toi<iterations.
effect_rain(intiterations)onlytakesoneargument,whichisthenumberof
iterations.
Insidetheiterationloop,thefunctiondoesthefollowing:
1)Createarandomnumberbetween0and3,letscallitnhere.
2)Loopafor()loopnnumberoftimes.
3)Foreachiterationofthisloop,placeapixelonlayer7(z=7)atrandomxand
ycoordinates.
4)Delayforawhile
5)ShiftthecontentsoftheentirecubealongtheZaxisby1positions.This
shiftseverythingdownonelevel.
Thisisaprettysimpleeffect,butitworks!
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Step58:Software:Effect2,planeboing
(/file/F6L3GT0GI0TMGUD/)
(/file/FV7BHEJGI0TDO33/)
(/file/FF2GNQRGI0TK2R7/)
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Anothersimpleeffect,effect_planboing(intplane,intspeed).
Thiseffectdrawsaplanealongthespecifiedaxisthenmovesitfromposition0
to7ontheaxisandbackagain.Thisisverysimple,butitreallybringsoutthe
depthofthe3dLEDcube:)
Thisfunctiondoesn'thaveaniterationloop.Insteaditiscalledtwiceforeach
axisinlaunch_effect().
Hereiswhatitdoes:
1)For()loopifrom0to7.
2)Clearthecubewithfill(0x00)
3)Callsetplane()todrawaplanealongthedesiredaxisatpositioni.Theplane
isn'tactuallydrawnontheaxisspecified,itisdrawnontheothertwoaxis.Ifyou
specifyAXIS_Z,aplaneisdrawnonaxisXandY.It'sjusteasiertothinkofit
thatway.InsteadofhavingconstantsnamedPLANE_XY,PLANE_YZetc.
4)Delayforawhile.
5)Repeatthesameloopwithigoingfrom7to0.
Verysimple,butaverycooleffect!
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Step59:Software:Effect3,sendvoxelsrandomZ
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(/file/F0HZ98RGICYB2DC/)
(/file/FNPKQC3GICYB2DI/)
(/file/F12GW2ZGICYB89G/)
(/file/FGC6CZ9GICYB89F/)
(/file/FTUBRCGGICYB89E/)
ThiseffectsendsvoxelsupanddowntheZaxis,astheimplies.
voidsendvoxels_rand_z()takesthreearguments.Iterationsisthenumberof
timesavoxelissentupordown.Delayisthespeedofthemovement(higher
delaymeanslowerspeed).Waitisthedelaybetweeneachvoxelthatissent.
Thisishowitworks:
1)Thecubeisclearedwithfill(0x00)
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2)Loopthroughall64positionsalongX/Yandrandomlysetavoxelateither
Z=0orZ=7.
(/contest/epilog/)
3)Enterthemainiterationloop
LEDCube8x8x8 by
4)SelectrandomcoordinatesforXandYbetween0and7.IftheXandY
coordinatesareidenticaltothepreviouscoordinates,thisiterationisskipped.
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5)CheckifthevoxelatthisX/YcoordinateisatZ=0orZ=7,andsendittothe
oppositesideusingsendvoxel_z().
6)Delayforawhileandsavethecoordinatesofthisiterationsowecancheck
themagainsttherandomcoordinatesinthenextiteration.Itlookedweirdto
movethesamevoxeltwiceinarow.
Theactualmovementofthevoxelsisdonebyanotherfunction,sendvoxel_z.
Thereasonforthis,isthatacoupleofothereffectsdoesthesamethingonlyin
differentways.
Thefunctionsendvoxel_z()takesfourargument.XandYcoordinates.Z
coordinate,thisisthedestinationandcaneitherbe0or7.Delaywhichcontrols
thespeed.
Thisishowitworks:
1)For()loopifrom0to7.
2)Ifthedestinationis7,wesetiito71,thusmakingiithereverseofi.Clearthe
voxelatZ=ii+1.Whenmovingdown,ii+1isthepreviousvoxel.
3)Ifthedestinationis0,letiibeequaltoi.Clearii1.Whenmovingupwards,1
isthepreviousvoxel.
4)Setthevoxelatz=ii.
5)Waitforawhile.
Step60:Software:Effect4,boxshrinkgrowandwoopwoop
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Awireframeboxisagoodgeometricshapetoshowinamonochrome8x8x8
LEDcube.Itgivesaverynice3deffect.
WemadetwoboxanimationfunctionsfortheLEDcube.
Effect_box_shrink_grow()drawsawireframeboxfillingtheentirecube,then
shrinksitdowntoonevoxelinoneof8corners.Wecallthisfunctiononetime
foreachofthe8cornerstocreateaniceeffect.Effect_box_woopwoop()draws
aboxthatstartsasa8x8x8wireframeboxfillingtheentirecube.Itthenshrinks
downtoa2x2x2boxatthecenterofthecube.Orinreverseifgrowisspecified.
Hereishoweffect_box_shrink_grow()works.
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Ittakesfourarguments,numberofiterations,rotation,flipanddelay.Rotation
specifiesrotationaroundtheZaxisat90degreeintervals.Flip>0flipsthecube
upsidedown.
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Tomakethefunctionassimpleaspossible,itjustdrawsaboxfrom0,0,0toany
pointalongthediagonalbetween0,0,0and7,7,7thenusesaxismirrorfunctions
fromdraw.ctorotateit.
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1)Entermainiterationloop.
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2)Enterafor()loopgoingfrom0to15.
