LED Cube 8x8x8

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LEDCube8x8x8 bychr(/member/chr/)
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Jan1,2011
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Bio: IlikemicrocontrollersandLEDs:D
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RGBLEDBulbwithIRremote)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FUX/O1RW/GICYBAOS/FUXO1RWGICYBAOS.LARGE.jpg)
Createyourown8x8x8LEDCube3dimensionaldisplay!
WebelievethisInstructableisthemostcomprehensivestepbystepguideto
buildan8x8x8LEDCubeeverpublishedontheintertubes.Itwillteachyou
everythingfromtheoryofoperation,howtobuildthecube,totheinnerworkings
ofthesoftware.Wewilltakeyouthroughthesoftwarestepbystep,boththelow
leveldrivers/routinesandhowtocreateawesomeanimations.Thesoftware
aspectofLEDcubesisoftenoverlooked,butaLEDcubeisonlyasawesome
asthesoftwareitruns.
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Tags:
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ledcube/)
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AbouthalfwaythroughtheInstructable,youwillactuallyhaveafullyfunctional
LEDcube.Theremainingstepswillshowyouhowtocreatethesoftware.
Avideoisworthathousandwords.I'lljustleaveituptothisvideotoconvince
youthatthisisthenextprojectyouwillbebuilding:
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ImadethisLEDcubetogetherwithmyfriendchiller.Thebuildtookabout4
daysfromsmallscaleprototypingtocompletedcube.Thenanothercoupleof
hourstodebugsomefaultytransistors.
Thesoftwareisprobablyanother45daysofworkcombined.
Step1:Skillsrequired
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FOL/S1PK/GI0TMHA2/FOLS1PKGI0TMHA2.LARGE.jpg)
Atfirstglancethisprojectmightseemlikeanoverlycomplexanddauntingtask.
However,wearedealingwithdigitalelectronicshere,soeverythingiseitheron
oroff!
I'vebeendoingelectronicsforalongtime,andforyearsistruggledwithanalog
circuits.Theanalogcircuitsfailedoverhalfthetimeevenififollowed
instructions.Oneresistororcapacitorwithaslightlywrongvalue,andthecircuit
doesn'twork.
About4yearsago,Idecidedtogivemicrocontrollersatry.Thiscompletely
changedmyrelationshipwithelectronics.Iwentfromonlybeingabletobuild
simpleanalogcircuits,tobeingabletobuildalmostanything!
Adigitalcircuitdoesn'tcareifaresistoris1kohmor2kohm,aslongasitcan
distinguishhighfromlow.Andbelieveme,thismakesitALOTeasiertodo
electronics!
Withthatsaid,therearestillsomethingsyoushouldknowbeforeventuringout
andbuildingthisratherlargeproject.
Youshouldhaveanunderstandingof:
Basicelectronics.(Wewouldrecommendagainstbuildingthisasyourvery
firstelectronicsproject.ButpleasereadtheInstructable.You'llstilllearna
lot!)
Howtosolder.
Howtouseamultimeteretc.
WritingcodeinC(optional.Weprovideafullyfunctionalprogram,readyto
go)
Youshouldalsohavepatienceandagenerousamountoffreetime.
Step2:Componentlist
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FIB/V133/GI0TMHAK/FIBV133GI0TMHAK.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F8I/9FOL/GI0TK31D/F8I9FOLGI0TK31D.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FEM/Q0VK/GICYB3TQ/FEMQ0VKGICYB3TQ.LARGE.jpg)
ShowAll12Items
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FYF/VSSI/GI0TMHAI/FYFVSSIGI0TMHAI.LARGE.jpg)
HereiswhatyouneedtomakeaLEDcube:
512xLEDs(plussomeextraformakingmistakes!)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FHU/MXDO/GI0TK42U/FHUMXDOGI0TK42U.LARGE.jpg)
64xresistors.(seeseparatestepforohmvalue)
1xor2xlargeprototypePCBs.Thetypewithcopper"eyes",seeimage.
1xATmega32microcontroller(youcanalsousethepincompatible
ATmega16)
3xstatusLEDs.Youchoosecolorandsize.
3xresistorsforthestatusLEDs.
8x74HC574ICs
16xPN2222transistors
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FE7/QJ1V/GI0TDOUJ/FE7QJ1VGI0TDOUJ.LARGE.jpg)
16x1kresistors
1x74HC138IC
1xMaximMAX232IC
1x14.7456MHzcrustal
2x22pFceramiccapacitors
16x0.1uFceramiccapacitors
3x1000uFelectrolyticcapacitor
3x10uFelectrolyticcapacitor
1x100uFelectrolyticcapacitors
8x20pinICsockets
1x40pinICsocket
2x16pinICsocket
1x2pinscrewterminal
1x2wirecablewithplugs
9x8pinterminalpins
1x4pinterminalpins,rightangle
2x16pinribboncableconnector
1x10pinribboncableconnector
Ribboncable
2xpushbuttons
2xribboncableplugs
9x8pinfemaleheaderplugs
Serialcableand4pinfemalepinheader
Pieceofwoodfortemplateandbase
8xoptionalpullupresistorsforlayers
5vpowersupply(seeseparatestepforpowersupply)
Totalestimatedbuildcost:67USD.Seeattachedpricelist.
pricelist.xls
(/files/orig/FI7/UP2U/GIJG3QAC/FI7UP2UGIJG3QAC.xls)12KB
Step3:Orderingcomponents
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FOZ/UK3Y/GICYB6W6/FOZUK3YGICYB6W6.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FR2/AFHF/GICYB6W3/FR2AFHFGICYB6W3.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FLU/D611/GICYB6W1/FLUD611GICYB6W1.LARGE.jpg)
WeseealotofpeopleaskingforpartnumbersforDigiKey,Mouserorotherbig
electronicsstores.
Whenyou'reworkingwithhobbyelectronics,youdon'tnecessarilyneedthe
mostexpensivecomponentswiththebestquality.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FDU/N9GO/GICYB6W0/FDUN9GOGICYB6W0.LARGE.jpg)
Mostofthetime,itismoreimportanttoactuallyhavethecomponentvalueat
handwhenyouneedit.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F9G/M4VV/GICYB6W2/F9GM4VVGICYB6W2.LARGE.jpg)
WearebigfansofbuyingreallycheapcomponentlotsoneBay.Youcanget
assortmentsofresistor,capacitors,transistorsandeverythinginbetween.Ifyou
buythesetypesofassortments,youwillalmostalwayshavethepartsyouneed
inyourpartcollection.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FWL/G825/GICYB6VZ/FWLG825GICYB6VZ.LARGE.jpg)
For17USDyoucanget2000resistorsof50differentvalues.Greatvalue,and
veryconvenient.
TrydoingsomeBaysearchesandbuysomecomponentsforfutureprojects!
AnotheroneofourfavoritestoresisFuturlec(http://www.futurlec.com/
(http://www.futurlec.com/)).Theyhaveeverythingyouneed.Thethingtheydon't
haveis1000differentversionsofthatthingthatyouneed,sobrowsingtheir
inventoryisalotlessconfusingthanbuyingfromthosebiggercompanies.
Step4:WhatisaLEDcube
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F9W/CPGS/GICYB3QA/F9WCPGSGICYB3QA.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F7U/FAFE/GI0TK41S/F7UFAFEGI0TK41S.LARGE.jpg)
ALEDcubeislikeaLEDscreen,butitisspecialinthatithasathirddimension,
makingit3D.Thinkofitasmanytransparentlowresolutiondisplays.Innormal
displaysitisnormaltotrytostackthepixelsascloseaspossibleinorderto
makeitlookbetter,butinacubeonemustbeabletoseetroughit,andmore
spacingbetweenthepixels(actuallyit'svoxelssinceitisin3d)isneeded.The
spacingisatradeoffbetweenhoweasythelayersbehinditisseen,andvoxel
fidelity.
SinceitisalotmoreworkmakingaLEDcubethanaLEDdisplay,theyare
usuallylowresolution.ALEDdisplayof8x8pixelsisonly64LEDs,butaLED
cubein8x8x8is512LEDs,anorderofmagnitudehardertomake!Thisisthe
reasonLEDcubesareonlymadeinlowresolution.
ALEDcubedoesnothavetobesymetrical,itispossibletomakea7x8x9,or
evenoddlyshapedones.
Step5:HowdoesaLEDcubework
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FTI/0UCQ/GICYB3A7/FTI0UCQGICYB3A7.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FIV/IJHX/GICYB39I/FIVIJHXGICYB39I.LARGE.jpg)
ThisLEDcubehas512LEDs.Obviously,havingadedicatedIOportforeach
LEDwouldbeveryimpractical.Youwouldneedamicrocontrollerwith512IO
ports,andrun512wiresthroughthecube.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FY9/VSJ6/GI0TK33H/FY9VSJ6GI0TK33H.LARGE.jpg)
Instead,LEDcubesrelyonanopticalphenomenoncalledpersistenceofvision
(POV).
Ifyouflashaledreallyfast,theimagewillstayonyourretinaforalittlewhile
aftertheledturnsoff.
Byflashingeachlayerofthecubeoneafteranotherreallyreallyfast,itgivesthe
illusionofa3dimage,whenintfactyouarelookingataseriesof2dimages
stackedontoponeanother.Thisisalsocalledmultiplexing.
Withthissetup,weonlyneed64(fortheanodes)+8(foreachlayer)IOportsto
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F55/OUWY/GI0TMH4I/F55OUWYGI0TMH4I.LARGE.jpg)
controltheLEDcube.
Inthevideo,theprocessissloweddownenoughforyoutoseeit,thenitruns
fasterandfasteruntiltherefreshrateisfastenoughforthecameratocatchthe
POVeffect.
Step6:TheanatomyofaLEDcube
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FHT/WYK3/GI0TDMW9/FHTWYK3GI0TDMW9.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F4B/H8ND/GI0TK2DZ/F4BH8NDGI0TK2DZ.LARGE.jpg)
Wearegoingtobetalkingaboutanodes,cathodes,columnsandlayers,solets
takeamomenttogetfamiliarwiththeanatomyofaLEDcube.
AnLEDhastwolegs.Onepositive(theanode)andonenegative(cathode).In
ordertolightupanLED,youhavetoruncurrentfromthepositivetothe
negativeleg.(Ifiremembercorrectlytheactualflowofelectronsistheotherway
around.Butlet'ssticktotheflowofcurrentwhichisfrompositivetonegativefor
now).
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FJX/R7WS/GI0TDMW5/FJXR7WSGI0TDMW5.LARGE.jpg)
TheLEDcubeismadeupofcolumnsandlayers.Thecathodelegsofevery
LEDinalayeraresolderedtogether.Alltheanodelegsinonecolumnare
solderedtogether.
Eachofthe64columnsareconnectedtothecontrollerboardwithaseparate
wire.Eachcolumncanbecontrolledindividually.Eachofthe8layersalsohave
aseparatewiregoingtothecontrollerboard.
Eachofthelayersareconnectedtoatransistorthatenablesthecubetoturnon
andofftheflowofcurrentthrougheachlayer.
Byonlyturningonthetransistorforonelayer,currentfromtheanodecolumns
canonlyflowthroughthatlayer.Thetransistorsfortheotherlayersareoff,and
theimageoutputtedonthe64anodewiresareonlyshownontheselected
layer.
Todisplaythenextlayer,simplyturnoffthetransistorforthecurrentlayer,
changetheimageonthe64anodewirestotheimageforthenextlayer.Then
turnonthetransistorforthenextlayer.Rinseandrepeatveryveryfast.
Thelayerswillbereferredtoaslayers,cathodelayersorgroundlayers.
Thecolumnswillbereferredtoascolumns,anodecolumnsoranodes.
Step7:CubesizeandIOportrequirements
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FKD/2RXG/GI0TMG91/FKD2RXGGI0TMG91.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FM4/9FA0/GI0TMG94/FM49FA0GI0TMG94.LARGE.jpg)
TodriveaLEDcube,youneedtwosetsofIOports.OnetosourcealltheLED
anodecolumns,andonetosinkallthecathodelayers.
Fortheanodesideofthecube,you'llneedx^2IOports,wherex^3isthesizeof
yourLEDcube.Foran8x8x8(x=8),youneed64IOportstodrivetheLED
anodes.(8x8).Youalsoneed8IOportstodrivethecathodes.
KeepinmindthatthenumberofIOportswillincreaseexponentially.Sowillthe
numberofLEDs.YoucanseealistofIOpinrequirementfordifferentcube
sizesintable1.
ForasmallLEDcube,3x3x3or4x4x4,youmightgetawaywithconnectingthe
cathodelayersdirectlytoamicrocontrollerIOpin.Foralargercubehowever,
thecurrentgoingthroughthispinwillbetoohigh.Foran8x8x8LEDcubewith
only10mAperLED,youneedtoswitch0.64Ampere.Seetable2foran
overviewofpowerrequirementsforaLEDlayerofdifferentsizes.Thistable
showsthecurrentdrawwithallLEDson.
Ifyouareplanningtobuildalargercubethan8x8x8orrunningeachLEDat
morethan10ishmA,remembertotakeintoconsiderationthatyourlayer
transistorsmustbeabletohandlethatload.
Step8:IOportexpansion,moremultiplexing
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F84/E01I/GI0TK2FJ/F84E01IGI0TK2FJ.LARGE.jpg)
Wegatheredfromthelaststepthatan8x8x8LEDcuberequires64+8IOlines
tooperate.NoAVRmicrocontrollerwithaDIPpackage(thekindofthrough
holechipyoucaneasilysolderoruseinabreadboard,DualInlinePackage)
havethatmanyIOlinesavailable.
