Wednesday, October 2, 2019

LED multiplexing layouts for hand-crafting #LEDs #Displays

Via crawlingrobotfortress.blogspot.com, have you ever wanted to build a LED matrix display using hand-crafting methods, such as sewing, weaving, or papercraft? Designing and fabricating complex LED projects by hand, while making use of limited input-output (I/O) pins on microcontrollers/Arduino, is challenging.

But, what if we don’t want to go through the hassle of ordering a custom PCB, or what if we want to work with individual LEDs in a craft project? Cost is also a factor: a cardstock “papercraft” display could be built from a cheap Arduino-compatible board and bulk LEDs for under $5 on Ebay, far cheaper than even the cheapest LED scrolling marquees.

An example:

To illustrate this layout approach, I’ve built a small woven display using a “bead weaving” approach. Individual LEDs are strung on a copper wire, which is decorated with glass beads for insulation and stiffness. For this design, I first determined the layout geometry on paper, and mounted the LEDs in cardboard for stability when soldering, clipping the cardboard away once the project was complete. It’s hard to replace damaged LEDs, so take care when assembling and testing the project.

See the entire post here.

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