3)Setxyzto7i.Thismakesxyzthereverseofi.Wewanttoshrinktheboxfirst,
thengrow.xyzisthepointalongthediagonal.Wejustusedonevariablesince
x,yandzareallequalalongthisdiagonal.
4)Wheni=7,theboxhasshrunktoa1x1x1box,andwecan'tshrinkitany
more.Ifiisgreaterthan7,xyzissettoi8,whichmakesxyztravelfrom0to7
whenitravelsfrom8to15.Wedidthistricktoavoidhavingtwoforloops,whith
onegoingfrom70andonefrom07.
5)Blankthecubeanddelayalittlebittomakesuretheblankingisrenderedon
thecube.Disabletheinterruptroutine.Wedothisbecausethemirrorfunctions
takesalittletime.Withoutdisablinginterrupts,thewireframeboxwouldflash
brieflyintheoriginalrotationbeforebeingdisplayedrotated.
6)Drawthewireframeboxinitsoriginalrotation.sideoftheboxisalwaysat
0,0,0whiletheothertravelsalongthediagonal.
7)Dotherotations.Ifflipisgreatherthan0,thecubeisturnedupsidedown.rot
takesanumberfrom0to3where0is0degreesofrotationaroundZand3is
270degrees.Toget270degreeswesimplymirroraroundXandY.
8)Enableinterruptstodisplaythenowrotatedcube.
9)Delayforawhilethenclearthecube.
Theotherfunctioninvolvedinthewireframeboxeffectis
effect_box_woopwoop().Thenamewoopwoopjustsoundednaturalwhenwe
firstsawtheeffectrenderedonthecube)
Thewoopwoopfunctiononlydoesoneiterationandtakestwoarguments,delay
andgrow.Ifgrowisgreaterthan0,theboxstartsasa2x2x2boxandgrowtoa
8x8x8box.
Hereishowitworks:
1)Clearthecubebyfillingthebufferwith0x00
2)For()loopfrom0to3.
4)Setiitoi.Ifgrowisspecifiedwesetitto3itoreverseit.
5)Drawawireframeboxcenteredalongthediagonalbetween0,0,0and7,7,7.
Onecorneroftheboxusesthecoordinates4+iionallaxes,movingfrom47.
Theothercorneruses3iionallaxes,movingfrom30.
6)Delayforawhile,thenclearthecube.
Thesetwofunctionsareusedasonesingleeffectintheeffectlauncher.Firstthe
shrinkgroweffectiscalled8times,oneforeachcorner,thenwoopwoopis
calledfourtimes,twoshrinkandgrowcycles.
Tolaunchtheshrinkgrowfunction,weusedaforloopwithsomeneatbit
manipulationtricksinsidetoavoidwriting8linesofcode.
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Thesecondargumentoftheshrinkgrowfunctionsistherotation,in4steps.We
arecountingfrom0to7,sowecan'tsimplyfeediintothefunction.Weusethe
modulooperator%tokeepthenumberinsidearangeof04.Themodulo
operatordividesbythenumberspecifiesandreturnstheremainder.
LEDCube8x8x8
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Thethirdargumentistheflip.Whenflip=0,thecubeisnotflipped.>0flips.We
usethebitwiseANDoperatortoonlyreadbit3ofi.
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Bitwiseoperatorsareanabsolutemusttoknowaboutwhenworkingwithmicro
controllers,butthatisoutsidethescopeofthisinstructable.Theguysoverat
AVRFreakshavepostedsomegreatinformationaboutthistopic.Youcanread
moreathttp://www.avrfreaks.net/index.php?
name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=37871
Step61:Software:Effect5,axisupdownrandsuspend
(/file/FR1A1UQGI0TK2RR/)
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(/file/FNOHKA1GI0TDO6E/)
(/file/FFMUVDMGICYB8IK/)
(/file/FET7XGYGICYB8IJ/)
Thisisoneofourfavoriteeffects.Thevoxelsrandomlysuspendedinthecube
givesanice3ddepth,especiallyifyoumoveyourheadwhileviewingtheeffect.
64voxelsstartoutononeofthesidewalls.Thentheyallgetassignedarandom
midwaydestinationbetweenthesidewalltheystartedatandthewallonthe
oppositeside.
Thefunctionthenloops8timesmovingeachvoxelclosertoitsmidway
destination.After8iterations,thevoxelsaresuspendedatdifferentdistances
fromwheretheystarted.Thefunctionthenpausesforawhile,thusthename
axis_updown_randsuspend).Itthenloops8timesagainmovingthevoxelsone
stepclosertotheirfinaldestinationontheoppositewalleachtime.
Theactualvoxeldrawingisdoneinaseparatefunction,draw_positions_axis()
soitcanbeusedindifferenteffects.Forexample,thevoxelscouldbe
suspendedmidwayinanonrandompattern.Wewillleaveituptoyoutocreate
thateffectfunction!:D
Youmayhavenoticedthatthedescriptionforthiseffectwaslessspecific.We
encourageyoutodownloadthesourcecodeandreadthroughthefunctions
yourself.Keepthetextaboveinmindwhenreadingthecode,andtrytofigure
outwhateverythingdoes.
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Step62:Software:Effect6,stringfly
(/file/FCLZ6E7GI0TK2TN/)
(/file/FPMP8MQGICYB2SX/)
(/file/FGSL22MGICYB8K3/)
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8x8isaboutthesmallestsizerequiredtorenderameaningfultextfont,sowe
justhadtodojustthat!