Togetgettherequired64outputlinesneededfortheLEDanodes,wewill
createasimplemultiplexercircuit.Thiscircuitwillmultiplex11IOlinesinto64
outputlines.
Themultiplexerisbuiltbyusingacomponentcalledalatchoraflipflop.Wewill
callthemlatchesfromhereon.
Thismultiplexerusesan8bitlatchICcalled74HC574.Thischiphasthe
followingpins:
8inputs(D07)
8outputs(Q07)
1"latch"pin(CP)
1outputenablepin(OE)
Thejobofthelatchistoserveasakindofsimplememory.Thelatchcanhold8
bitsofinformation,andthese8bitsarerepresentedontheoutputpins.Consider
alatchwithanLEDconnectedtooutputQ0.ToturnthisLEDon,applyV+(1)to
inputD0,thenpulltheCPpinlow(GND),thenhigh(V+).
WhentheCPpinchangesfromlowtohigh,thestateoftheinputD0is"latched"
ontotheoutputQ0,andthisoutputstaysinthatstateregardlessoffuture
changesinthestatusofinputD0,untilnewdataisloadedbypullingtheCPpin
lowandhighagain.
Tomakealatcharraythatcanremembertheon/offstateof64LEDsweneed8
oftheselatches.TheinputsD07ofallthelatchesareconnectedtogetherinan
8bitbus.
Toloadtheon/offstatesofallthe64LEDswesimplydothis:Loadthedataof
thefirstlatchontothebus.pulltheCPpinofthefirstlatchlowthenhigh.Load
thedataofthesecondlatchontothebus.pulltheCPpinofthesecondlatchlow
thenhigh.Loadthedataofthethirdlatchontothebus.pulltheCPpinofthe
thirdlatchlowthenhigh.Rinseandrepeat.
Theonlyproblemwiththissetupisthatweneed8IOlinestocontroltheCPline
foreachlatch.Thesolutionistousea74HC138.ThisIChas3inputlinesand8
outputs.Theinputlinesareusedtocontrolwhichofthe8outputlinesthatwill
bepulledlowatanytime.Therestwillbehigh.Eachouttheoutputsonthe
74HC138isconnectedtotheCPpinononeofthelatches.
Thefollowingpseudocodewillloadthecontentsofabufferarrayontothelatch
array:
//PORTA=databus
//PORTB=addressbus(74HC138)
//charbuffer[8]holds64bitsofdataforthelatcharray
PORTB=0x00//ThispullsCPonlatch1low.
for(i=0i<8i++)
{
PORTA=buffer[i]
PORTB=i+1
}
Theoutputsofthe74HC138areactiveLOW.Thatmeansthattheoutputthatis
activeispulledLOW.Thelatchpin(CP)onthelatchisarisingedgetrigger,
meaningthatthedataislatchedwhenitchangesfromLOWtoHIGH.Totrigger
therightlatch,the74HC138needstostayonestepaheadofthecounteri.Ifit
hadbeenanactiveHIGHchip,wecouldwritePORTB=iYouareprobably
thinking,whathappenswhenthecounterreaches7,thatwouldmeanthatthe
outputonPORTBis8(1000binary)onthelastiterationofthefor()loop.Only
thefirst8bitsofPORTBareconnectedtothe74HC138.SowhenportB
outputs8or1000inbinary,the74HC138reads000inbinary,thuscompleting
itscycle.(itstartedat0).The74HC138nowoutputsthefollowingsequence:12
345670,thusgivingachangefromLOWtoHIGHforthecurrentlatch
accordingtocounteri.
multiplex_theoretical.sch
(/files/orig/FHJ/ASA2/GICYB6DA/FHJASA2GICYB6DA.tmp)21KB
Step9:IOportexpansion,alternativesolution
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FMS/0ULI/GI0TMG9R/FMS0ULIGI0TMG9R.LARGE.jpg)
Thereisanothersolutionforprovidingmoreoutputlines.Wewentwiththelatch
basedmultiplexerbecausewehad8latchesavailablewhenbuildingtheLED
cube.
Youcanalsouseaserialinparalleloutshiftregistertoget64outputlines.
74HC164isan8bitshiftregister.Thischiphastwoinputs(mayalsohavean
outputenablepin,butwewillignorethisinthisexample).
data
clock
Everytimetheclockinputchangesfromlowtohigh,thedatainQ6ismoved
intoQ7,Q5intoQ6,Q4intoQ5andsoon.Everythingisshiftedonepositionto
theright(assumingthatQ0istotheleft).Thestateofthedatainputlineis
shiftedintoQ0.
Thewayyouwouldnormallyloaddataintoachiplikethis,istotakeabyteand
bitshiftitintothechiponebitatatime.ThisusesalotofCPUcycles.However,
wehavetouse8ofthesechipstogetourdesired64outputlines.Wesimply
connectthedatainputofeachshiftregistertoeachofthe8bitsonaportonthe
microcontroller.Alltheclockinputsareconnectedtogetherandconnectedtoa
pinonanotherIOport.
Thissetupwilluse9IOlinesonthemicrocontroller.
Intheprevioussolution,eachbyteinourbufferarraywasplacedinit'sown
latchIC.Inthissetupeachbytewillbedistributedoverall8shiftregisters,with
onebitineach.
Thefollowingpseudocodewilltransferthecontentsofa64bitbufferarrayto
theshiftregisters.
//PORTA:bit0connectedtoshiftregister0'sdatainput,bit1toshiftregister1
andsoon.
//PORTB:bit0connectedtoalltheclockinputs
//charbuffer[8]holds64bitsofdata
for(i=0i<8i++)
{
PORTB=0x00//Pulltheclocklinelow,sowecanpullithighlaterto
triggertheshiftregister
PORTA=buffer[i]//LoadabyteofdataontoportA
PORTB=0x01//Pulltheclocklinehightoshiftdataintotheshift
registers.
}
Thisisperhapsabettersolution,butwehadtousewhatwehadavailablewhen
buildingthecube.Forthepurposesofthisinstructable,wewillbeusingalatch
basedmultiplexerforIOportexpansion.Feelfreetousethissolutioninsteadif
youunderstandhowtheybothwork.
Withthissetup,thecontentsofthebufferwillbe"rotated"90degreescompared
tothelatchbasedmultiplexer.Wireupyourcubeaccordingly,orsimplyjustturn
it90degreestocompensate)
multiplex_alternative.sch
(/files/orig/FAH/098K/GICYB6DK/FAH098KGICYB6DK.tmp)10KB
Step10:Powersupplyconsiderations
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FNB/P4Z6/GI0TK41W/FNBP4Z6GI0TK41W.LARGE.jpg)
Thisstepiseasytooverlook,asLEDsthemselvesdon'tdrawthatmuchcurrent.
Butrememberthatthiscircuitwilldraw64timesthemAofyourLEDsiftheyare
allon.Inadditiontothat,theAVRandthelatchICsalsodrawscurrent.
TocalculatethecurrentdrawofyourLEDs,connectaledtoa5Vpowersupply
withtheresistoryouintendtouse,andmeasurethecurrentinmA.Multiplythis
numberby64,andyouhavethepowerrequirementsforthecubeitself.Addto
that1520mAfortheAVRandacoupleofmAforeachlatchIC.
Ourfirstattemptatapowersupplywastouseastepdownvoltageregulator,
LM7805,witha12Vwallwart.Atover500mAand12Vinput,thischipbecame
extremelyhot,andwasn'tabletosupplythedesiredcurrent.
Welaterremovedthischip,andsolderedawirefromtheinputtotheoutputpin
wherethechipusedtobe.
Wenowusearegulatedcomputerpowersupplytogetastablehighcurrent5V
supply.
Step11:Buyapowersupply
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FAY/1SNJ/GI0TDMXN/FAY1SNJGI0TDMXN.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FL7/ZQWV/GI0TK2FS/FL7ZQWVGI0TK2FS.LARGE.jpg)
Ifyoudon'thavethepartsnecessarytobuilda5VPSU,youcanbuyone.
eBayisagreatplacetobuythesethings.
Searchfor"5vpowersupply"andlimitthesearchto"Business&Industrial",and
you'llgetalotofsuitablepowersupplies.About15buckswillgetyouanice
PSU.
Step12:Buildapowersupply
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FSC/AS9Q/GI0TK41X/FSCAS9QGI0TK41X.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FOV/5AJW/GICYB3QU/FOV5AJWGICYB3QU.LARGE.jpg)
AcoupleofyearsbeforewebuilttheLEDcube,wemadeourselfanicelittlelab
powersupplyfromanoldexternalSCSIdrive.Thisiswhatwehavebeenusing
topowertheLEDcube.
PCpowersuppliesarenice,becausetheyhaveregulated12Vand5Vrailswith
highAmpereratings.
YoucanuseeitheraregularATorATXpowersupplyorandoldexternalhard
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FTP/ON1Y/GI0TK41Y/FTPON1YGI0TK41Y.LARGE.jpg)
driveenclosure.
IfyouwanttouseanATXpowersupply,youhavetoconnectthegreenwireon
themotherboardconnectortoground(black).Thiswillpoweritup.
Externalharddriveenclosuresareespeciallynicetouseaspowersupplies.
Theyalreadyhaveaconvenientenclosure.Theonlythingyouhavetodoisto
addexternalpowerterminals.
Powersupplieshavealotofwires,buttheeasiestplacetogetthepoweryou
needisthroughamolexconnector.Thatisthekindofplugyoufindonhard
drives(beforetheageofSATA).
BlackisGNDYellowis+12VRedis+5V
HereisanimageofourlabPSU.Wehave12Voutput,5Voutputwithan
amperemeterand5Voutputwithoutanamperemeter.Weusethesecond5V
outputtopoweran80mmPCfantosuckorblowfumesawaywhenwesolder.
Wewon'tgetintoanymoredetailsofhowtomakeapowersupplyhere.I'm
sureyoucanfindanotherinstructableonhowtodothat.
Step13:ChooseyourLEDs
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F4P/ZYNZ/GI0TMHA5/F4PZYNZGI0TMHA5.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FB7/MNVU/GICYB3R9/FB7MNVUGICYB3R9.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F7C/E14Y/GICYB3RH/F7CE14YGICYB3RH.LARGE.jpg)
TherearemanythingstoconsiderwhenchoosingLEDs.
1)
YouwanttheLEDcubetobeequallyvisiblefromallsides.Thereforewe
stronglyrecommendusingdiffusedLEDs.AclearLEDwillshootthemajorityof
it'slightoutthetopoftheLED.AdiffusedLEDwillbemoreorlessequallybright
fromallsides.ClearLEDsalsocreateanotherproblem.Ifyourcubeismadeup
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F1U/XKRK/GI0TDOU4/F1UXKRKGI0TDOU4.LARGE.jpg)
ofclearLEDs.TheLEDswillalsopartiallyilluminatetheLEDsabovethem,
sincemostofthelightisdirectedupwards.Thiscreatessomeunwanted
ghostingeffects.
WeactuallyordereddiffusedLEDsfromeBay,butgot1000clearLEDsinstead.
ShippingthembacktoChinatoreceiveareplacementwouldhavetakentoo
muchtime,sowedecidedtousedtheclearLEDsinstead.Itworksfine,butthe
cubeisalotbrighterwhenviewedfromthetopasopposedtothesides.
TheLEDsweorderedfromeBaywereactuallydescribedas"DefusedLEDs".
Maybeweshouldhavetakenthehint)Defusingissomethingyoudotoabomb
whenyouwanttopreventitfromblowingup,hehe.
2)
LargerLEDsgivesyouabiggerandbrighterpixel,butsincesincethecubeis8
layersdeep,youwantenoughroomtoseeallthewaythroughtothefurthest
level.Wewentwith3mmLEDsbecausewewantedthecubetobeas
"transparent"aspossible.Ourrecommendationistouse3mmdiffusedLEDs.
3)
Youcanbuyverycheaplotsof1000LEDsoneBay.Butkeepinmindthatthe
qualityoftheproductmaybereflectedinit'sprice.Wethinkthatthereisless
chanceofLEDmalfunctionifyoubuybetterquality/moreexpensiveLEDs.
4)
SquareLEDswouldprobablylookcoolto,butthenyouneedtomakea
solderingtemplatethatcanaccommodatesquareLEDs.With3mmroundLEDs,
allyouneedisa3mmdrillbit.
5)
Sincethecubereliesonmultiplexingandpersistenceofvisiontocreateimages,
eachlayerisonlyturnedonfor1/8ofthetime.Thisiscalleda1/8dutycycle.To
compensateforthis,theLEDshavetobebrightenoughtoproducethewanted
brightnesslevelat1/8dutycycle.
6)
Leglength.ThecubedesigninthisinstructableusesthelegsoftheLEDs
themselvesastheskeletonforthecube.TheleglengthoftheLEDsmustbe
equaltoorgreaterthanthedistanceyouwantbetweeneachLED.
Step14:Chooseyourresistors
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F5S/0LOM/GICYB3SB/F5S0LOMGICYB3SB.LARGE.jpg)
Therearethreethingstoconsiderwhenchoosingthevalueofyourresistors,the
LEDs,the74HC574thatdrivetheLEDs,andthetransistorsusedtoswitchthe
layersonandoff.
