LED Coffee Table

September 13, 2008 by Eliot 7 Comments

Spark Fun’s centerpiece at Maker Faire back in May was this LED coffee table. They just recently posted about how it was constructed. The surface is made from 64 8×8 RGB LED matrix boards totaling 4096 LEDs. The eight rows are connected to a custom router board so that one SPI line can control the entire display. The main microcontroller is an Olimex LPC2106 dev board. It runs a four player cooperative pong game where multiple balls are added over time. Each player gets a classic Atari paddle for control. You can see a video of the table running a screensaver after the break. Continue reading “LED Coffee Table” →

Dot Matrix Business Card

September 5, 2008 by Joey Celis 5 Comments

In most settings business cards are given out without much thought. But what if you could make your card stand out from the rest? By using a 5×15 LED matrix screen, a single micro controller, a number of resistors, switches, and other parts, [tomward] has put together one very slick business card that’s sure to draw attention.

The included instructions go into great detail on the construction, but [tomward]admits that you will need some knowledge in electronics in order to build one yourself. After reading the instructions ourselves we would have to agree with him.

If you’re into programing micro controllers and are handy with a soldering iron you may want to give this a shot.

RGB Desktop Clock

September 1, 2008 by Eliot 11 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hxZRCponks&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0][Mark Roy] designed this fine RGB LED desktop clock. It uses a PIC16F877A microcontroller and a DS1307N Real Time Clock. There is a ring of 12 RGB LEDs around the perimeter. Hours are indicated in red, minutes green, and seconds blue. If the hands overlap, the colors are mixed. Three buttons are used to set the time and it can run on as little as 0.7volts. You can find out more about the project on Stellar Core. He has plans to kit it in the future.

Testing IR Camera Blocking

August 27, 2008 by Kimberly Lau 37 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u5hAfnq2-4&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0][randy] from F.A.T. tested the theory that infrared LEDs can actually hide you from the prying eyes of surveillance cameras. We’ve previously covered camouflage, IR, and other suggestions for eluding the cameras, but haven’t taken to sewing stuff onto our clothes yet. [randy] lined his hoodie with high-intensity infrared LEDs, hoping to create a halo effect that would hide his head, and tested his results. Unfortunately, his efforts were unsuccessful. He tested many many different combinations and we’re confident in his conclusion that it would be very hard to make this work.

SMD Soldering Practice Kit

August 24, 2008 by Eliot 9 Comments

Here’s an interesting kit put together just to help you work on your SMD soldering skills. It’s got 49 SMD LEDs on the front with a programming header and switch jumper. The back has an ATtiny26L and a coin cell. At only 3V, power management is essential; all of the example programs are only addressing one LED at a time (imperceptible to the human eye). If you turn on too many LEDs at the same time, the voltage drop could cause the AVR to reset. Included example programs are a scrolling marque, bouncing balls, and Conway’s game of life. SparkFun has tutorials for regular SMD soldering and using a reflow skillet. The video below shows the kit builder attaching just one LED using the heat and slide method.

Continue reading “SMD Soldering Practice Kit” →

LED Floor Captures Digital Footprints

August 14, 2008 by Kimberly Lau 7 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpRE6CM3oOY&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999]
Sensacell created a unique interactive flooring system for the 2008 World Expo in Zaragoza, Spain. Comprised of 1000 LED panels, the 250 foot installation is covered in architectural glass and lights up in response to pressure. We like what different people are doing in this clip; from walking in a line to dragging a mop over the floor, the results are undeniably captivating and ultimately irresistible.

[via Gizmodo]

PoiPlay – LED Poi

August 14, 2008 by Caleb Kraft 8 Comments

PoiPlay is an elegant mix of new technology and traditional medium. Poi, Maori for ball, is a traditional form of juggling originating in New Zealand. In poi, a ball at the end of a rope or chain is swung in circular motion to develop visual patterns. Often augmented by flame, and more recently LEDs and glow sticks.

The PoiPlay device has 28 RGB LEDs in a 1 foot long enclosure at the end of a rope. They have a 1mbit per second bidirectional wireless interface, three Atmel processors, a lithium ion battery, and a charger. The base station controls not only the PoiPlay but the music as well. All the control software that resides on the PC was written in Perl and communicates via USB port under Cygwin.

They have built the devices to be individually addressable with the capability of being grouped by subnet. This feature isn’t supported by the software yet, but they say it should be done by the next show in 2009.

The site, while pretty offers very little information. Some construction shots would be fantastic. Go check it out though, the pictures are mesmerizing.

[thanks Jm]