Weloadeda8x5bitmapfontthatwehadpreviouslyusedwithagraphicalLCD
displayintoEEPROMmemory,andcreatedsomefunctionsthattookanASCII
charasanargumentandreturnedabitmapofthecharacter.
Thefunctionstringfly2takesanyASCIIstringanddisplaysitascharactersflying
throughthecube.
Itstartsbyplacingthecharacteratthebackofthecube,thenusestheshift()
functiontoshiftthecubecontentstowardsyou,makingthetextfly.
Step63:Software:RS232input
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(/file/FAOTSERGI0TDP9U/)
(/file/FGM6DHPGI0TK89D/)
Togeneratethemostawesomeeffects,weuseadesktopcomputer.Computers
candofloatingpointcalculationsandstufflikethatmuchquickerthanamicro
controller.Andyoudon'thavetoreprogramthemicrocontrollerforeveryeffect
youmake,oreverytimeyouwanttotestordebugsomething.
TheUSARTinterfaceintheATmegaisconfiguredtoworkat38400baudwith
onestopbitandnoparity.Eachbytethatissentdownthelinehasastartbit
andastopbit,so10bitsissenttotransmit8bits.Thisgivesusabandwidthof
3840bytespersecond.Thecubebufferis64bytes.Syncingbytesmakeup2
bytespercubeframe.At38400baudweareabletosendabout58framesper
second.Morethanenoughforsmoothanimations.
0xffisusedasanescapecharacter,andputsthers232functionintoescape
mode.Ifthenextbyteis0x00,thecoordinatesforthebufferarerestoredto0,0.
Ifthenextbyteis0xff,itisaddedtothebuffer.Tosend0xff,yousimplysendit
twice.
Thers232functionjustloopsforever.Aresetisneededtoenterthecube's
autonomousmodeagain.
Step64:PCSoftware:Introduction
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ThecubejustreceivesbinarydataviaRS232.Thisdatacouldeasilybe
generatedbyanumberofdifferentprogramminglanguages,likepython,perlor
evenphp.
WechosetouseCforthePCsoftware,sincethemicrocontrollersoftwareis
writteninC.Thiswayeffectsfromthemicrocontrollercodecanjustbecopy
pastedintothePCsoftware.
Justlikeinthemicrocontrollercode,thiscodealsodoestwothings.Wherethe
microcontrollerhasaninterruptroutinethatdrawsthecontentsofcube[][]onto
theLEDcube,thePCsoftwarehasathreadthatcontinuallysendsdatatothe
LEDcube.
cube_pcv0.1.tar.gz(/files/orig/FDJ/3BMV/GICYBAHY/FDJ3BMVGICYBAHY.tmp)
Step65:PCSoftware:Cubeupdaterthread
(/file/F7IVR49GICYB7X3/)
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Incube.cwehaveafunctioncalledcube_push().Thistakesthe64bytearray
andsendsitdowntheseriallinetotheLEDcube.
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Italsohandlestheformatting,sendingevery0xffbytetwicebecause0xffisour
escapecharacter.0xffand0x00issentfirsttoresettheLEDcubesinternalx
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andycounters.
Inmain.cwehavethefunctioncube_updater().Thisfunctionislaunchedasa
separatethreadusingpthread_create().Themainthreadandthecubeupdater
threadsharesthememoryarears232_cube[8][8].Thecubeupdaterthreadis
justawhiletrueloopthatcallscube_push()overandover.
Thefirstattemptatanupdaterthreadturnedouttocreatesomeflickeringinthe
animations.Aftersomedebugging,wefoundoutthatframeswerebeing
transmittedbeforetheywerefullydrawnbytheeffectfunctions.Wegenerallydo
afill(0x00),thensomecodetodrawnewpixels.Ifaframeistransmittedright
afterafill(0x00),thecubewillflashanemptyframefor1/60thishofasecond.
Thiswasn'taprobleminthecoderunningontheLEDcube,sinceithasa
refreshrateofover1000FPS,butat60FPSyoucannoticeit.
Toovercomethiswecreateadoublebufferandsyncthetwobuffersatapoint
intimewheretheeffectfunctionhasfinisheddrawingtheframe.Luckilyallthe
effectfunctionsusethedelay_ms()functiontopausebetweenfinishedframes.
Wejustputamemcpy()insidetheretocopythecubebuffertothers232buffer.
Thisworksbeautifully.Nomoreflickering!
Step66:PCSoftware:Effect1,ripples
(/file/FSCKYL8GI0TDO8C/)
ThisisthefirsteffectwemadeforthePCsoftware,andwethinkitturnedout
verynice.
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Whilethismayseemlikeacomplicatedeffect,it'sreallynot!
Alltheeffectfunctionsrunningonthemicrocontrollermostlyuseif()statements
(/contest/epilog/)
tocreateeffects.TheeffectsonthePCsoftwarearebuiltalittledifferent.We
LEDCube8x8x8
by
usealotofsin(),cos()andothermathfunctionshere.Mostcoordinatesare
calculatedasfloatingpointcoordinatesthentypecastintointegersbeforebeing
drawnonthecube.
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Theeffectyouseeinthevideoisactuallyjustasinewaveeminatingfromthe
centerofthecube,x=3.5,y=3.5.
Hereishowitworks:
1)Loopthroughtheiterationcounter.
2)Loopthroughall64xandycoordinates.
3)Calculatethedistancebetweenthecenterofthecubeandthex/ycoordinate.
