LED PATTERN CUBE

LED CUBE using 512 Neo-pixels

Let's make a cube where we can see the pattern!!

Two people participated in the project, and it lasted about 10 months.

I was also able to proceed with the help of professors.

The most important part of this project was focused on three things:

1. The circuit should be simple.

2. This must be assembled.

3. This should look perfectly perpendicular.

It took us about 10 months to go through a lot of trial and error.

But if you see our posts and act, you can work much more efficiently.

We wanted the hardware to be made at the most reasonable price.

If you want to perform like a machine, custom making may be a good way. :)

Materials

< inner part >

1. Piano wire x 256 (0.8mm)

2. LED Strip about 10m ( 512neopixels ) / plus some extra for making mistakes

3. Power ( 5v / 60A ) x 2

4. Particle Photon

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5. PCB x 1or x2 large prototype cross section PCBs.

6. PIN TERMINAL_sleeve compression terminal x 2048

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7. Table tennis ball x 512

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8. Lead

9. Copper

10. Soldering iron

11. Insulation wire

12.Bread board

< output part >

JIG

- Wooden board 120 (h) x 100 (w) / cm (The thickness of a wooden board is 12mm)

- 3D Prienter

Hammer, Grinder, Nail

PCB (Ordering), Aluminium support, Glugan

The reason we drill holes in balls is to put steel wires in.

If we want to drill holes in the ball at regular intervals, we need to fix the ball first.

We used a 3D printer to make a jig to hold the ball.

1. Put the ball in the jig.

2. You should drill a hole in the area marked on the jig.

3. After you drill the first hole, you must secure the ball with a pin or iron rod to prevent it from moving.

** If you use a pin to hold the ball, the gap between the holes you drill will be constant afterwards.

4. If you have learned how to use a jig, drill into 512 balls pieces.

You have to make a jig that can check the regular intervals between the neopixels in order to complete one set of eight neopixels connected.

We set the interval between Neo-Pixel at 12cm.

For an easy understanding, we attached the zig file.

As shown in the following design,

the wooden plywood will be assembled, and the finished jig will be as to image.

Before you start,

You must make a hole at the jigs at the specified intervals.

Also, cut the PCB to the length and grind the surface clean using the grinder.

Then, attach the PCB and LED using the glue gun.

Use the jig to create the circuitry shown in the picture

*Four pin terminals are used for Neo-pixel 1 x PCB1

*You have to connect one desk tannis ball to each Neo-pixel

*Produce a total of 64 set

We used pcb and usb to assemble sets.

You should use lead to fix the usb on the other side.

You should secure the entire pcb to the aluminium plate

We fixed it with bolts and nuts.

In order to keep the signal line from breaking, we connected it by wire.

** There's a number on the PCB that shows the signal.

** You must distinguish between the front and the back of the PCB.

If you connect the PCB, may try it.

What is the particle photon?

Particle is an open source platform, so you have access to all of their schematics

and code to easily improve upon their products.

The Photon itself is just a breakout board for their Wi-Fi module,but no antenna.

**Cube is controlled by a processor called the Particle Photon. This is the small circuit board that you plug your USB cable into for power.

When you plug in your 8x8x8 Cube for the first time and switch the slider-switch at the back of your Cube to "Online", you should see the Particle Photon start to blink a blue light. If not, then press down the "Join WiFi" button next to the Particle Photon.

Once the Photon on the underside of your Cube is blinking a blue light, it’s ready to be connected to your local WiFi network via the Particle App.

1. Using the Particle App for Connecting to WiFi

Using the Particle App for Connecting to WiFi
Download the Particle App to your phone from the App Store or Google Play . Once you’ve downloaded the Particle app from the App Store or Google Play, you should create an account. Afterwards, you’ll be asked to connect your Photon,

2. Connecting to smart-phone

When connected to Wi-Fi, the app will automatically see the message with the name of the network that your phone is connected to. Enter your Wi-Fi password and hit connect.

The closer your phone is to your Particle Photon, the faster it will connect. Once the Photon hears the signal, it will go through the following sequence of lights:

Solid blue: Credentials captured

Flashing green: Connecting to Wi-Fi network

Flashing cyan: Connecting to Particle Cloud

Breathing cyan: Connected to Particle Cloud

Once the Particle Photon has connected, your phone will "claim" the Photon and attach it to your account. Then you’ll get to name your Photon.