Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
Sourcing 5mm RGB LEDs for LED Cube
StillTrying:
--- Quote from: Jan Audio on December 28, 2019, 01:14:30 pm ---Good luck, place some pictures in the year 2021.
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I guess you think it's a job and a half as well, :) >2,200 soldered connections just on the cube itself. :o
mariush:
--- Quote ---That makes no sense. Using PCBs blocks the view. Additionally, for an LED cube, you want a diffused LED body to blend the color of the 3 LED dice within the LED, as well as to provide a wide viewing angle. SMD RGB LEDs simply aren’t large enough for this blending to occur, even if they use diffused epoxy, and SMD LEDs tend to be much more directional than diffused THT LEDs.
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JLCPCB does thin pcbs, as low as 0.4mm thick. If you can make cutouts to have 1-3 mm wide segments, you'd basically have wire like pcb between leds but it would probably be more rigid.
As for something to be inspired from, Kevin Darrah did 8x8x8 rgb cubes, here's his videos:
Playlist (12 videos):
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
tooki:
--- Quote from: Jan Audio on December 28, 2019, 01:14:30 pm ---If you gonna build something like this, you need at least a 3D printer with transparant filament, or some plexiglass around it for the case you squash your thing.
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Transparent 3D prints are not glass-clear, they end up rather milky, defeating the purpose of a 3D cube. If you're going to make a case for it, make it from plexiglas or similar.
--- Quote from: mariush on December 28, 2019, 01:37:08 pm ---
--- Quote ---That makes no sense. Using PCBs blocks the view. Additionally, for an LED cube, you want a diffused LED body to blend the color of the 3 LED dice within the LED, as well as to provide a wide viewing angle. SMD RGB LEDs simply aren’t large enough for this blending to occur, even if they use diffused epoxy, and SMD LEDs tend to be much more directional than diffused THT LEDs.
--- End quote ---
JLCPCB does thin pcbs, as low as 0.4mm thick. If you can make cutouts to have 1-3 mm wide segments, you'd basically have wire like pcb between leds but it would probably be more rigid.
--- End quote ---
Doubtful. Thin PCBs are quite flexible. There's little reason to assume it'd be more rigid than wire, and for sure it'd be more brittle, insofar as wire can be bent back and forth a few times, but FR-4 will fracture.
And you completely ignored the issue of diffusion that I went into.
SMD is just a stupid idea for this project, sorry.
james_s:
Lots of people have built 8x8 LED cubes, it's not that different from knitting a sweater. It's the sort of thing you build because you enjoy creating a work of art.
Oleenick:
--- Quote from: Jan Audio on December 28, 2019, 01:14:30 pm ---If you gonna build something like this, you need at least a 3D printer with transparant filament, or some plexiglass around it for the case you squash your thing.
Good luck, place some pictures in the year 2021.
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Yeah I'll be posting the finished project once its done. Aiming for having it finished within the next couple months. As for a enclosure for the cube... I think I'll run the risk of not having something covering it. Yes I know dust is the enemy but I don't really like the effect that the internally reflective acryllic has on the clarity of the cube. Nit picking yes. Maybe I'll eventually make a case for it.
--- Quote from: mariush on December 28, 2019, 01:37:08 pm ---
--- Quote ---That makes no sense. Using PCBs blocks the view. Additionally, for an LED cube, you want a diffused LED body to blend the color of the 3 LED dice within the LED, as well as to provide a wide viewing angle. SMD RGB LEDs simply aren’t large enough for this blending to occur, even if they use diffused epoxy, and SMD LEDs tend to be much more directional than diffused THT LEDs.
--- End quote ---
JLCPCB does thin pcbs, as low as 0.4mm thick. If you can make cutouts to have 1-3 mm wide segments, you'd basically have wire like pcb between leds but it would probably be more rigid.
As for something to be inspired from, Kevin Darrah did 8x8x8 rgb cubes, here's his videos:
[links removed by Oleenick as to not bloat my reply with embedded youtube pop-ups]
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That's what I'm basing this project on. Kevin Darrah's overview of the entire cube architecture is fantastic. As for the SMD LED cube idea... Not so sure. There's a lot more challenges to overcome with a design like that. I'm sure it can be done in some capacity but that's not what I'm looking to achieve with this project. Although the PCB that the cube goes into will use SMD components to hide them on the bottom. My idea was to have only the MCU on the top of the board so you can see the brains on display. Might also trick some passers by that its entirely controlled with that one component haha.
--- Quote from: StillTrying on December 28, 2019, 12:51:07 pm ---An 8 x 8 x 8 Coloured LED Cube seem like a job and a half to me. :)
Min. 200 outputs ?
https://www.instructables.com/id/Led-Cube-8x8x8/
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Yeah I'm using 200 outputs (192 LED cathode control for 64RGB common anode leds). The last 8 are for the anodes which are commoned for each layer driven by mosfets to accomodate the modulated layer architecture.
Thanks everyone for the great discussions. I'll go with LCSC.
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