4)Thezcoordinateiscalculatedwithsin()basedonthedistancefromthe
center+theiterationcounter.Theresultisthatthesinewavemovesoutfrom
thecenterastheiterationcounterincreases.
Lookhoweasythatwas!
Step67:PCSoftware:Effect2,sidewaves
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Thisisbasicallytheexactsamefunctionastheripplefunction.
Theonlydifferenceisthecoordinatesofthepointusedtocalculatethedistance
toeachx/ycoordinate.Wecallthispointtheorigin,sincethewaveemanates
fromthispoint.
Theorigincoordinateiscalculatedlikethis:
x=sin(iterationcounter)y=cos(iterationcounter)
Theresultisthatthesexandycoordinatesmovesaroundinacircle,resultingin
asinwavethatcomesinfromtheside.
Wejustwantedtoshowyouhoweasyitistocompletelyalteraneffectby
tweakingsomevariableswhenworkingwithmathbasedeffects!
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Step68:PCSoftware:Effect3,fireworks
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Thiseffectwasquitefuntomake.
Tomakethiseffect,wereallyhadtositdownandthinkabouthowfireworks
work,andwhichforcesinfluencethefireworkparticles.
Wecameupwithatheoreticalmodelofhowfireworkswork:
1)Arocketisshotuptoarandomposition,origin_x,origin_y,origin_z.
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2)Therocketexplodesandthrowsburningparticlesoutinrandomdirectionsat
randomvelocities.
3)Theparticlesaresloweddownbyairresistanceandpulledtowardsthe
LEDCube8x8x8
by
groundbygravity.
(/contest/epilog/)
Withthismodelinmindwecreatedafireworkseffectwithaprettyconvincing
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result.Hereishowitworks:
1)Arandomoriginpositionischosen.(withincertainlimits,xandybetween2
and5tokeepthefireworksmoreorlessinthecenterofthecube.zbetween5
and6.Fireworksexplodingnearthegroundcanbedangerous!:p)
2)Therocket,inthiscaseasinglevoxelismoveduptheZaxisatthexandy
coordinatesuntilitreachesorigin_z.
3)Anarrayofnparticlesiscreated.Eachparticlehasanx,yandzcoordinate
aswellasavelocityforeachaxis,dx,dyanddz.
4)Wefor()loopthrough25particleanimationsteps:
5)Aslowrateiscalculated,thisistheairresistance.Theslowrateiscalculated
usingtan()whichwillreturnanexponentiallyincreasingnumber,slowingthe
particlesfasterandfaster.
6)Agravityvariableiscalculated.Alsousingtan().Theeffectofgravityisalso
exponential.Thisprobablyisn'tthemathematicallycorrectwayofcalculating
gravity'seffectonanobject,butitlooksgood.
7)Foreachparticle,thexyandzcoordinatesareincrementedbytheirdx,dy
anddzvelocitiesdividedbytheslowrate.Thiswillmaketheparticlesmove
slowerandslower.
8)Thezcoordinateisdecreasedbythegravityvariable.
9)Theparticleisdrawnonthecube.
10)Delayforawhile,thendothenextiterationoftheexplosionanimation.
Wearequitepleasedwiththeresult.
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Step69:PCSoftware:Effect4,Conway'sGameofLife3D
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TheGameofLife,alsoknownsimplyasLife,isacellularautomatondevisedby
theBritishmathematicianJohnHortonConway.Youcanreadmoreaboutthis
onWikipedia(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway's_Game_of_Life),ifyou
haven'theardaboutitbefore.
Bypopulardemand,wehaveimplementedGameofLifein3DontheLEDcube.
Tomakeitworkin3dtheruleshavetobetweakedalittle:
Adeadcellbecomesaliveifithasexactly4neighbors
Alivecellwith4neighborslive
Alivecellwith3orfewerneighborsdie
Alivecellwith5ormoreneighborsdie
Theprogramstartsbyplacing10randomvoxelsinonecornerofthecube,then
thegameofliferulesareappliedandtheiterationsstarted.
Inthesecondvideo,weruntheanimationfasterandseedwith20voxels.
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(/file/F9UYXTCGI0TDO8V/)
(/file/FQXQGWPGI0TK2XE/)
(/file/FU5T6VZGI0TDO8R/)
SincewepublishedourlastLEDCubeinstructable,wehavegottenalotof
questionsfrompeoplewonderingiftheycoulduseanArduinotocontrolthe
cube.
Thistime,weareonestepaheadofyouonthe"Caniuseanarduino?"front:D
TheIOrequirementsforan8x8x8LEDcubeis:
Layerselect:8
Databusforlatches:8
Addressbusforlatches:3
Outputenable(OE)forlatches:1
Total:21
TheArduinohas13GPIOpinsand8analoginputs,whichcanalsobeusedas
GPIO.Thisgivesyouatotalof21IOlines,exactlytheamountofIOneededto
runtheLEDcube!
Butwhywriteaboutitwhenwecouldjustshowyou?
WehookedthecubeuptoanArduinoandportedsomeofthesoftware.
SincethemultiplexerarrayandAVRboardareseparatedbyaribboncable,
connectingtheIOlinestoanArduinoisasimplematterofconnectingsome
breadboardwires.Luckily,wesolderedinafemale0.1"pinheaderforthe
transistorlineswhenweweredebuggingthefirstsetoftransistors.Justremove
theATmegaandconnectwiresfromtheArduinotothesepinheaders.