1)
IfyourLEDscamewithadatasheet,thereshouldbesomeampereratingsin
there.Usually,therearetworatings,onemAforcontinuousload,andmAfor
burstloads.TheLEDswillberunningat1/8dutycycle,soyoucanrefertothe
burstrating.
2)
The74HC574alsohassomemaximumratings.IfalltheLEDsononeanode
columnareon,thischipwillsupplycurrent8/8ofthetime.Youhavetokeep
withinthespecifiedmaximummAratingfortheoutputpins.Ifyoulookinthe
datasheet,Youwillfindthisline:DCOutputSourceorSinkCurrentperOutput
Pin,IO:25mA.AlsothereisaVCCorGNDcurrentmaximumratingof50mA.In
ordernottoexceedthis,yourLEDscanonlyrunat50/8mAsincethe74HC574
has8outputs.Thisgivesyou6.25mAtoworkwith.
3)
Thetransistorshavetoswitchonandoff64xthemAofyourLEDs.Ifyour
LEDsdraw20mAeach,thatwouldmeanthatyouhavetoswitchonandoff1.28
Ampere.
Theonlytransistorswehadavailablehadamaximumratingof400mA.
Weendedupusingresistorsof100ohms.
WhileyouarewaitingforyourLEDcubepartstoarriveinthemail,youcanbuild
theguyinthepicturebelow:http://www.instructables.com/id/Resistorman/
(http://www.instructables.com/id/Resistorman/)
Step15:Choosethesizeofyourcube
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FOT/II3A/GI0TDN1V/FOTII3AGI0TDN1V.LARGE.jpg)
WewantedtomaketheLEDcubeusingasfewcomponentsaspossible.We
hadseensomepeopleusingmetalrodsfortheirdesigns,butwedidn'thaveany
metalrods.Manyofthemetalroddesignsalsolookedalittlecrooked.
Wefiguredthattheeasiestwaytobuildaledcubewouldbetobendthelegsof
theLEDssothatthelegsbecomethescaffoldingthatholdstheLEDsinplace.
WebentthecathodelegononeoftheLEDsandmeasuredittobe26mmfrom
thecenteroftheLED.BychoosingaLEDspacingof25mm,therewouldbea
1mmoverlapforsoldering.(1inch=25.4mm)
Withasmall3mmLED25mmbetweeneachledgaveusplentyofopenspace
insidethecube.Seeingallthewaythroughtothefurthestlayerwouldn'tbea
problem.Wecouldhavemadethecubesmaller,butthenwewouldhavetocut
everysingleleg,andvisibilityintothecubewouldbecompromised.
OurrecommendationistousethemaximumspacingthatyourLEDcanallow.
Add1mmmarginforsoldering.
Step16:Howtomakestraightwire
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FSF/CNSP/GI0TMGB4/FSFCNSPGI0TMGB4.LARGE.jpg)
InordertomakeanicelookingLEDCube,youneedsomestraightsteelwire.
Theonlywirewehadwasonspools,soithadtobestraightened.
Ourfirstattemptatthisfailedhorribly.Wetriedtobenditintoastraightwire,but
nomatterhowmuchwebent,itjustwasn'tstraightenough.
Thenwerememberedanepisodeof"Howit'smade"fromtheDiscovery
Channel.Theepisodewasabouthowtheymakesteelwire.Theystartoutwith
aspoolofreallythickwire,thentheypullitthroughsmallerandsmallerholes.
Werememberedthatthewirewastotallystraightandsymmetricalafterbeing
pulledlikethat.
Sowefiguredweshouldgivepullingatry,anditworked!100%straightmetal
wirefromaspool!
Hereishowyoudoit.
cutofthelengthofwireyouneedfromthespool,plusaninchortwo.
Removetheinsulation,ifany.
Getafirmgripofeachendofthewirewithtwopairsofpliers
Pullhard!
Youwillfeelthewirestretchalittlebit.
Youonlyneedtostretchitacoupleofmillimeterstomakeitniceandstraight.
Ifyouhaveavice,youcansecureoneendintheviceanduseonepairofpliers.
Thiswouldprobablybealoteasier,butwedon'townavice.
Step17:Practiceinsmallscale
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FJN/F0KM/FE7ITU05/FJNF0KMFE7ITU05.LARGE.jpg)
WheneverMythBustersaretestingacomplexmyth,theystartbysomesmall
scaleexperiments.
Werecommendthatyoudothesamething.
Beforewebuiltthe8x8x8LEDcube,westartedbymakingasmallerversionof
it,4x4x4.Bymakingthe4x4x4versionfirst,youcanperfectyourcubesoldering
techniquebeforestartingonthebigone.
Checkoutour4x4x4LEDcubeinstructableforinstructionsonbuildingasmaller
"prototype".
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDCube4x4x4/
(http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDCube4x4x4/)
Step18:Buildthecube:createajig
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FEM/G3OZ/GI0TDN4A/FEMG3OZGI0TDN4A.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F51/ATJT/GI0TK2HA/F51ATJTGI0TK2HA.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FRY/BMXF/GI0TK2H9/FRYBMXFGI0TK2H9.LARGE.jpg)
InordertomakeanicelookingLEDcube,itisimportantthatitiscompletely
symmetrical,thatthespacebetweeneachLEDisidentical,andthateachLED
pointsthesameway.Theeasiestwaytoaccomplishthisistocreatea
temporarysolderingjig/template.
1)
Findapieceofwoodorplasticthatislargerthanthesizeofyourcube.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FPR/52ON/GI0TMGC5/FPR52ONGI0TMGC5.LARGE.jpg)
2)
FindadrillbitthatmakesaholethatfitsaLEDsnuglyinplace.Youdon'twantit
tobetotight,asthatwouldmakeitdifficulttoremovethesolderedlayerfrom
thejigwithoutbendingit.Iftheholesaretoobig,someoftheLEDsmightcome
outcrooked.
3)
Usearulerandanangleirontodrawupagridof8by8linesintersectingat64
points,usingtheLEDspacingdeterminedinapreviousstep.
4)
Useasharppointyobjecttomakeindentionsateachintersection.These
indentionswillpreventthedrillfromslidingsidewayswhenyoustartdrilling.
5)
Drilloutalltheholes.
6)
TakeanLEDandtryeveryholeforsize.Iftheholeistoosnug,carefullydrillit
againuntiltheLEDfitssnuglyandcanbepulledoutwithoutmuchresistance.
7)
Somewherenearthemiddleofoneofthesides,drawasmallmarkorarrow.A
steelwirewillbesolderedinhereineverylayertogivethecubesomeextra
stiffening.
Step19:Buildthecube:solderingadvice
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FAX/RZD9/GI0TDOUE/FAXRZD9GI0TDOUE.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FR4/B3EM/GI0TMHA8/FR4B3EMGI0TMHA8.LARGE.jpg)
YouaregoingtobesolderingVERYclosetotheLEDbody,andyouare
probablygoingtobeusingreallycheapLEDsfromeBay.LEDsdon'tlikeheat,
cheapLEDsprobablymoresothanothers.Thismeansthatyouhavetotake
someprecautionsinordertoavoidbrokenLEDs.
Solderingironhygiene
Firstofall,youneedtokeepyoursolderingironniceandclean.Thatmeans
wipingitonthespongeeverytimeyouuseit.Thetipofyoursolderingiron
shouldbecleanandshiny.Whenevertheyouseethetipbecomingdirtywith
fluxoroxidizing,thatmeansloosingit'sshinyness,youshouldcleanit.Evenif
youareinthemiddleofsoldering.HavingacleansolderingtipmakesitALOT
easiertotransferheattothesolderingtarget.
Solderingspeed
WhensolderingsoclosetotheLEDbody,youneedtogetinandoutquickly.
Wipeyourironclean.Applyatinyamountofsoldertothetip.Touchthepartyou
wanttosolderwiththesideofyourironwhereyoujustputalittlesolder.Letthe
targetheatupfor0.51seconds,thentouchtheothersideofthetargetyouare
solderingwiththesolder.Youonlyneedtoapplyalittlebit.Onlythesolderthat
istouchingthemetalofbothwireswillmakeadifference.Abigblobofsolder
willnotmakethesolderjointanystronger.Removethesolderingiron
immediatelyafterapplyingthesolder.
Mistakesandcooldown
Ifyoumakeamistake,forexampleifthewiresmovebeforethesolderhardens
oryoudon'tapplyenoughsolder.Donottryagainrightaway.Atthispointthe
LEDisalreadyveryhot,andapplyingmoreheatwiththesolderingironwillonly
makeithotter.ContinuewiththenextLEDandletitcooldownforaminute,or
blowonittoremovesomeheat.
Solder
WerecommendusingathinsolderforsolderingtheLEDs.Thisgivesyoualot
morecontrol,andenableyoutomakenicelookingsolderjointswithoutlarge
blobsofsolder.Weuseda0.5mmgaugesolder.Don'tusesolderwithoutflux.
Ifyoursolderisveryoldandthefluxisn'tcleaningthetargetproperly,getnewer
solder.Wehaven'texperiencedthis,butwehaveheardthatitcanhappen.
Areweparanoid?
Whenbuildingthe8x8x8LEDCube,wetestedeachandeveryLEDbefore
usingitinthecube.WealsotestedeveryLEDafterwefinishedsolderinga
layer.SomeoftheLEDsdidn'tworkafterbeingsolderedinplace.We
consideredthesethingsbeforemakingasinglesolderjoint.Evenwithcareful
soldering,someLEDsweredamaged.
ThelastthingyouwantisabrokenLEDnearthecenterofthecubewhenitis
finished.Thefirstandsecondlayerfromtheoutsidecanbefixedafterwards,but
anyfurtherinthanthat,andyou'llneedendoscopicsurgicaltools)
Step20:Buildthecube:testtheLEDs
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FEW/IH1E/GI0TK33N/FEWIH1EGI0TK33N.LARGE.jpg)
WegotourLEDsfromeBay,reallycheap!
WetestedsomeoftheLEDbeforewestartedsoldering,andrandomlystumbled
onaLEDthatwasalotdimmerthantherest.SowedecidedtotesteveryLED
beforeusingit.WefoundacoupleofdeadLEDsandsomethatweredimmer
thantherest.
ItwouldbeverybadtohaveadimLEDinsideyourfinishedLEDcube,sospend
thetimetotesttheLEDsbeforesoldering!Thismightbelessofaproblemifyou
areusingLEDsthataremoreexpensive,butwefounditworthwhiletotestour
LEDs.
Getoutyourbreadboard,connectapowersupplyandaresistor,thenpopthe
LEDsinoneatatime.YoumightalsowanttohaveanotherLEDwithitsown
resistorpermanentlyonthebreadboardwhiletesting.Thismakesiteasierto
spotdifferencesinbrightness.
Step21:Buildthecube:solderalayer
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FYH/EBS4/GI0TMGE1/FYHEBS4GI0TMGE1.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FCQ/KLVJ/GI0TMGDW/FCQKLVJGI0TMGDW.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FXA/85QT/GI0TMGFF/FXA85QTGI0TMGFF.LARGE.jpg)
ShowAll13Items
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FWP/5C93/GI0TMGGL/FWP5C93GI0TMGGL.LARGE.jpg)
Eachlayerismadeupof8columnsofLEDsheldtogetherbythelegsofeach
LED.AtthetopofeachlayereachLEDisrotated90degreesclockwise,sothat
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FVW/932Y/GICYAZHY/FVW932YGICYAZHY.LARGE.jpg)
thelegconnectswiththetopLEDofthenextcolumn.Onthecolumntotheright
thislegwillstickoutofthesideofthelayer.Weleavethisinplaceanduseitto
connectgroundwhentestingalltheLEDsinalaterstep.
1)Prepare64LEDs
BendthecathodelegofeachLED90degrees.Makesurethelegsarebentin
thesamedirectiononalltheLEDs.LookingattheLEDsittinginaholeinthe
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F3Q/IEC8/GI0TMGCZ/F3QIEC8GI0TMGCZ.LARGE.jpg)
templatewiththenotchtotheright,webentthelegupwards.
2)Startwiththerowatthetop
StartbyplacingthetoprightLEDinthetemplate.Thenplacetheonetotheleft,
positioningitsothatit'scathodelegistouchingthecathodelegoftheprevious
LED.RinseandrepeatuntilyoureachtheleftLED.Solderallthejoints.
3)Solderall8columns
Ifyouarerighthanded,werecommendyoustartwiththecolumntotheleft.
Thatwayyourhandcanrestonthewoodentemplatewhenyousolder.Youwill
needasteadyhandwhensolderingfreehandlikethis.StartbyplacingtheLED
secondfromthetop,aligningitsoit'slegtouchesthesolderjointfromthe
previousstep.ThenplacetheLEDbelowthatsothatthecathodelegtouches
theLEDabove.Repeatuntilyoureachthebottom.Solderallthejoints.
4)Addbraces
Younowhavealayerthatlookslikeacomb.Atthispointthewholethingisvery
flimsy,andyouwillneedtoaddsomesupport.Weusedonebracingnearthe
bottomandonenearthemiddle.Takeastraightpeaceofwire,roughlyalignit
whereyouwantitandsolderoneendtothelayer.Finetunethealignmentand
soldertheotherendinplace.Now,makesolderjointstotheremaining6
columns.Dothisforbothbraces.
5)TestalltheLEDs
Thisiscoveredinthenextstep.Justmentioningheresoyoudon'tremovethe
layerjustyet.
