Tidy LED Matrix Displays GIFs On Demand

May 30, 2025 by 4 Comments

When it comes to LED matrixes, building one is just the first step. Then you have to decide what to display on it. [panjanek] came up with a relatively flexible answer to this question, building an RGB LED matrix that can display the GIFs of your choice.

The web interface accepts GIFs for display.

[panjanek] grabbed WS2812B addressable LEDs for this project, assembling them into a 32 x 32 matrix that fits perfectly inside an off-the-shelf Ikea picture frame. The matrix is hooked up to an ESP8266 microcontroller, which acts as the brains of the operation. The WiFi-enabled microcontroller hosts its own web interface, with which the project can be controlled. Upon opening the page, it’s possible to upload a GIF file that will be displayed as an animation on the matrix itself. It’s also possible to stream UDP packets of bitmap data to the device to send real-time animations over a network.

It’s a neat build, and one that answers any questions of what you might display on your LED matrix when you’re finished assembling it. Code is on Github if you fancy implementing the GIF features in your own work. We’ve featured some unexpected LED matrix builds of late, like this innovative device for the M.2 slot. Meanwhile, if you’re cooking up your own creative LED builds, don’t hesitate to let us know on the tipsline!

LED Matrix Built For M.2 Interface

May 24, 2025 by 8 Comments

The M.2 slot is usually used for solid-state storage devices. However, [bitluni] had another fun idea for how to use the interface. He built an M.2 compatible LED matrix that adds a little light to your motherboard.

[bitluni] built a web tool for sending images to the matrix.
[bitluni] noted that the M.2 interface is remarkably flexible, able to offer everything from SATA connections to USB, PCI Express, and more. For this project, he elected to rely on PCI Express communication, using a WCH CH382 chip to translate from that interface to regular old serial communication.

He then hooked up the serial interface to a CH32V208 microcontroller, which was tasked with driving a 12×20 monochrome LED matrix. Even better, he was even able to set the microcontroller up to make it programmable upon first plugging it into a machine, thanks to its bootloader supporting serial programming out of the box. Some teething issues required rework and modification, but soon enough, [bitluni] had the LEDs blinking with the best of them. He then built a web-based drawing tool that could send artwork over serial direct to the matrix.

While most of us are using our M.2 slots for more traditional devices, it’s neat to see this build leverage them for another use. We could imagine displays like this becoming a neat little add-on to a blingy computer build for those with a slot or two to spare. Meanwhile, if you want to learn more about M.2, we’ve dived into the topic before.

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Interactive LED Matrix Is A Great Way To Learn About Motion Controls

January 21, 2025 by 4 Comments

It’s simple enough to wire up an LED matrix and have it display some pre-programmed routines. What can be more fun is when the LEDs are actually interactive in some regard. [Giulio Pons] achieved this with his interactive LED box, which lets you play with the pixels via motion controls.

The build runs of a Wemos D1 mini, which is a devboard based around the ESP8266 microcontroller. [Giulio] hooked this up to a matrix of WS2812B addressable LEDs in two 32×8 panels, creating a total display of 512 RGB LEDs. The LEDs are driven with the aid of an Adafruit graphics library that lets the whole display be addressed via XY coordinates. For interactivity, [Giulio] added a MPU6050 3-axis gyroscope and accelerometer to the build. Meanwhile, power is via 18650 lithium-ion cells, with the classic old 7805 regulator stepping down their output to a safe voltage. Thanks to the motion sensing abilities of the MPU6050, [Giulio] was able to code animations where the LEDs emulate glowing balls rolling around on a plane.

It’s a simple build, but one that taught [Giulio] all kinds of useful skills—from working with microcontrollers to doing the maths for motion controls. There’s a lot you can do with LED matrixes if you put your mind to it, and if you just start experimenting, you’re almost certain to learn something. Video after the break.

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Photo of 3D Tetris LED matrix

From Retro To Radiant: 3D Tetris On A LED Matrix

January 21, 2025 by 8 Comments

We love seeing retro games evolve into new, unexpected dimensions. Enter [Markus]’ adaptation of 3D Tetris on a custom-built 3x3x12 RGB LED matrix. Developed as a university project, this open-source setup combines coding, soldering, and 3D printing. It’s powered by an ESP32 microcontroller with gameplay controlled by a neat web interface.