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Weconnectedthecubelikethis:DATAbus:Digitalpins07.Thiscorrespondsto
PORTDontheATmega328ontheArduinoboard,sowecanusedirectport
accessinsteadofArduinosdigitalWrite(whichisslow).Addressbus:Digitalpins
(/contest/epilog/)
810.ThiscorrespondstoPORTBbit02.OnthisweHAVEtousedirectport
LEDCube8x8x8 by
access.ArduinosdigitalWritewouldn'tworkwiththis,becauseyoucan'tset
multiplepinssimultaneously.Iftheaddresspinsarenotsetattheexactsame
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time,theoutputofthe74HC138wouldtriggerthewronglatches.OutputEnable:
Digitalpin11.Layertransistors:Analogpins05anddigitalpins12and13.
WehadtogoabitoutsidethescopeoftheArduinoplatform.Theintentionof
ArduinoistousedigitalWrite()forIOportaccess,tomakethecodeportableand
someotherreasons.Wehadtosidestepthatandaccesstheportsdirectly.In
additiontothat,wehadtouseoneofthetimersfortheinterruptroutine.
TheregistersfortheinterruptandtimersaredifferentondifferentAVRmodels,
sothecodemaynotbeportablebetweendifferentversionsoftheArduino
board.
ThecodeforourquickArduinohackisattached.
arduinocube.pde(/files/orig/FNH/V3UU/GICYB47D/FNHV3UUGICYB47D.tmp)
Step71:Hardwaredebugging:BrokenLEDs
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Disasterstrikes.ALEDinsidethecubeisbroken!
WehadacoupleofLEDsbreakactually.Luckilythehardestonetogettowas
onlyonelayerinsidethecube.
ToremovetheLED,justtakeasmallpairofneedlenosepliersandputsome
pressureonthelegs,thengiveitalighttouchwiththesolderingiron.Theleg
shouldpoprightout.Dothisforbothlegs,andit'sout.
InsertinganewLEDisthetrickypart.Itneedstobeassymmetricalandniceas
therestoftheLEDs.Weusedahelpinghandtoholditinplacewhilesoldering.
Itwentsurprisinglywell,andwecan'tevenseewhichLEDshavebeen
replaced.
Step72:Feedback
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Welovegettingfeedbackonourprojects!The4x4x4LEDcubehasreceiveda
tonoffeedback,andmanyusershavepostedpicturesandvideosoftheirLED
cubes.
IfyoufollowthisInstructableandmakeyourownLEDcube,pleasepost
picturesandvideo!
Oh,anddon'tforgettoratethisInstructableifyoulikedit:)
Asatokenofgratitudeforallthegreatfeedback,hereisacollageofsomeof
thefeedbackonour4x4x4LEDcubeinstructable:
Wehaveabenicecommentpolicy.
Pleasebepositiveandconstructive.
wIMadeit!
MarekB2(/member/MarekB2)madeit!
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5daysago
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ngPhm(/member/ngPhm)madeit!
8monthsago
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helloallofyou,Ihaveanideatoreplace16BJTbyULN2803,itwouldsaveup
foryourarea,anditworksverytot.Toidid2cubeledsanditallworksfine
however,IdidnotdesigntheRS232connectiononmycircuit.andhereare
somepicturesaboutit:
(https://cdn.instructables.com/F8T/3BRD/IJQNXDYV/F8T3BRDIJQNXDYV.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/F5G/DOPE/IJQNXDYY/F5GDOPEIJQNXDYY.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/F98/WH2B/IJQNXDZ1/F98WH2BIJQNXDZ1.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FN2/WNL5/IJQNXDZ2/FN2WNL5IJQNXDZ2.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FTB/SDV8/IJQNXDZ3/FTBSDV8IJQNXDZ3.LARGE.jpg)
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(https://cdn.instructables.com/F8Q/SWCY/IJQNXDZ4/F8QSWCYIJQNXDZ4.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FQX/3DC1/IJQNXDZ6/FQX3DC1IJQNXDZ6.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/F29/V0RG/IJQNXDZ9/F29V0RGIJQNXDZ9.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FXU/0EK6/IJQNXDZD/FXU0EK6IJQNXDZD.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/F6H/IOHF/IJQNXDZI/F6HIOHFIJQNXDZI.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FOF/QDJP/IJQNXDZK/FOFQDJPIJQNXDZK.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FJX/62WL/IJQNXDZM/FJX62WLIJQNXDZM.LARGE.jpg)
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(https://cdn.instructables.com/FID/X6TK/IJQNXE0D/FIDX6TKIJQNXE0D.LARGE.jpg)
IMadeit!
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FAD/88UF/IJQNXE0K/FAD88UFIJQNXE0K.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FR4/NJ3B/IJQNXE0N/FR4NJ3BIJQNXE0N.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FN7/9JNM/IJQNXE21/FN79JNMIJQNXE21.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FXM/PMM2/IJQNXE23/FXMPMM2IJQNXE23.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FQ9/3YAV/IJQNXE26/FQ93YAVIJQNXE26.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FXW/GL70/IJQNXE2E/FXWGL70IJQNXE2E.LARGE.jpg)
VID_20160123_183017.mp4
(http://www.instructables.com/files/orig/FLF/NMVB/IJQNXEBH/FLFNMVBIJQNXEBH.mp4)
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ngPhm(/member/ngPhm) . ngPhm(/member/ngPhm)
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by
8monthsago
LEDCube8x8x8
Download
Led Cube 8x8x8 demo

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ChiranjitK(/member/ChiranjitK) . ngPhm(/member/ngPhm)
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7daysago
Circuitdiagrams
Orkitsdetailsme
Alsothesprogrammescode
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jmaxado(/member/jmaxado) . ngPhm(/member/ngPhm)
Reply
8monthsago
HelloDongP1,
CanyoushareamoreclearschematichowdidyouusedtheULN2803
andexplainwhatchangeshaveyoudonetothecode?