6)Removethelayer
ThefirstlayerofyourLEDcubeisalldone,nowallyouhavetodoisremoveit
fromthetemplate.Dependingonthesizeofyourholes,someLEDsmighthave
moreresistancewhenyoutrytopullitout.Simplygrabbingbothendsofthe
layerandpullingwouldprobablybreakthewholethingifacoupleoftheLEDs
arestuck.
StartbyliftingeverysingleLEDacoupleofmillimeters.Justenoughtofeelthat
thereisn'tanyresistance.WhenalltheLEDsarefreedfromtheirholes,trylifting
itcarefully.Ifitisstillstuck,stopandpullthestuckLEDsout.
Repeat8times!
Noteonimages:
Ifyouarehavingtroubleseeingthedetailinanyofourpictures,youcanviews
thefullresolutionbyclickingonthelittleiiconinthetopleftcornerofevery
image.Allourcloseuppicturesaretakenwithaminitripodandshouldhave
excellentmacrofocus.Ontheimagepage,choosetheoriginalsizefromthe
"Availablesizes"menuonthelefthandside.
Step22:Buildthecube:testthelayer
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FIY/J2SY/GI0TMGJ2/FIYJ2SYGI0TMGJ2.LARGE.jpg)
SolderingthatclosetothebodyoftheLEDcandamagetheelectronicsinside.
WestronglyrecommendthatyoutestallLEDsbeforeproceeding.
Connectgroundtothetabyouleftstickingoutattheupperrightcorner.Connect
awireto5Vthrougharesistor.UseanyresistorthatlightstheLEDupand
doesn'texceeditsmaxmAratingat5V.470Ohmwouldprobablyworkjustfine.
Takethewireandtapitagainstall64anodelegsthatarestickingupfromyour
template.IfaLEDdoesn'tflashwhenyoutapit,thatmeansthatsomethingis
wrong.
1)Yoursolderingisn'tconductingcurrent.
2)TheLEDwasoverheatedandisbroken.
3)Youdidn'tmakeaproperconnectionbetweenthetestwireandtheled.(try
again).
Ifeverythingchecksout,pullthelayerfromthecubeandstartsolderingthenext
one.
Step23:Buildthecube:straigthenthepins
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FET/NJR0/GI0TMGKA/FETNJR0GI0TMGKA.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F4M/0QHY/GI0TMGKV/F4M0QHYGI0TMGKV.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FWO/UIPD/GI0TMGJR/FWOUIPDGI0TMGJR.LARGE.jpg)
Inouropinion,aLEDcubeisapieceofartandshouldbeperfectlysymmetrical
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FAA/LBKF/GI0TMGJT/FAALBKFGI0TMGJT.LARGE.jpg)
andstraight.IfyoulookattheLEDsinyourtemplatefromtheside,theyare
probablybentinsomedirection.
Youwantallthelegstopointstraightup,ata90degreeanglefromthe
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FBA/YE5U/GI0TMGK1/FBAYE5UGI0TMGK1.LARGE.jpg)
template.
Whilelookingatthetemplatefromtheside,straightenallthelegs.Thenrotate
thetemplate90degrees,toviewitfromtheotherside,thendothesame
process.
Younowhaveaperfectlayerthatisreadytoberemovedfromthetemplate.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FDU/97KW/GI0TMGKW/FDU97KWGI0TMGKW.LARGE.jpg)
Step24:Buildthecube:bendthepins
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F4Z/FIYQ/GISO5193/F4ZFIYQGISO5193.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FDM/2K6V/GI0TMGLZ/FDM2K6VGI0TMGLZ.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F9V/CTZL/GI0TMGLQ/F9VCTZLGI0TMGLQ.LARGE.jpg)
IntheLEDcubecolumns,wewanteachLEDtositcenteredpreciselyabovethe
LEDsbelow.ThelegsontheLEDscomeoutfromtheLEDbodyhalfa
millimeterorsofromtheedge.Tomakeasolderjoint,wehavetobendthe
anodelegsothatittouchestheanodelegontheLEDbelow.
Makeabendintheanodelegtowardsthecathodelegapproximately3mmfrom
theendoftheleg.ThisisenoughforthelegtobendaroundtheLEDbelowand
makecontactwithit'sanodeleg.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FJL/OZ5V/GI0TMGLP/FJLOZ5VGI0TMGLP.LARGE.jpg)
Step25:Buildthecube:solderthelayerstogether
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FSU/YYBT/GICYAZPM/FSUYYBTGICYAZPM.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FJB/6THL/GI0TMGN4/FJB6THLGI0TMGN4.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FSU/XWOI/GI0TMGN5/FSUXWOIGI0TMGN5.LARGE.jpg)
ShowAll10Items
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FNW/MWL7/GICYAZQK/FNWMWL7GICYAZQK.LARGE.jpg)
Nowcomesthetrickypart,solderingitalltogether!
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FQ0/8FBN/GI0TMGN6/FQ08FBNGI0TMGN6.LARGE.jpg)
Thefirsttwolayerscanbequiteflimsybeforetheyaresolderedtogether.You
maywanttoputthefirstlayerbackinthetemplatetogiveitsomestability.
Inordertoavoidtotaldisaster,youwillneedsomethingtoholdthelayerinplace
beforeitissolderedinplace.Luckily,thewidthofa9Vbatteryisprettycloseto
25mm.Probablycloserto25.526mm,butthat'sOK.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FY9/34UO/GICYAZPB/FY934UOGICYAZPB.LARGE.jpg)
Warning:The9voltsfroma9VbatterycaneasilyoverloadtheLEDsifthe
contactsonthebatterycomesincontactwiththelegsoftheLEDs.Wetaped
overthebatterypolestoavoidaccidentallyruiningtheLEDsweweresoldering.
Wehadplentyof9Vbatterieslyingaround,soweusedthemastemporary
supports.
Startbyplacinga9Vbatteryineachcorner.Makesureeverythingisaligned
perfectly,thensolderthecornerLEDs.
NowsolderalltheLEDsaroundtheedgeofthecube,movingthe9Vbatteries
alongasyougoaround.Thiswillensurethatthelayersaresolderedperfectly
paralleltoeachother.
Nowmovea9Vbatterytothemiddleofthecube.Justslideitinfromoneofthe
sides.SolderacoupleoftheLEDsinthemiddle.
Thewholethingshouldbeprettystableatthispoint,andyoucancontinue
solderingtherestoftheLEDswithoutusingthe9Vbatteriesforsupport.
However,ifitlookslikesomeoftheLEDsaresaggingalittlebit,slideina9V
batterytoliftthemup!
Whenyouhavesolderedallthecolumns,itistimetotesttheLEDsagain.
Rememberthattabstickingoutfromtheupperrightcornerofthelayer,thatwe
toldyounottoremoveyet?Nowit'stimetouseit.Takeapieceofwireand
solderthetabofthebottomlayertothetabofthelayeryoujustsolderedin
place.
Connectgroundtothethegroundtab.
Testeachledusingthesamesetupasyouusedwhentestingtheindividual
layers.Sincethegroundlayershavebeenconnectedbythetesttabs,andall
theanodesineachcolumnsareconnectedtogether,allLEDsinacolumn
shouldlightupwhenyouapplyvoltagetothetopone.IftheLEDsbelowitdoes
notlightup,itprobablymeansthatyouforgotasolderjoint!ItisALOTbetterto
figurethisoutatthispoint,ratherthanwhenallthelayersaresolderedtogether.
Thecenterofthecubeisvirtuallyimpossibletogettowithasolderingiron.
Younowhave2/8ofyourLEDcubesolderedtogether!Yay!
Forthenext6layers,usetheexactsameprocess,butspendevenmoretime
aligningthecornerLEDsbeforesolderingthem.Lookatthecubefromabove,
andmakesurethatallthecornerLEDsareonastraightlinewhenlookingat
themfromabove.
Rinseandrepeat!
Step26:Buildthecube:createthebase
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FD4/UR9R/GI0TK2M6/FD4UR9RGI0TK2M6.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FR4/HJCM/GICYAZVW/FR4HJCMGICYAZVW.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FTC/Q6FC/GI0TK2M9/FTCQ6FCGI0TK2M9.LARGE.jpg)
Wedidn'thaveanyfancytoolsatourdisposaltocreateafancystandorboxfor
ourLEDcube.Instead,wemodifiedthetemplatetoworkasabaseforthecube.
WeencourageyoutomakesomethingcoolerthanwedidforyourLEDcube!
Forthetemplate,weonlydrilledacoupleofmmintothewood.Totransformthe
templateintoabase,wejustdrilledalltheholesthroughtheboard.Thenwe
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FJZ/6KGY/GICYAZW5/FJZ6KGYGICYAZW5.LARGE.jpg)
drilled8smallerholesforthe8cathodewiresrunninguptothe8cathode
layers.
Ofcourse,youdon'twanttohaveyourLEDcubeonawoodcoloredbase.We
didn'thaveanyblackpaintlyingaround,butwedidfindagiantblackmagic
marker!Stainingthewoodblackwithamagicmarkerworkedsurprisinglywell!I
thinktheoneweusedhada10mmpoint.
Step27:Buildthecube:mountthecube
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FGZ/RAUG/GI0TDNGW/FGZRAUGGI0TDNGW.LARGE.jpg)
Mountthecube.Thatsoundsveryeasy,butit'snot.Youhavetoalign64LED
legstoslidethrough64holesatthesametime.It'slikethreadinganeedle,
times64.
Wefounditeasiesttostartwithoneend,thengraduallypoppingthelegsinto
place.UseapenorsomethingtopokeattheLEDlegsthatmisstheirholes.
Onceall64LEDlegsarepokingthroughthebase,carefullyturnitonit'sside.
Thenbendall64legs90degrees.Thisisenoughtoholdthecubefirmly
mountedtothebase.Noneedforglueoranythingelse.
Step28:Buildthecube:cathoderisers
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FBD/G9GB/GI0TDOUF/FBDG9GBGI0TDOUF.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FKN/0CRX/GICYB3SX/FKN0CRXGICYB3SX.LARGE.jpg)
YounowhaveaLEDcubewith64anodeconnectionsontheundersideofthe
base.Butyouneedtoconnectthegroundlayerstoo.
Rememberthose8smallholesyoudrilledinapreviousstep?Wearegoingto
usethemnow.
Makesomestraightwireusingthemethodexplainedinapreviousstep.
Westartwithgroundforlayer0.Takeashortpieceofstraightwire,Makea
bendapproximately10mmfromtheend.Pokeitthroughtheholeforground
layer0.Leave10mmpokingthroughtheundersideofthebase.Positionitso
thatthebendyoumaderestsonthebackwireofgroundlayer0.Nowsolderit
inplace.
Layer1through7arealittletrickier.Weusedahelpinghandtoholdthewirein
placewhilesoldering.
Takeastraightpieceofwireandbendit90degrees10mmfromtheend.Then
cutittolengthsothat10mmofwirewillpokeoutthroughtheundersideofthe
base.
Pokethewirethroughtheholeandletthewirerestonthebackwireofthelayer
youareconnecting.Clampthehelpinghandontothewire,thensolderitin
place.
Rinseandrepeat7moretimes.
Carefullyturnthecubeonit'ssideandbendthe8groundwires90degrees.
Step29:Buildthecube:attachcables
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FIF/65W8/GICYAZYL/FIF65W8GICYAZYL.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FNN/OY41/GI0TK2MK/FNNOY41GI0TK2MK.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FT4/9LPK/GICYAZZ1/FT49LPKGICYAZZ1.LARGE.jpg)
ShowAll10Items
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FG3/56N6/GI0TK2ML/FG356N6GI0TK2ML.LARGE.jpg)
64+8wireshavetogofromthecontrollertotheLEDcube.Weusedribbon
cabletomakethingsalittleeasier.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FA3/XZVS/GI0TDNI6/FA3XZVSGI0TDNI6.LARGE.jpg)
Thegroundlayersusean8wireribboncable.
Thecathodesareconnectedwith416wireribboncables.Eachoftheseribbon
cablesaresplitintwoateitherend,togettwo8wirecables.
Atthecontrollerside,weattached0.1"femaleheaderconnectors.Theseplug
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FW5/S541/GI0TMGO2/FW5S541GI0TMGO2.LARGE.jpg)
intostandard0.1"singlerowPCBheaderpins.
Theheaderconnectorisamodularconnectorthatcomesintwoparts,metal
insertsandaplasticbody.
Themetalinsertsaresupposedtobecrimpedonwithatool.Wedidn'thavethe
appropriatetoolonhand,soweusedpliers.Wealsoaddedalittlesolderto
makesurethewiresdidn'tfallofwithuse.
1)Prepareone8wireribboncableand416wireribboncablesofthedesired
length
2)Crimporsolderonthemetalinserts.
3)Insertthemetalinsertintotheplasticconnectorhousing.
4)Solderthe8wireribboncabletothecathoderisers.Pretinthecablesbefore
soldering!
5)Solderintherestofthecables.Theredstripeonthefirstwireindicatesthat
thisisbit0.
6)Tightenthescrewsonthestrainrelieftomakesureeverythingstaysinplace.
7)ConnectalltheribboncablestothePCBsinthecorrectorder.Seepictures
below.Our8wireribboncabledidn'thavearedwire.Justfliptheconnector180
degreesifyourcubeisupsidedown.