This 3D build makes the classic game so much harder to play, that one could argue whether it’s still a game, or has turned into a form of art. Although it is challenging to rotate and drop blocks on such a small scale, for die-hard Tetris fans (and we know you’re out there), there is always someone up to become best at it. Just look at the FastLED-powered light show, the responsive web-based GUI, and fully modular 3D printed housing, this project is a joy to look at even when nobody is playing it. Heck, a game that turned 40 only a year ago should be so mature to entertain itself, shouldn’t it?

From homemade Pong tables to LED cube displays, hobbyists keep finding ways to give classic games a futuristic twist. Projects like this are about pushing boundaries. Hackaday’s archives are full of similar innovations, but why not craft some new ones?

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Modular Magnetic LED Matrix

October 15, 2024 by 5 Comments

[bitluni] seems rather fond of soldering lots of LEDs, and fortunately for us the result is always interesting eye candy. The latest iteration of this venture features 8 mm WS2812D-F8 addressable LEDs, offering a significant simplification in electronics and the potential for much brighter displays.

The previous version used off-the-shelf 8×8 LED panels but had to be multiplexed, limiting brightness, and required a more complex driver circuit. To control the panel, [bitluni] used the ATtiny running the MegaTinyCore Arduino core. Off-the-shelf four-pin magnetic connectors allow the panels to snap together. They work well but are comically difficult to solder since they keep grabbing the soldering iron. [bitluni] also created a simple battery module and 3D printed neat enclosures for everything.

Having faced the arduous task of fixing individual LEDs on massive LED walls in the past, [bitluni] experimented with staggered holes that allow through-hole LEDs to be plugged in without soldering. Unfortunately, with long leads protruding from the back of the PCB, shorting became an immediate issue. While he ultimately resorted to soldering them for reliability, we’re intrigued by the potential of refining this pluggable design.

The final product snapped together satisfyingly, and [bitluni] programmed a simple animation scheme that automatically updates as panels are added or removed. What would you use these for? Let us know in the comments below. Continue reading “Modular Magnetic LED Matrix” →

Dot-Matrix Printer Brings Old School Feel To Today’s Headlines

October 9, 2024 by 20 Comments

If you remember a time when TV news sets universally incorporated a room full of clattering wire service teleprinters to emphasize the seriousness of the news business, congratulations — you’re old. Now, most of us get our news piped directly into our phones, selected by algorithms perfectly tuned to rile us up on whatever the hot-button issue du jour happens to be. Welcome to the future.

If like us you long for a simpler way to get your news, [Andrew Schmelyun] has a partial solution with this dot-matrix news feeder. It’s part of his effort to detox a bit from the whole algorithm thing and make the news a little more concrete. He managed to chase down a very old Star Micronics printer with a serial interface, which he got on the cheap thanks to the previous owner not being sure if it worked. It did, at least after some cleaning, and thanks to a USB-to-serial and the efforts of Linux kernel hackers through the ages, was able to echo output to the printer from a Raspberry Pi Zero W.

From there, getting a daily news feed was as simple as writing some PHP code to mine the APIs of a few selected services. We’re perplexed and alarmed to report that Hackaday is not among the selected sources, but we’re sure this was just a small oversight that will be corrected in version 2. The program runs as a cron job so that a dead-tree version of the day’s top stories is ready for [Andrew]’s morning coffee.

We’ve seen similar news printers before; we particularly like this roll-feed paper version. But for a seriously retro feel, we’d love to see this done on a real teletype.

Is That A Coaster? No, It’s An LED Matrix!

September 19, 2024 by 4 Comments

I’m sure you all love to see some colorful blinkenlights every now and then, and we are of course no exception. While these might look like coasters at a distance, do not be deceived! They’re actually [bitluni]’s latest project!

[bitluni]’s high-fidelity LED matrix started life as some 8×8 LED matrices lying on the shelf for 10 years taunting him – admit it, we’re all guilty of this – before he finally decided to make something with them. That idea took the form of a tileable display with the help of some magnets and pogo pins, which is certainly a very satisfying way to connect these oddly futuristic blinky coasters together.

It all starts with some schematics and a PCB. Because the CH32V208 has an annoying package to solder, [bitluni] opted to have the PCB fab do placement for him. Unfortunately, though, and like any good prototype, it needed a bodge! [bitluni] had accidentally mirrored a chip in the schematic, meaning he had to solder one of the SMD chips on upside-down, “dead bug mode”. Fortunately, the rest was seemingly more successful, because with a little 3D-printed case and some fancy programming, the tiny tiles came to life in all of their rainbow-barfing glory. Sure, the pogo pins were less reliable than desired, but [bitluni] has some ideas for a future version we’re very much looking forward to.

Video after the break.
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