Thanks
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ngPhm(/member/ngPhm)madeit! . jmaxado(/member/jmaxado)
8monthsago
Reply
OKyou,I'mveryfunwhenhelpyou.Youcanuse
ProteustoopenfileschematicandPCB,andididfixedcode.allinhere:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzXbfPpoHKV5eWQxU1VQODZhTTA/view?
usp=sharing
whenyouuseatmega32youmustsetfuseforit.
andwhenyousolderPCBsolderyoushouldnotecarefullyanddidnot
missanylegs,asthisisthesecondcircuitface,youcanalsobookfor
someonetrainedtodoittoensurecircuitreliability.Andmyfinalnon
electriccircuitsbecomerestrictsmotherboardarea,itabsolutelydoesnot
affecttheled.Andcannotforgetthatitisa5Vsupply.Wishsuccess.I
lookforwardtoseeingyourcircuithere.
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Insidethedownloadedfolder:principlediagram,schematicprint,insidea
simulated3dopenedbyProteus,therevisedcodewithexternalhexfile,
insidethecodecaneditcustomandstandardyou,useWINAVR
(recommendedrecommended).andimagestosetthefuseforATmega32.
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HimanshuS14(/member/HimanshuS14) . ngPhm(/member/ngPhm)
8monthsago
Reply
Hi!!
DoyouknowhoetoflashtheEEPROMofArduinojustlikewedoin
normalnonarduinoboards..
i.e.weflash.eepfiledirectlyintothemicrocontroller..doyouknowany
similarorequivalantthinginArduino...?
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ngPhm(/member/ngPhm) . HimanshuS14(/member/HimanshuS14)
7monthsago
Reply
Isorryyou,becauseIdonotuseArduino,soIdid
notgothroughthedifficultiesyouface,butyoucanreadmoreonline
materialonitsuse.Icanonlyhelpyouintermsofhardware.Goodluck.I
believeyouwillsucceed!:D
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HimanshuS14(/member/HimanshuS14) . ngPhm(/member/ngPhm)
Thnxforreplying!
Igotasolutionforitalready!
7monthsago
Reply
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ChiranjitK(/member/ChiranjitK) . HimanshuS14(/member/HimanshuS14)
Yourledcube
Whitchkitsusing
Reply
7daysago
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jmaxado(/member/jmaxado) . ngPhm(/member/ngPhm)
Hello,
Reply
8monthsago
NowIgotit.TheideatousetheULN2803istoavoidusingtransistors
correct?
WhatdoyoumeanthatIneedtosetthefusefortheATMEGA32?
Iwillbeusingarduinoboard,eitherNanoormega.
Thanksforyourreply
Jose
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ngPhm(/member/ngPhm) . jmaxado(/member/jmaxado)
Reply
8monthsago
(/contest/epilog/)
isthis,ifyouuseityoumustchipatmegafusesetinsidethe
LEDCube8x8x8
by
IC,thefuseistocontrolanumberoffunctionssuchas:usingthe
calibratedinternalorexternalcrystal,andandsomeratherdifferent
features,pleasereferenceICdatasheet.sothatitoperatesaccordingto
Download
IMadeit!
Collection
Favorite
yourdesiredthisfunction.Iusetheloadcircuittotheloadburneprogram
formyIC,pleasefindoutmoreaboutit,oryoucanusetheloadcircuit
whichyouareavailable.
ULN2803helpreplacethetransistor16inthelayer.youreadthisicdata
sheettolearnmore.Ihadtodiagraminsidefoldersprincipleschematic.
youseethatinordertobetterunderstandhowitworks.wishsuccess!:D
Flag
Phm4(/member/Phm4) . jmaxado(/member/jmaxado) 7monthsago
Reply
Youdon'tneedchangesincode
Flag
ngPhm(/member/ngPhm) . jmaxado(/member/jmaxado)
Reply
7monthsago
Sorryforanswerswilltellyounow,whenusingULN2803then
yourprogramabsolutelynothingchanges,wesimplyoptimizedhardware
only.Goodluck!soonseeyourresultshere.:D
Flag
Hoan1(/member/Hoan1) . ngPhm(/member/ngPhm)
Reply
12daysago
Choexinsmchincko
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SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT) . ngPhm(/member/ngPhm)
YoucanuseevenlessspaceusingSMT2N2222
typetransistors.Myboardwilltakeeither.
6monthsago
Reply
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FVB/NDR8/HYWT35WL/FVBNDR8HYWT35WL.LARGE.jpg)
Flag
KalaniR(/member/KalaniR) . SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT)
Canyoupleasekindlysendmethecircuitanddiagram.
Reply
amonthago
MAymailadd
isurutharanga019@gmail.com
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SisirR(/member/SisirR) . SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT)
Canyoupleasekindlysendmethecircuitanddiagram.
Reply
6monthsago
LEDCube8x8x8 by
(/contest/epilog/)
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SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT) . SisirR(/member/SisirR)
Thecircuitdiagramsforthisprojectareinthisinstructable.
IMadeit!