Step30:Buildthecontroller:layout
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FB6/QBNQ/GI0TMGO5/FB6QBNQGI0TMGO5.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FYZ/8EHJ/GI0TK2MU/FYZ8EHJGI0TK2MU.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FJ4/7RE1/GICYB6CI/FJ47RE1GICYB6CI.LARGE.jpg)
WetookoutthebiggesttypeofPCBwehadavailable(9x15cm)andstarted
experimentingwithdifferentboardlayouts.Itsoonbecameclearthatcramming
allthecomponentsontooneboardwasn'tagoodsolution.Insteadwedecided
toseparatethelatcharrayandpowersupplypartofthecircuitandplaceitona
separateboard.Aribboncabletransfersdatalinesbetweenthetwoboards.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FJA/4IZJ/GICYB5XH/FJA4IZJGICYB5XH.LARGE.jpg)
Choosingtwoseparateboardswasagooddecision.Thelatcharraytookup
almostallthespaceofthecircuitboard.Therewouldn'thavebeenmuchspace
forthemicrocontrollerandotherparts.
Youmaynothavetheexactsamecircuitboardsaswedo,ormaywantto
arrangeyourcomponentsinadifferentway.Trytoplaceallthecomponentson
yourcircuitboardtoseewhichlayoutbestfitsyourcircuitboard.
multiplexer_board.sch
avr_board.sch
(/files/orig/FAU/I50K/GICYB6CJ/FAUI50KGICYB6CJ.tmp)238KB
(/files/orig/FA9/26YI/GICYB6CH/FA926YIGICYB6CH.tmp)249KB
Step31:Buildthecontroller:clockfrequency
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F2K/WL27/GI0TK2MZ/F2KWL27GI0TK2MZ.LARGE.jpg)
(/files/deriv/F7Q/4LXV/GI0TMGO6/F7Q4LXVGI0TMGO6.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FJZ/61SE/GI0TMGOE/FJZ61SEGI0TMGOE.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F89/AREY/GI0TK2MY/F89AREYGI0TK2MY.LARGE.jpg)
Weuseanexternalcrystalof14.7456MHztodrivetheATmegasystemclock.
Youmaybethinkingthatthisisanoddnumbertouse,andwhywedidn'trun
theATmegaatthe16MHzitisratedfor.
WewanttobeabletocontroltheLEDcubefromacomputer,usingRS232.
Serialcommunicationrequiresprecisetiming.Ifthetimingisoff,onlybyalittle
bit,somebitsaregoingtobemissedorcounteddoublefromtimetotime.We
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FGI/NT42/GI0TK2N0/FGINT42GI0TK2N0.LARGE.jpg)
won'tberunninganyerrorcorrectingalgorithmsontheserialcommunications,
soanyerroroverthelinewouldberepresentedintheLEDcubeasavoxel
beingonoroffinthewrongplace.
Togetflawlessserialcommunication,youhavetouseaclockfrequencythat
canbedividedbytheserialfrequencyyouwanttouse.
14.7456MHzisdividablebyallthepopularRS232baudrates.
(14.7456MHz*1000*1000)/9600baud=1536.0
(14.7456MHz*1000*1000)/19200baud=768.0
(14.7456MHz*1000*1000)/38400baud=384.0
(14.7456MHz*1000*1000)/115200baud=128.0
TheformulainsidetheparenthesesconvertsfromMHztoHz.First*1000gives
youKHz,thenextHz.
AsyoucanseealloftheseRS232baudratescanbecleanlydividedbyour
clockrate.Serialcommunicationwillbeerrorfree!
Step32:Buildthecontroller:protoboardsolderingadvice
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FME/U2JU/GI0TK2NC/FMEU2JUGI0TK2NC.LARGE.jpg)
WeseepeopledoalotofweirdstuffwhentheysolderonprototypePCBs.
Beforeyoucontinue,wejustwanttosharewithyoutheprocessweuseto
createtracksonprototypePCBswithsoldereyes.Onceyoumasterthis
technique,youwillprobablystartusingitalot.
1)Filleachpointofthetrackyouwanttomakewithsolder.
2)Connecteveryotherpointsbyheatingthemandaddingalittlesolder.
3)Connectthe2holelongpiecesyounowhavespanningthedesiredtrack.
4)Lookhowbeautifultheresultis.
Youcanseeinthevideohowwedoit.Wehadtotouchsomeofthepointstwice
tojointhem.Itwasabithardtohavethecamerainthewaywhenwewere
soldering)
Step33:Buildthecontroller:Powerterminalandfiltering
capacitors
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FJG/78B4/GI0TMGP4/FJG78B4GI0TMGP4.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F6B/65GZ/GI0TDNNW/F6B65GZGI0TDNNW.LARGE.jpg)
Thecubeiscomplete,nowallthatremainsisamonstercircuittocontrolthe
thing.
Let'sstartwiththeeasiestpart,the"powersupply".
ThepowersupplyconsistsofascrewterminalwhereyouconnecttheGNDand
VCCwires,somefilteringcapacitors,aswitchandaanLEDtoindicatepower
on.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FUC/ZDZ6/GI0TK2NG/FUCZDZ6GI0TK2NG.LARGE.jpg)
Initially,wehaddesignedanonboardpowersupplyusinganLM7805step
downvoltageregulator.However,thisturnedouttobeabigfail.
Weusedthiswitha12Vwallwart.Butasyoumayalreadyknow,mostwall
wartsoutputhighervoltagesthantheonesspecifiedonthelabel.Ours
outputtedsomethinglike14volts.TheLM7805isn'taverysophisticatedvoltage
regulator,itjustusesresistancetostepdownthevoltage.Toget5voltsoutput
from14voltsinputmeansthattheLM7805hastodrop9volts.Theexcess
energyisdispersedasheat.Evenwiththeheatsinkthatyouseeinthepicture,
itbecameveryveryhot.Waytohottotouch!Inadditiontothat,theperformance
wasn'tgreateither.Itwasn'tabletosupplythenecessarycurrenttorunthecube
atfullbrightness.
TheLM7805waslaterremoved,andawirewassolderedbetweentheinputand
outputpins.Insteadweusedanexternal5Vpowersource,ascoveredina
previousstep.
Whysomanycapacitors?
TheLEDcubeisgoingtobeswitchingabout500mAonandoffseveralhundred
timespersecond.Themomentthe500mAloadisswitchedon,thevoltageis
goingtodropacrosstheentirecircuit.Manythingscontributetothis.Resistance
inthewiresleadingtothepowersupply,slownessinthepowersupplyto
compensatefortheincreaseinload,andprobablysomeotherthingsthatwe
didn'tknowabout)
Byaddingcapacitors,youcreateabufferbetweenthecircuitandthepower
supply.Whenthe500mAloadisswitchedon,therequiredcurrentcanbedrawn
fromthecapacitorsduringthetimeittakesthepowersupplytocompensatefor
theincreaseinload.
Largecapacitorscansupplylargercurrentsforlongerperiodsoftime,whereas
smallercapacitorscansupplysmallbutquickburstsofenergy.
Weplaceda1000uFcapacitorjustafterthemainpowerswitch.Thisworksas
ourmainpowerbuffer.Afterthat,thereisa100uFcapacitor.Itiscommon
practicetohavealargecapacitorattheinputpinofanLM7805andasmaller
capacitoratit'soutputpin.The100uFcapacitorprobablyisn'tnecessary,butwe
thinkcapacitorsmakeyourcircuitlookcooler!
TheLEDisconnectedtoVCCjustafterthemainpowerswitch,viaaresistor.
Step34:Buildthecontroller:ICsockets,resistorsand
connectors
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FA7/8F69/GI0TK2NJ/FA78F69GI0TK2NJ.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FUM/BFZQ/GI0TDNOM/FUMBFZQGI0TDNOM.LARGE.jpg)
Inthisstepyouwillbesolderinginthemaincomponentsofthemultiplexer
array.
Ourmaindesignconsiderationherewastominimizesolderingandwiring.We
optedtoplacetheconnectorsasclosetotheICsaspossible.Ontheoutput
side,thereisonlytwosolderjointsperLEDcubecolumn.ICresistor,resistor
connector.Theoutputsofthelatchesarearrangedinorder07,sothisworks
outgreat.Ifweremembercorrectly,thelatchweareusingisavailableintwo
versions,onewiththeinputsandoutputsinsequentialorder,andonewiththe
inandoutputsinseeminglyrandomorder.Donotgetthatone!)Don'tworry,it
hasadifferent74HCxxxname,soyou'llbegoodifyousticktoourcomponent
list.
Inthefirstpicture,youcanseethatwehaveplacedalltheICsockets,resistors
andconnectors.Wesqueezeditastightaspossible,toleaveroomfor
unforeseenstuffinthefuture,likebuttonsorstatusLEDs.
Inthesecondpicture,youcanseethesolderjointsbetweentheresistorsand
theICsocketsandconnectors.NotethattheinputsideofthelatchICsockets
haven'tbeensolderedyetinthispicture.
Step35:Buildthecontroller:PowerrailsandICpower
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FVY/329L/GICYB1BJ/FVY329LGICYB1BJ.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FDG/RX36/GICYB1BM/FDGRX36GICYB1BM.LARGE.jpg)
Rememberthatprotoboardsolderingtrickweshowedyouinapreviousstep?
Wetoldyouitwouldcomeinhandy,andhereiswhereyouuseit.
Largecircuitboardslikethisone,withlotsofwires,canbecomequiteconfusing.
WealwaystrytoavoidliftingtheGNDandVCClinesofftheboard.Wesolder
themascontinuoussolderlines.Thismakesitveryeasytoidentifywhatis
GND/VCCandwhatissignallines.
IftheVCCandGNDlinesneedstocrosspaths,simplyrouteoneofthemover
theotherusingapieceofwireonthetopsideofthePCB.
Inthefirstpictureyoucanseesomesoldertracesinplace.
Thetwohorizontaltracesisthe"mainpowerbus".ThelowestoneisVCCand
thetoponeisGND.ForeveryrowofICsaGNDandVCClineisforkedoffthe
mainpowerbus.TheGNDlinerunsundertheICs,andtheVCClinerunsunder
theresistors.
Wewentalittleoverboardwhenmakingstraightwireforthecube,andhad
somepiecesleftover.WeusedthatfortheVCClinethatrunsunderthe
resistors.
Inthebottomrightcorner,youcanseethatwehavestartedsolderingthe8+1bit
busconnectingallthelatchICs.Lookhoweasyitistoseewhatissignalwires
andwhatispowerdistribution!
Inthesecondpicture,youcanseetheboardrightsideup,withsomeadditional
componentssolderedin,justignorethemforthemoment.
ForeverylatchIC(74HC574),thereisa100nF(0.1uF)ceramiccapacitor.
Thesearenoisereductioncapacitors.Whenthecurrentontheoutputpinsare
switchedonandoff,thiscancausethevoltagetodropenoughtomesswiththe
internalworkingsoftheICs,forasplitsecond.Thisisunlikely,butit'sbetterto
besafethansorry.Debuggingacircuitwithnoiseissuescanbeveryfrustrating.
Besides,capacitorsmakethecircuitlookthatmuchcoolerandprofessional!The
100nFcapacitorsmakesurethatthereissomecurrentavailablerightnexttothe
ICincasethereisasuddendropinvoltage.Wereadsomewherethatitis
commonengineeringpracticetoplacea100nFcapacitornexttoeveryIC,"Use
themlikecandy".Wetendtofollowthatprinciple.
Beloweachrowofresistors,youcanseeatinypieceofwire.ThisistheVCC
linemakingalittlejumptothetopsideoftheboardtocrossthemainGNDline.
Wealsoaddedacapacitoronthefarendofthemainpowerbus,forgood
measure.
Step36:Buildthecontroller:ConnecttheICs,8bitbus+OE
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FUO/UVFT/GI0TDNOZ/FUOUVFTGI0TDNOZ.LARGE.jpg)
Inthepicture,you'llnoticealotofwireshavecomeintoplace.
Allthetinybluewiresmakeupthe8+1bitbusthatconnectsallthelatchICs.8
bitsarefordata,andthe+1bitistheoutputenableline.
Atthetopoftheboard,wehaveaddeda16pinconnector.Thisconnectsthe
latchboardtothemicrocontrollerboard.Nexttothat,youseethe74HC138.
ThetinybluewiresareKynarwire.Thisisa30or32AWG(americanwire
gauge)wire.Verytiny.Weloveworkingwiththistypeofwire.Becauseitisso
thin,itdoesn'ttakeupthatmuchspaceonthecircuitboard.Ifwehadused
thickerwire,youwouldn'tbeabletoseetheboardthroughallthewires.Kynar
wireiscoatedwithtin,soyoucansolderdirectlyafterstrippingit.Noneedfor
pretinning.ThetinybluewiresareconnectedtothesamepinoneverylatchIC.
Fromtheconnectoratthetop,youcansee8greenwiresconnectedtothebus.
Thisisthe8bitdatabus.Weuseddifferentcolorsfordifferentfunctionsto
bettervisualizehowthecircuitisbuilt.
Theorangewireconnectedtothebusistheoutputenable(OE)line.
Ontherighthandsideoftheconnector,thefirstpinisconnectedtoground.
Step37:Buildthecontroller:Addressselector
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FFC/WI1T/GICYB1D8/FFCWI1TGICYB1D8.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F9F/H61T/GI0TK2NV/F9FH61TGI0TK2NV.LARGE.jpg)
The74HC138isresponsiblefortogglingtheclockpinonthe74HC574latch
ICs.Wecallthisanaddressselectorbecauseitselectswhichoneofthe8bytes
inthelatcharraywewanttowritedatato.Thethreebluewiresrunningfromthe
connectortothe74HC138isthe3bitbinaryinputusedtoselectwhichofthe8
outputsispulledlow.Fromeachoftheoutputsonthe74HC138,thereisawire
(white)runningtotheclockpinonthecorresponding74HC574latchIC.
StartbysolderingtheGNDandVCCconnections.Ifyouusethesoldertrace
methodtorunGND/VCClinesyouwanttodothisbeforeyousolderanyother
wiresinplace.A100nFceramicfilteringcapacitorisplacedclosetotheVCC
andGNDpinsofthe74HC138.
Thenconnecttheaddresslinesandthe8clocklines.
Ifyoulookcarefullyattheconnector,youcanseetwopinsthatarenotused.
ThesewillbeusedforabuttonanddebugLEDlater.
Step38:Buildthecontroller:AVRboard
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F47/L5JE/GICYB1EZ/F47L5JEGICYB1EZ.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F45/JMFQ/GICYB1F5/F45JMFQGICYB1F5.LARGE.jpg)
Braaaaainzz!!!
ThisboardisthebrainoftheLEDcube.ThemaincomponentisanAtmelAVR
ATmega32.
Thisisan8bitmicrocontrollerwith32KBofprogrammemoryand2KBRAM.
TheATmega32has32GPIO(GeneralPurposeIO)pins.Twoofthesewillbe
usedforserialcommunication(TX+RX).ThreeIOpinsareusedforISP(In
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FWE/P48I/GI0TMGRB/FWEP48IGI0TMGRB.LARGE.jpg)
circuitSerialProgramming).Thisleavesuswith27GPIOtodrivetheLEDcube,
buttonsandstatusLEDs.
Agroupof8GPIO(8bits,onebyte)iscalledaport.TheATmega32has4ports.
PORTA,PORTB,PORTCandPORTD.OnPORTCandPORTDsomeofthe
pinsareusedforTX/RXandISP.OnPORTAandPORTB,allthepinsare
available.Weusetheseportstodrivethedatabusofthelatcharrayandlayer
selecttransistorarray.
PORTAisconnectedtothedatabusonthelatcharray.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FDS/0O6S/GI0TMGRC/FDS0O6SGI0TMGRC.LARGE.jpg)
EachpinonPORTCisconnectedtoapairoftransistorsthatdriveaground
layer.
Theaddressselectoronthelatcharray(74HC138)isconnectedtobit02on
PORTB.Outputenable(OE)isconnectedtoPORTBbit3.
Inthefirstimage,youseetheAVRboardrightsideup.
Thelarge40pinPDIP(PlasticDualInlinePackage)chipinthecenterofthe
boardistheATmega32,thebrainz!JusttotheleftoftheATmega,youseethe
crystaloscillatorandit'stwocapacitors.OneithersideoftheATmegathereisa
100nFfilteringcapacitor.OneforGND/VCCandoneforAVCC/GND.
Inthetopleftcorner,thereisatwopinconnectorsandtwofilteringcapacitors.
One10uFandone100nF.TheLEDisjustconnectedtoVCCviaaresistor,and
indicatespoweron.
Thelarge16pinconnectordirectlyabovetheATmegaconnectstothelatch
arrayboardviaaribboncable.Thepinoutonthiscorrespondstothepinouton
theotherboard.
Thesmaller10pinconnectortotheleft,isastandardAVRISPprogramming
header.IthasGND,VCC,RESET,SCK,MISOandMOSI,whichareusedfor
programming.Nexttoit,thereisajumper.Whenthisisinplace,theboardcan
bepoweredfromtheprogrammer.
Caution:DONOTpowertheboardfromtheprogrammerwhentheactualLED
cubeisconnectedtothecontroller.Thiscouldpossiblyblowtheprogrammer
andeventheUSBporttheprogrammerisconnectedto!
Thesecondimageshowstheunderside.AgainallGNDandVCClinesare
solderedastracesontheprotoboardorbarewire.Wehadsomemoreleftover
straightmetalwire,soweusedthis.
TheorangewiresconnecttheATmega'sRESET,SCK,MOSIandMISOpinsto
theISPprogrammingheader.
TheGreenwiresconnectPORTAtothedatabus.
Thebluewiresaretheaddressselectlinesforthe74HC138andoutputenable
(OE)forthelatcharray.
1)Startbyplacingthe40pinICsocket,the10pinISPconnectorwithajumper
nexttoitandthe16pindatabusconnector.
2)Solderinplacethepowerconnector,capacitorsandpowerindicatorLED.
3)ConnectalltheGNDandVCClinesusingsoldertracesorwire.Placea
100nFcapacitorbetweeneachpairofGND/VCCpinsontheATmega.
4)Solderinthecrystalandthetwo22pFcapacitors.Eachcapacitoris
connectedtoapinonthecrystalandGND.
5)Runallthedatabus,addressselectandOEwires,andtheISPwires.
Transistors,buttonsandRS232willbeaddedinlatersteps.
Atthistime,theAVRboardcanbeconnectedtoanISPprogrammerandthe
ATmegashouldberecognized.
Step39:Buildthecontroller:Transistorarray
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FM4/3HOU/GI0TK43T/FM43HOUGI0TK43T.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F9Z/FMQ9/GI0TK43P/F9ZFMQ9GI0TK43P.LARGE.jpg)
ThetransistorarrayisresponsibleforswitchingonandoffGNDforeachlayerin
theLEDcube.
Ourfirstattemptatthiswasanepicfail.Weboughtsometransistorsratedfor
over500mA,thinkingthatwouldbeplentyofjuice.Wedon'trememberthe
modelnumber.
TheLEDcubeworked,butitwasn'tverybright,andthebrightnesswas
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F5A/9M3H/GI0TDOUP/F5A9M3HGI0TDOUP.LARGE.jpg)
inverselyproportionaltothenumberofLEDsswitchedoninanygivenlayer.In
additiontothat,therewassomeghosting.Layersdidn'tswitchcompletelyoff
whentheyweresupposedtobeoff.
Needlesstosay,wewerekindofdisappointed,andstarteddebugging.Thefirst
thingwedidwastoaddpullupresistorstotrytocombattheghosting.This
removedalmostalltheghosting,yay!Butthecubewasstillverydim,bah!
Wedidn'thaveanypowerfultransistorsorMOSFETslyingaround,sowehadto
comeupwithanothersolution.
WepostedathreadintheelectronicssectionoftheAVRFreaks.netforum,
askingifitwaspossibletousetwosmallertransistorsinparallel.Thisistheonly
optionavailabletoususingthepartswehadonhand.Thegeneralresponse
was,thiswillneverworksodon'tevenbothertrying.Theyevenhadvalid
theoriesandstuff,butthatdidn'tdeterusfromtrying.Itwasouronlysolution
thatdidn'tinvolvewaitingfornewpartstoarriveinthemail.
WeendeduptryingPN2222A,NPNgeneralpurposeamplifier.Ideally,you'd
wantaswitchingtransistorforthiskindofapplication,butweneeded16
transistorsofthesametype.Thistransistorwasratedat1000mAcurrent,sowe
decidedtogiveitatry.
Foreachlayer,weusedtwoPN2222Asinparallel.Thecollectorsconnected
togethertoGND.Theemittersconnectedtogether,thenconnectedtoaground
layer.Thebaseofeachtransistorswasconnectedtoit'sownresistor,andthe
tworesistorsconnectedtoanoutputpinontheATmega.
Wesolderedinallthetransistorsandturnedthethingonagain,anditworked,
perfectly!
Ifyouknowwhatyouaredoing,youshouldprobablydosomeresearchandfind
amoresuitabletransistororMOSFET.Butoursolutionistriedandtestedand
alsodoesthetrick!
1)Startbyplacingall8alltransistorsonthePBCandsolderingeachoftheir
pins.
2)Runasoldertracebetweenthetheemittersofall16transistors.Connectthis
soldertracetoGND.
3)Solderinaresistorforeachtransistor,thesoldertheresistorstogetherin
pairsoftwo.
4)RunkynarwirefromtheoutputpinsontheATmegatoeachofthe8resistor
pairs.
5)Soldertogetherthecollectorsofthetransistorsinpairsoftwoandrunsolder
traceorwirefromthecollectorpairstoan8pinheader.
Step40:Buildthecontroller:ButtonsandstatusLEDs
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F02/189Q/GI0TMGRN/F02189QGI0TMGRN.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F2I/9WBT/GI0TK2P3/F2I9WBTGI0TK2P3.LARGE.jpg)
YoucanmakeaLEDcubewithoutanybuttonsatall,butit'snicetohaveat
leastonebuttonandsomestatusLEDsfordebugging.
WeaddedoneawesomelookingbuttonwithtwobuiltinLEDs,andoneregular
buttonwithanLED.
ThefirstbuttonismountedonthelatcharrayPCB,sincethiswillsitontopof
theAVRboard,andwewantthebuttoneasilyaccessible.Thewiresarerouted
throughtheribboncable.ThesecondbuttonandLEDsitsontheAVRboard
andwasmostlyusedfordebuggingduringconstruction.
ThebuttonsareconnectedbetweenGNDandtheIOpinontheATmega.An
internalpullupresistorinsidetheATmegaisusedtopullthepinhighwhenthe
buttonisnotpressed.Whenthebuttonispressed,theIOpinispulledlow.A
logic0indicatesthatabuttonhasbeenpressed.
TheLEDsarealsoconnectedbetweenGNDandtheIOpinviaaresistorof
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FBX/85NJ/GI0TMGRM/FBX85NJGI0TMGRM.LARGE.jpg)
appropriatesize.Don'tconnectanLEDtoamicrocontrollerIOpinwithout
havingaresistorconnectedinseries.Theresistoristheretolimitthecurrent,
andskippingitcanblowtheIOportonyourmicrocontroller.
Tofindtheappropriateresistor,justplugtheledintoabreadboardandtest
differentresistorswitha5vpowersupply.Choosetheresistorsthatmakethe
LEDlightupwiththebrightnessyouwant.IfyouuseLEDswithdifferentcolors,
youshouldtestthemsidebyside.DifferentcolorLEDsusuallyrequiredifferent
resistorstoreachthesamelevelofbrightness.
WewillleaveituptoyoutodecidetheplacementofyourstatusLEDs,butyou
canseeinthepicturesbelowhowwedidit:
Step41:Buildthecontroller:RS232
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FRS/SY2Q/GICYB1I2/FRSSY2QGICYB1I2.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FO2/ULPZ/GI0TMGRR/FO2ULPZGI0TMGRR.LARGE.jpg)
Togetthetrulyamazinganimations,weneedtoconnecttheLEDcubetoaPC.
ThePCcandofloatingpointcalculationsthatwouldhavetheAVRworkingin
slowmotion.
TheATmegahasabuiltinserialinterfacecalledUSART(Universal
SynchronousandAsynchronousserialReceiverandTransmitter).
TheUSARTcommunicatesusingTTLlevels(0/5volts).Thecomputertalks
serialusingRS232.ThesignallevelsforRS232areanywherefrom+/5voltsto
+/15volts.
ToconverttheserialsignalsfromthemicrocontrollertosomethingtheRS232
portonaPCcanunderstand,andviceversa,weusetheMaximMAX232IC.
Actually,thechipweareusingisn'tfromMaxim,butitisapincompatibleclone.
Therearesome100nFceramiccapacitorssurroundingtheMAX232.The
MAX232usesinternalchargepumpsandtheexternalcapacitorstostepupthe
voltagetoappropriateRS232levels.Oneofthe100nFcapacitorsisafilter
capacitor.
TheRS232connectorisata90degreeangleforeasyaccesswhenthelatch
arrayboardismountedontopoftheAVRboard.Weuseda4pinconnector
andcutoneofthepinsouttomakeapolarizedconnector.Thisremovesany
confusionastowhichwaytoplugintheRS232cable.
InthesecondpictureyoucanseetwoyellowwiresrunningfromtheATmegato
theMAX232.ThesearetheTTLlevelTXandRXlines.
1)ConnecttheGNDandVCCpinsusingsoldertraceorwire.Placea100nF
capacitorclosetotheGNDandVCCpins.
2)Solderinplacetherestofthe100nFcapacitors.Youcansolderthesewith
soldertraces,soitsbesttodothisbeforeyouconnectthetx/rxwires.
3)Solderinplacea4pin0.1"headerwithonepinremoved.Connectthepin
nexttotheonethatwasremovedtoGND.
4)Connectthetx/rxinputlinestothemicrocontroller,andthetx/rxoutputlines
tothe4pinheader.
Thewiresgoingtothe4pinheaderarecrossedbecausethefirstserialcable
weusedhadthispinout.
Step42:Buildthecontroller:MakeanRS232cable
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ToconnecttheLEDcubetoaserialportonyourcomputer,youneedtomakea
serialcablewithafemaleDSub9pinconnector.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F1M/DKJE/GICYB1J4/F1MDKJEGICYB1J4.LARGE.jpg)
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Ouremployerdeployed70Ethernetswitcheswithmanagementlastyear.With
eachswitchcomesanRS232cablethatisneverused.Weliterallyhadabig
pileofRS232cable,sowedecidedtomodifyoneofthose.
OntheLEDcube,a0.1"pinheaderisused,sotheRS232cableneedsanew
connectoronthecubeside.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FJX/C1BV/GI0TK2PP/FJXC1BVGI0TK2PP.LARGE.jpg)
Wedidn'thavea4pinfemale0.1"connector,soweuseda4pinfemalePCB
headerinstead.