Reply
6monthsago
Flag
SisirR(/member/SisirR) . SisirR(/member/SisirR)
6monthsago
Reply
Myemailaddressissisirroy777@gmail.com
Flag
Dongliangma(/member/Dongliangma) . ngPhm(/member/ngPhm)
7monthsago
Reply
HiDongP1,IamsoliketheCubeandIwanttomake
itandgivetomygirlfriendasabigsurprise.Canyousendallschematics
,programsandotherfilestome.Thanssomuch.
Myemailaddress:dongliang.ma@matrixopto.com
Flag
Phm4(/member/Phm4) . Dongliangma(/member/Dongliangma)
Reply
7monthsago
usp=sharing
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Kimwonhuyn(/member/Kimwonhuyn) . Phm4(/member/Phm4)
Heyguy,ifiuseSTK500devicetosetupforatmega32then
plugittotheboard,so,caniremoveRS232andAVRIsp?
Reply
6monthsago
Flag
Namangupta(/member/Namangupta) . Phm4(/member/Phm4)
Reply
7monthsago
sir,ihavesuccessfullymademycube,nowtheproblemis
withthecode...imusingarduinounoandthecodegiveninthisarticlei.e
forarduinouserisworkingfineforme...butothercodeswhichareused
forAVRisnotcompatiblewithaduino?doescodingforbotharduinouno
andAVRaredifferent?
igotaerroras"compilationterminated
existstatus1
errorcompiling"
ifthereissolutionforthisplzpost.
andthecodeinthelinkwhichugaveiscompatiblewitharduinouno?
Thanks:)
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SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT) . Namangupta(/member/Namangupta)
Youlikelyneedanolder,orpossiblyanewercopyof
theIDE. by
LEDCube8x8x8
6monthsago
Reply
(/contest/epilog/)
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Namangupta(/member/Namangupta) . SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT)
sirpresentlyimusinglatestversionofIDEi.e1.6.7
6monthsago
Reply
caniknowthetheexactversionofIDE??
andsirhowcanimakeotherscodescompatiblewithIDE?
Thanks:)
Flag
HimanshuS14(/member/HimanshuS14) . Namangupta(/member/Namangupta)
mailme..233himanshu@gmail.com
6monthsago
Reply
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Phm4(/member/Phm4) . Dongliangma(/member/Dongliangma)
Reply
7monthsago
Thisishere.
usp=sharinganddon'tneedchagerinprogram.
Flag
Dongliangma(/member/Dongliangma) . Phm4(/member/Phm4)
Reply
7monthsago
HiPhamd4,thankyousomuch.Ihaveanotherquestion,I
cannotopentheCUBEschematicandpcbfileswithProtuesDesing
Suite8.0,mycomputerisWin7system.whethertheversionofthe
Protuesisnotmatching?Canyouhelpme.
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FFR/KAXH/IL6VDMXG/FFRKAXHIL6VDMXG.LARGE.jpg)
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ngPhm(/member/ngPhm) . ngPhm(/member/ngPhm)
Reply
8monthsago
helloeveryone,Ihaveanideatoreplace16BJTlayersby
ULN2803,itwillsaveyourarea,anditworksverywellIdid2LEDcube
andallactivitieswellhowever,IdidnotdesigntheRS232connectionon
mycircuit.
Flag
ChiranjitK(/member/ChiranjitK)
Favorite
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canyoupleasekindlysendthecodeforprogramming
8daysago
Reply
myemaiidchiranjitkarmakar838@gmail.com
(/contest/epilog/)
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LEDCube8x8x8 by
ChiranjitK(/member/ChiranjitK)
Download
72Steps
canyoupleasekindlysendthecodeforprogramming
8daysago
Collection
Reply
IMadeit!
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AravindhanV(/member/AravindhanV)madeit!
2monthsago
Reply
lookthevideolednotworkingandbordfileinpdfcanupeoplehelpmefixmy
problem
LKLA5743.MOV
(http://www.instructables.com/files/orig/FI7/C0S4/IQLIA8KK/FI7C0S4IQLIA8KK.mov)
LedCubeboard.pdf
(http://www.instructables.com/files/orig/F9K/9E6V/IQLIA8KL/F9K9E6VIQLIA8KL.pdf)
Flag
AravindhanV(/member/AravindhanV) . AravindhanV(/member/AravindhanV)
2monthsago
Reply
lookmyvideoledwasnotworkingon2rowactually
workingbutworkingdifferentwayIdonwhatmistakeIhavedoneI
attachedboardfileinpdfpleaseanybodycanhelpIamreallyappreciate.
Iputfulleffortforthisprojectbutfinallyanimationmakemeupset
Flag
AravindhanV(/member/AravindhanV)
2monthsago
Reply
haiIhaveproblemincubeIdonewellbutsomeanimationnotcomingproperly
1and2rowImean1and2icIcheckedverywellcircuitiscorrectcanuhelp
meIuploadpdfofmyschematicandpics
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FSJ/0KIN/IQLIA5BY/FSJ0KINIQLIA5BY.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FT7/NLJJ/IQLIA5E5/FT7NLJJIQLIA5E5.LARGE.jpg)
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(/contest/epilog/)
LEDCube8x8x8 by
Download
Collection
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FY4/VIQQ/IQLIA5FC/FY4VIQQIQLIA5FC.LARGE.jpg)
IMadeit!