TheconnectorontheLEDcubePCBhasonepinremoved,tovisualizethe
directionalityoftheconnector.Thepinnumbersgoesfromrighttoleft.
PinoutoftheRS232connector:
1)GND(DSub9pin5)
2)Notconnected
3)RX(DSub9pin3)
4)TX(DSub9pin2)
FollowthesestepstomakeyourownRS232cable:
1)Cutoftheconnectoratoneendofthecable.Ifyourcablehasafemaleanda
maleconnector,makesuretoremovethemaleconnector!
2)Stripawaytheoutersheathontheendwhereyouremovedtheconnector.
3)Stripallthewiresinside.
4)Setyourmultimetertocontinuitytestmode.Thismakesthemultimeterbeep
whentheprobesareconnected.Ifyourmultimeterdoesn'thavethisoption,use
theresistancemode.Itshouldgetcloseto0ohmwhenyouconnecttheprobes.
5)ConnectonemultimeterprobetotheDSub9'spin5,thenprobeallthewires
untilyouthemultimeterbeeps.YouhavenowidentifiedthecolorofGNDinyour
cable.Repeatforpin2and3(TXandRX).
6)Writedownthecolorsyouidentified,thencutofftheotherwires.
7)Cutthethreewiresdowntosize,30mmshoulddo.
8)Pretinthewirestomakesolderingeasier.Justapplyheatandsoldertothe
strippedwires.
9)Slideashrinktubeoverthecable.Slidethreesmallershrinktubesoverthe
individualwires.
10)Solderthewirestotheconnector.
11)Shrinkthesmallertubesfirst,thenthelargeone.Ifyouusealighter,don't
holdtheshrinktubeabovetheflame,justholditclosetothesideoftheflame.
Don'tmakeyourcablebasedonthecolorsweused.Testthecabletofindthe
correctcolors.
Step43:Buildthecontroller:Connecttheboards
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Thetwoboardsareconnectedbytwocables:
AribboncablefortheDATAandAddressBUS.
A2wirecableforGNDandVCC.
Afterconnectingthesetwocables,yourboardiscomplete.
Step44:Buildthecontroller:Connectthecube
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Connecttheribboncablesaccordingtothepinoutsshowninpicture2and3.
Thegroundlayerribboncableconnectstothepinheadernearthetransistor
array.Ifthecubeisupsidedown,justplugitintheotherway.
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Step45:ProgramtheAVR:Setthefusebits
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TheATmega32hastwofusebytes.Thesecontainsettingsthathavetobe
loadedbeforetheCPUcanstart,likeclocksourceandotherstuff.Youhaveto
programyourATmegatouseanexternalhighspeedcrystaloscillatorand
disableJTAG.
Wesetthelowerfusebyte(lfuse)to0b11101111,andthehighfusebyteto
0b11001001.(0bmeansthateverythingafterthebisinbinary).
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FED/6901/GICYB1P3/FED6901GICYB1P3.LARGE.jpg)
WeusedavrdudeandUSBtinyISP(http://www.ladyada.net/make/usbtinyisp/)to
programourATmega.
Inallthefollowingexamples,wewillbeusinganUbuntuLinuxcomputer.The
commandsshouldbeidenticalifyourunavrdudeonWindows.
avrdudecusbtinypm32Ulfuse:w:0b11101111:m
avrdudecusbtinypm32Uhfuse:w:0b11001001:m
Warning:Ifyougetthiswrong,youcouldeasilybrickyourATmega!Ifyoufor
exampledisabletheresetbutton,youwon'tbeabletoreprogramit.Ifyou
selectthewrongclocksource,itmightnotbootatall.
Step46:ProgramtheAVRwithtestcode
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TimetotestifyourbrandnewLEDcubeactuallyworks!
WehavepreparedasimpletestprogramtocheckifalltheLEDsworkandif
theyarewiredcorrectly.
Youcandownloadthefirmwaretest.hexinthisstep,ordownloadthesource
codeandcompileityourself.
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Asinthepreviousstep,weuseavrdudeforprogramming:
avrdudecusbtinypm32B1Uflash:w:test.hex
cusbtinyspecifiesthatweareusingtheUSBtinyISPfromLadyadapm32
specifiesthatthedeviceisanATmega32B1tellsavrdudetoworkatahigher
thandefaultspeed.Uflash:w:test.hexspecifiesthatweareworkingonflash
memory,inwritemode,withthefiletest.hex.
test.hex
(/files/orig/FQX/H9M5/GICYB93T/FQXH9M5GICYB93T.tmp)14KB
Step47:Testthecube
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Thetestcodeyouprogrammedinthepreviousstepwillletyouconfirmthat
everythingiswiredupcorrectly.
Itwillstartbydrawingaplanealongoneaxis,thenmovingitalongall8
positionsofthataxis.(byplanewemeanaflatsurface,notanairplane:p)The
testcodewilltraverseaplanethroughallthreeaxis.
Afterthat,itwilllighttheLEDsinalayeronebyone,startingatthebottomlayer.
Ifanyofthelayersorcolumnsseemtolightupinthewrongorder,youhave
probablysolderedthewrongwiretothewronglayerorcolumn.Wehadone
mistakeinourcube)
Ifyoufindanythingthatisoutoforder,justdesolderthewiresandsolderthem
backintherightorder.Youcouldofcoursemakeaworkaroundinsoftware,but
thatwouldeatCPUcycleseverytimetheinterruptroutineruns.
Youcancompareyourcubetothetestvideobelow:
Step48:ProgramtheAVRwithrealcode
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Soeverythingcheckedoutinthetest.It'stimetoprogramtheATmegawiththe
realfirmware!
Forthemostpart,theprocessisthesameasinthepreviousprogrammingstep.
ButinadditionyouhavetoprogramtheEEPROMmemory.TheLEDcubehasa
basicbitmapfontstoredinEEPROM,alongwithsomeotherdata.
Firmwareisprogrammedusingthesameprocedureaswiththetestcode.
Firmware: (http://cdn.instructables.com/FVB/35IW/GICYB1SC/FVB35IWGICYB1SC.LARGE.jpg)
avrdudecusbtinypm32B1Uflash:w:main.hex
EEPROM:
avrdudecusbtinypm32B1Ueeprom:w:main.eep
Ueeprom:w:main.eepspecifiesthatweareaccessingEEPROMmemory,in
writemode.AvrgccputsalltheEEPROMdatainmain.eep.
Ifyoudon'twanttoplayaroundwiththecode,yourLEDcubeisfinishedatthis
point.Butwerecommendthatyouspendsometimeonthesoftwaresideof
thingsaswell.That'satleastasmuchfunasthehardware!
Ifyoudownloadthebinaryfiles,youhavetochangethefilenamesinthe
commandstothenameofthefilesyoudownloaded.Ifyoucompilefromsource
thenameismain.hexandmain.eep.
ledcube_8x8x8_eeprom.eep
ledcube_8x8x8.hex
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Step49:Software:Introduction
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ThesoftwareiswritteninCandcompiledwiththeopensourcecompileravr
gcc.ThisisthemainreasonweuseAtmelAVRmicrocontrollers.ThePIC
seriesfromMicrochipisalsoanicechoice,butmostoftheCcompilerscost
money,andthefreeversionshavelimitationsoncodesize.
TheAVRrouteismuchmorehasslefree.Justaptgetinstalltheavrgcc
compiler,andyou'reinbusiness.
ThesoftwareontheAVRconsistsoftwomaincomponents,thecubeinterrupt
routineandeffectcodeformakingfancyanimations.
Whenwefinallyfinishedsoldering,wethoughtthiswouldbetheeasypart.Butit
turnsoutthatmakinganimationsinmonochromeatlowresolutionsisharder
thanitsounds.
Ifthedisplayhadahigherresolutionandmorecolors,wecouldhaveusedsin()
andcos()functionsandallthattomakefancyeyecandy.Withtwocolors(on
andoff)andlowresolution,wehavetousealotofif()andfor()tomake
anythingmeaningful.
Inthenextfewsteps,wewilltakeyouonatourofsomeoftheanimationswe
madeandhowtheywork.Ourgoalistogiveyouanunderstandingofhowyou
canmakeanimations,andinspireyoutocreateyourown!Ifyoudo,pleasepost
avideointhecomments!
ledcube_8x8x8v0.1.2.tar.gz
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Step50:Software:Howitworks
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Asmentionedinthepreviousstep,thesoftwareconsistsoftwopars.The
interruptroutineandtheeffectcode.
Communicationbetweenthesetwohappensviaavoxelarray.Thisarrayhasa
bitforeveryLEDintheLEDcube.Wewillrefertothisasthecubearrayorcube
bufferfromnowon.
Thecubearrayismadeof8x8bytes.Sinceeachbyteis8bits,thisgivesusa
bufferthatis8voxelswide,8woxelshighand8voxelsdeep(1bytedeep).
volatileunsignedcharcube[8][8]
Theinterruptroutinereadsfromthecubearrayatgivenintervalsanddisplays
theinformationontheLEDcube.
TheeffectfunctionswritesthedesiredLEDstatusestothisarray.
Wedidnotuseanysynchronizationordoublebuffering,sincethereisonlyone
producer(eithertheeffectscurrentlyrunning,orinputfromRS232)andone
consumer(theinterruptcodethatupdatesthecube).Thismeansthatsome
voxelscouldbefromthenextorprevious"frame",butthisisnotaproblem,
sincetheframerateissohigh.
Whenworkingwithmicrocontrollers,codesizeiscritical.Tosavecodesizeand
programmingwork,andtomakethecodeeasiertoread,wehavetriedtowrite
reusablecodeasoftenaspossible.
TheLEDcubecodehasabaseoflowleveldrawingfunctionsthatareusedby
thehigherleveleffectfunctions.Thedrawfunctionscanbefoundindraw.c.
Drawfunctionsincludeeverythingfromsettingorclearingasinglevoxelto
drawinglinesandwireframeboxes.
Step51:Software:IOinitialization
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ThefirstthingtheATmegadoesafterboot,istocalltheioinit()function.
ThisfunctionsetsupIOports,timers,interruptsandserialcommunications.
AllIOportsontheATmegaarebidirectional.Theycanbeusedeitherasan
inputoranoutput.Weconfigureeverythingasoutputs,excepttheIOpinswhere
thetwobuttonsareconnected.TheRXpinfortheseriallineautomatically
becomesaninputwhenUSARTRXisenabled.
1)DDRxsetsthedatadirectionoftheIOpins.(DataDirectionRegister).1
meansoutput,0meansinput.
2)Afterdirectionalityhasbeenconfigured,wesetalloutputsto0toavidany
blinkingLEDsetcbeforetheinterrupthasstarted.
3)Forpinsconfiguredasinputs,thePORTxbitchangesitsfunction.Settinga1
inthePORTxregisterbitenablesaninternalpullupresistor.Theportispulled
uptoVCC.ThebuttonsareconnectedbetweentheportandGND.Whena
buttonispressedthecorrespondingPINxbitreadsalogic0.
4)Timer2isconfiguredandatimerinterruptenabled.Thisiscoveredina
separatestep.
5)Serialcommunicationsisconfiguredandenabled.Thisisalsocoveredina
separatestep.
Step52:Software:Modeselectionandrandomseed
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Whenwefirststartedwritingeffectsanddebuggingthem,wenoticedthatthe
functionsusingrandomnumbersdisplayedtheexactsameanimationsevery
time.Itwasrandomalright,butthesamerandomsequenceeverytime.Turns
outtherandomnumbergeneratorintheATmeganeedstobeseededwitha
randomnumbertocreatetruerandomnumbers.
Wewroteasmallfunctioncalledbootwait().Thisfunctionservestwopurposes.
1)Createarandomseed.2)Listenforbuttonpressestoselectmodeof
operation.
Itdoesthefollowing:
1)Setcounterxto0.
2)Startaninfiniteloop,while(1).
3)Incrementcounterxbyone.
4)Usexasarandomseed.
5)Delayforawhileandsetredstatusledon.
6)Checkforbuttonpresses.Ifthemainbuttonispressed,thefunctionreturns1.
IfthePGMbuttonispresseditreturnes2.Thereturnstatementsexitsthe
functionthusendingtheinfiniteloop.
7)Delayagainandsetgreenledon.
8)Checkforbuttonpressesagain.
9)Loopforeveruntilabuttonispressed.
Thelooploopsveryfast,sotheprobabilitythatyouwillstopitatthesamevalue
ofxtwotimesinarowisveryremote.Thisisaverysimplebuteffectivewayto
getagoodrandomseed.
Bootwait()iscalledfromthemain()functionanditsreturnvalueassignedtothe
variablei.
Ifi==1,themainloopstartsaloopthatdisplayseffectsgeneratedbythe
ATmega.Ifi==2,itentersintoRS232modeandwaitsfordatafroma
computer.
Step53:Software:Interruptroutine
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TheheartoftheLEDcubecodeistheinterruptroutine.
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Everytimethisinterruptruns,thecubeiscleared,dataforthenewlayeris
loadedontothelatcharray,andthenewlayerisswitchedon.Thisremainson
untilthenexttimetheinterruptruns,wherethecubeisclearedagain,datafor
thenextlayerisloadedontothelatcharray,andthenextlayerisswitchedon.
TheATmega32has3timer/counters.Thesecanbesettocountcontinuously
andtriggeraninterruptroutineeverytimetheyreachacertainnumber.The
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counterisresetwhentheinterruptroutineiscalled.
WeuseTimer2withaprescalerof128andanOutputComparevalueof10.