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FSE/MA9W/IQLIA5FS/FSEMA9WIQLIA5FS.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/F8S/NGDM/IQLIA5H5/F8SNGDMIQLIA5H5.LARGE.jpg)
LedCubeschematic.pdf
(http://www.instructables.com/files/orig/F8O/78OV/IQLIA5H9/F8O78OVIQLIA5H9.pdf)
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ThanhT32(/member/ThanhT32)
2monthsago
Reply
Hello,
Ireadthesesentencesinthispost:
Withacpufrequencyof14745600Hz,128prescalerandoutputcompareof10,
theinterruptroutineiscalledevery1408thCPUcycle(128*11)or10472.7times
persecond.
Cananybodyhelpmetoexplainhowtocalculateto10472.7timespersecond.
IamnewtoAVRtimer.
Thanks,
Flag
Debanjandas(/member/Debanjandas)
2monthsago
Reply
Thanksforsharingtheawesomeproject.?.Theinstructiblesarevery
elaborative.Atfirstiwasscepticalificouldmakethisproject.Butatlastafter
backbrakinghoursofsolderinganddebugging,itwasasucces.Andthecredit
goestochr.Thankschr.Urock.
Iusedarduinounoasthecontroller.Butthecodeisnotcomplete.Imeanmany
effectsaremissing.Idontknowanythingaboutprogramming.Irequestuto
pleasemailmethecodewitheveryeffect.Itwillbeagreathelp.Thanku.
dbnjnds@gmail.com
Flag
AlinA14(/member/AlinA14)
3monthsago
Reply
Favorite
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Istheresomeotherwayotherthangraycodinginsoftwaretoavoid74HC138
glitches
Flag
LEDCube8x8x8 by
(/contest/epilog/)
SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT) . AlinA14(/member/AlinA14)
Reply
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2monthsago
h
.
Ifthelatchorderisincorrectfromthe138,usuallyit'sthe
binaryinputsareeithermiswired(wrongorder,oralinenotconnected)or
2inputsareshortedtogether.
Anotherissueyoumayrunintoisswitchingthedatatoofast,notlatching
longenoughetc.whichhastobefixedinthecode.
Flag
AlinA14(/member/AlinA14)
3monthsago
Reply
heycanyoupleasehelpme.
IC74hc138ismisbehaving.Isuspectittoberacehazard.
Wronglatchesarebeingselectedbytheaddressselecter.
thefollowingsequenceseemstofixtheproplem.
voiddraw(char*buffer)
{
PORTB=0b00001000
PORTA=buffer[0]
PORTB=0b00001001
PORTA=buffer[1]
PORTB=0b00001101
PORTA=buffer[5]
PORTB=0b00001100
PORTA=buffer[4]
PORTB=0b00001110
PORTA=buffer[6]
PORTB=0b00001010
PORTA=buffer[2]
PORTB=0b00001011
PORTA=buffer[3]
PORTB=0b00001111
PORTA=buffer[7]
PORTB=0b00001000
PORTB=0b00000000
}
WhatIdidwastochangeonelogicalstateintheinputtodecoderatatime.
somesitesrecommendtemporarydisablingofoutputtopreventracehazards.
howdidyoudealwiththisissue>
plshelp
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SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT)
3monthsago
Reply
(/contest/epilog/)
WOW5millionviews.
LEDCube8x8x8 by
Ithinkit'ssomekindofrecord!LOL!
Download
72Steps
AbrahamD12(/member/AbrahamD12)
Flag
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3monthsago
IMadeit!
Reply
Hi,Wheredoibuyallthatstufffor69dlls?Thanks
Flag
gatojchavez(/member/gatojchavez)
3monthsago
Reply
thatsprojectsitsgreat!Imlookingforallthestuffandmakingtimefordoing!
pleasecontinuedoingamazingthing.:)
Flag
astro_mike(/member/astro_mike)
4monthsago
Reply
hi,reallygreatinstructable,kindthatinspirespeople.
Thiscode,cube[5][3]|=(0x01<<4)
Hex01bitwisemove4,orwitha2darray,Ican'tgetmyheadaroundit.
Plz,amoredetaileddescriptionwillsavemefrommoretablets,cheers
Flag
wouterius(/member/wouterius)madeit!
5monthsago
Reply
Madeit!!
Thankyouforthegreatinstruction!!
(https://cdn.instructables.com/F7I/W7ET/IMDZ9QP1/F7IW7ETIMDZ9QP1.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FUI/XLN1/IMDZ9QP4/FUIXLN1IMDZ9QP4.LARGE.jpg)
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(https://cdn.instructables.com/FJ3/L4GD/IMDZ9QP8/FJ3L4GDIMDZ9QP8.LARGE.jpg)
(/contest/epilog/)
LEDCube8x8x8 by
Download
72Steps
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IMadeit!
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(https://cdn.instructables.com/FUJ/I22K/IMDZ9QPB/FUJI22KIMDZ9QPB.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FRG/YSW9/IMDZ9QPI/FRGYSW9IMDZ9QPI.LARGE.jpg)
(https://cdn.instructables.com/FQ5/ZM2W/IMDZ9QPL/FQ5ZM2WIMDZ9QPL.LARGE.jpg)
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floren.vanolden(/member/floren.vanolden) . wouterius(/member/wouterius)
Yourprintlooksveryneat.Mineisverymessy.
4monthsago
Reply
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KevinO37(/member/KevinO37) . wouterius(/member/wouterius)
Wow,howdoyougetyourtracewiressostraightandthe
perfectlength?
Reply
5monthsago
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