Thismeansthatthecounterisincrementedby1forevery128thcpucycle.
WhenTimer2reaches10,itisresetto0andtheinterruptroutineiscalled.With
acpufrequencyof14745600Hz,128prescalerandoutputcompareof10,the
interruptroutineiscalledevery1408thCPUcycle(128*11)or10472.7timesper
second.Itdisplaysonelayeratatime,soittakes8runsoftheinterrupttodraw
theentirecubeonce.Thisgivesusarefreshrateof1309FPS(10472.7/8).At
thisrefreshrate,theLEDcubeis100%flickerfree.Somemightsaythat1300
FPSisoverkill,buttheinterruptroutineisquiteefficient.Atthishighrefreshrate,
itonlyusesabout21%oftheCPUtime.Wecanmeasurethisbyattachingan
oscilloscopetotheoutputenableline(OE).Thisispulledhighatthestartof
eachinterruptandlowattheend,soitgivesaprettygoodindicationofthetime
spentinsidetheinterruptroutine.
Beforeanytimedinterruptscanstart,wehavetosetuptheTimer2.Thisis
doneintheioinit()function.
TCCR2(TimerCounterControlRegister2)isan8bitregisterthatcontains
settingsforthetimerclocksourceandmodeofoperation.Weselectaclock
sourcewitha1/128prescaler.ThismeansthatTimer/counter2isincrementet
by1every128thCPUcycle.
WesetittoCTCmode.(ClearonTimerCompare).Inthismode,thecounter
valueTCNT2iscontinuouslycomparedtoOCR2(OutputCompareRegister2).
EverytimeTCNT2reachesthevaluestoredinOCR2,itisresetto0andstarts
countingfromfrom0.Atthesametime,aninterruptistriggeredandtheinterrupt
routineiscalled.
Foreveryrunoftheinterrupt,thefollowingtakesplace:
1)Allthelayertransistorsareswitchedoff.
2)Outputenable(OE)ispulledhightodisableoutputfromthelatcharray.
3)Alooprunsthroughi=07.ForeverypassabyteisoutputedontheDATA
busandthei+1isoutputedontheaddressbus.Weaddthe+1becausethe
74HC138hasactivelowoutputsandthe74HC574clocklineistriggeredonthe
risingedge(transitionfromlowtohigh).
4)Outputenableispulledlowtoenableoutputfrothelatcharrayagain.
5)Thetransistorforthecurrentlayerisswitchedon.
6)current_layerisincrementedorresetto0ifitmovesbeyond7.
That'sit.Theinterruptroutineisquitesimple.I'msuretherearesome
optimizationswecouldhaveused,butnotwithoutcompromisinghuman
readabilityofthecode.Forthepurposeofthisinstructable,wethinkreadability
isareasonabletradeoffforaslightincreaseinperformance.
Step54:Software:Lowlevelfunctions
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Wehavemadeasmalllibraryoflowlevelgraphicfunctions.
Therearethreemainreasonsfordoingthis.
Memoryfootprint
Theeasiestwaytoaddresseachvoxelwouldbethroughathreedimensional
bufferarray.Likethis:
unsignedcharcube[x][y][z](charmeansan8bitnumber,unsignedmeansthat
it'srangeisfrom0to255.signedis128to+127)
Withinthisarrayeachvoxelwouldberepresentedbyaninteger,where0isoff
and1ison.Infact,youcouldusetheentireintegerandhave256different
brightnesslevels.Weactuallytriedthisfirst,butitturnedoutthatoureBayLEDs
hadverylittlechangeinbrightnessinrelationtodutycycle.Theeffectwasn't
noticeableenoughtobeworththetrouble.Wewentforamonochromesolution.
Onandoff.
Withamonochromecubeandathreedimensionalbuffer,wewouldbewasting
7/8ofthememoryused.Thesmallestamountofmemoryyoucanallocateis
onebyte(8bits),andyouonlyneed1bittorepresentonandoff.7bitsforeach
voxelwouldbewasted.512*(7/8)=448bytesofwastedmemory.Memoryis
scarceonmicrocontrollers,sothisisasuboptimalsolution.
Instead,wecreatedabufferthatlookslikethis:
unsignedcharcube[z][y]
InthisbuffertheXaxisisrepresentedwithineachofthebytesinthebuffer
array.Thiscanbequiteconfusingtoworkwith,whichbringsustothesecond
reasonformakingalibraryoflowleveldrawingfunctions:
Codereadability
Settingavoxelwiththecoordinatesx=4,y=3,z=5willrequirethefollowing
code:
cube[5][3]|=(0x01<<4)
Youcanseehowthiscouldleadtosomeseriousheadscratchingwhentryingto
debugyoureffectcode)
Indraw.cwehavemadeabunchoffunctionsthattakesx,y,zasargumentsand
doesthismagicforyou.
Settingthesamevoxelasintheexampleaboveisdonewithsetvoxel(4,3,5),
whichis_alot_easiertoread!
draw.ccontainsmanymorefunctionslikethis.Linedrawing,planedrawing,box
drawing,fillingetc.Havealookindraw.candfamiliarizeyourselfwiththe
differentfunctions.
Reusablecodeandcodesize
Asyoucanseeindraw.c,someofthefunctionsarequitelarge.Writingthat
codeoverandoveragaininsideeffectfunctionswouldtakeupalotofprogram
memory.Weonlyhave32KBtoworkwith.Itsalsoboringtowritethesame
codeoverandoveragain)
Step55:Software:Cubevirtualspace
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Nowthatwehaveacubebufferandanicelittlecollectionoflowleveldraw
functionstopopulateit,weneedtoagreeonwhichwaysiswhat,andwhatisup
andwhatisdown)
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Fromnowon,thenativepositionoftheLEDcubewillbewiththecablescoming
outtotheleft.
Inthisorientation,theYaxisgoesfromlefttoright.TheXaxisgoesfromfrontto
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FCT/XDX6/GI0TK2QY/FCTXDX6GI0TK2QY.LARGE.jpg)
back.TheZaxisgoesfrombottomtotop.
Coordinatesinthisinstructableisalwaysrepresentedasx,y,z.
Position0,0,0isthebottomleftfrontcorner.Position7,7,7isthetoprightback
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corner.
WhydidweusetheYaxisforleft/rightandXforback/front?Shouldn'titbethe
otherwayaround?Yes,wethinksotoo.WedesignedthetheLEDcubetobe
viewedfromthe"front"withthecablescomingouttheback.However,thiswas
quiteimpracticalwhenhavingtheLEDcubeonthedesk,itwasmorepractical
tohavethecablescomingouttheside,andhavingcubeandcontrollersideby
side.Alltheeffectfunctionsaredesignedtobeviewedfromthisorientation.
Step56:Software:Effectlauncher
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Wewantedaneasywaytoruntheeffectsinafixedorderorarandomorder.
Thesolutionwastocreateaneffectlauncherfunction.
launch_effect.ccontainsthefunctionlaunch_effect(inteffect).
Insidethefunctionthereisaswitch()statementwhichcallstheappropriate
effectfunctionsbasedonthenumberlaunch_effect()wascalledwith.
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Inlaunch_effect.hEFFECTS_TOTALisdefined.Wesetitonenumberhigher
thanthehighestnumberinsidetheswitch()statement.
Launchingtheeffectsonebyoneisnowasimplematterofjustloopingthrough
thenumbersandcallinglaunch_effect(),likethis:
while(1)
for(i=0i<EFFECTS_TOTALi++)
{
launch_effect(i)
}
}
Thiscodewillloopthroughalltheeffectsinincrementalorderforever.
Ifyouwantthecubetodisplayeffectsinarandomorder,justusethefollowing
code:
while(1)
{
launch_effect(rand()%EFFECTS_TOTAL)
}
The%EFFECTS_TOTALafterrand()keepstherandomvaluebetween0and
EFFECTS_TOTAL1.
Step57:Software:Effect1,rain
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FOY/1PD8/GICYB274/FOY1PD8GICYB274.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FA0/NK40/GI0TDO2S/FA0NK40GI0TDO2S.LARGE.jpg)
Letsstartwithoneofthesimplesteffects.
Ineffect.cyouwillfindthefunctioneffect_rain(intiterations).
Thiseffectaddsraindropstothetoplayerofthecube,thenletsthemfalldown
tothebottomlayer.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FV1/C9SZ/GICYB866/FV1C9SZGICYB866.LARGE.jpg)
Mostoftheeffectshaveamainfor()loopthatloopsfromi=0toi<iterations.
effect_rain(intiterations)onlytakesoneargument,whichisthenumberof
iterations.
Insidetheiterationloop,thefunctiondoesthefollowing:
1)Createarandomnumberbetween0and3,letscallitnhere.
2)Loopafor()loopnnumberoftimes.
3)Foreachiterationofthisloop,placeapixelonlayer7(z=7)atrandomxand
ycoordinates.
4)Delayforawhile
5)ShiftthecontentsoftheentirecubealongtheZaxisby1positions.This
shiftseverythingdownonelevel.
Thisisaprettysimpleeffect,butitworks!
Step58:Software:Effect2,planeboing
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F6L/3GT0/GI0TMGUD/F6L3GT0GI0TMGUD.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FV7/BHEJ/GI0TDO33/FV7BHEJGI0TDO33.LARGE.jpg)
Anothersimpleeffect,effect_planboing(intplane,intspeed).
Thiseffectdrawsaplanealongthespecifiedaxisthenmovesitfromposition0
to7ontheaxisandbackagain.Thisisverysimple,butitreallybringsoutthe
depthofthe3dLEDcube:)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FDI/B22J/GICYB87B/FDIB22JGICYB87B.LARGE.jpg)
Thisfunctiondoesn'thaveaniterationloop.Insteaditiscalledtwiceforeach
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FF2/GNQR/GI0TK2R7/FF2GNQRGI0TK2R7.LARGE.jpg)
axisinlaunch_effect().
Hereiswhatitdoes:
1)For()loopifrom0to7.
2)Clearthecubewithfill(0x00)
3)Callsetplane()todrawaplanealongthedesiredaxisatpositioni.Theplane
isn'tactuallydrawnontheaxisspecified,itisdrawnontheothertwoaxis.Ifyou
specifyAXIS_Z,aplaneisdrawnonaxisXandY.It'sjusteasiertothinkofit
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F1U/HTEK/GICYB87A/F1UHTEKGICYB87A.LARGE.jpg)
thatway.InsteadofhavingconstantsnamedPLANE_XY,PLANE_YZetc.
4)Delayforawhile.
5)Repeatthesameloopwithigoingfrom7to0.
Verysimple,butaverycooleffect!
Step59:Software:Effect3,sendvoxelsrandomZ
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F0H/Z98R/GICYB2DC/F0HZ98RGICYB2DC.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FNP/KQC3/GICYB2DI/FNPKQC3GICYB2DI.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FGC/6CZ9/GICYB89F/FGC6CZ9GICYB89F.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F12/GW2Z/GICYB89G/F12GW2ZGICYB89G.LARGE.jpg)
ThiseffectsendsvoxelsupanddowntheZaxis,astheimplies.
voidsendvoxels_rand_z()takesthreearguments.Iterationsisthenumberof
timesavoxelissentupordown.Delayisthespeedofthemovement(higher
delaymeanslowerspeed).Waitisthedelaybetweeneachvoxelthatissent.
Thisishowitworks:
1)Thecubeisclearedwithfill(0x00)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FTU/BRCG/GICYB89E/FTUBRCGGICYB89E.LARGE.jpg)
2)Loopthroughall64positionsalongX/Yandrandomlysetavoxelateither
Z=0orZ=7.
3)Enterthemainiterationloop
4)SelectrandomcoordinatesforXandYbetween0and7.IftheXandY
coordinatesareidenticaltothepreviouscoordinates,thisiterationisskipped.
5)CheckifthevoxelatthisX/YcoordinateisatZ=0orZ=7,andsendittothe
oppositesideusingsendvoxel_z().
6)Delayforawhileandsavethecoordinatesofthisiterationsowecancheck
themagainsttherandomcoordinatesinthenextiteration.Itlookedweirdto
movethesamevoxeltwiceinarow.
Theactualmovementofthevoxelsisdonebyanotherfunction,sendvoxel_z.
Thereasonforthis,isthatacoupleofothereffectsdoesthesamethingonlyin
differentways.
Thefunctionsendvoxel_z()takesfourargument.XandYcoordinates.Z
coordinate,thisisthedestinationandcaneitherbe0or7.Delaywhichcontrols
thespeed.
Thisishowitworks:
1)For()loopifrom0to7.
2)Ifthedestinationis7,wesetiito71,thusmakingiithereverseofi.Clearthe
voxelatZ=ii+1.Whenmovingdown,ii+1isthepreviousvoxel.
3)Ifthedestinationis0,letiibeequaltoi.Clearii1.Whenmovingupwards,1
isthepreviousvoxel.
4)Setthevoxelatz=ii.
5)Waitforawhile.
Step60:Software:Effect4,boxshrinkgrowandwoopwoop
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FRK/NTEE/GI0TK2RH/FRKNTEEGI0TK2RH.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FWD/XKKP/GI0TMGUU/FWDXKKPGI0TMGUU.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FZ1/XMO5/GI0TMGUZ/FZ1XMO5GI0TMGUZ.LARGE.jpg)
ShowAll8Items
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F2F/NVPS/GI0TK2RG/F2FNVPSGI0TK2RG.LARGE.jpg)
Awireframeboxisagoodgeometricshapetoshowinamonochrome8x8x8
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FOO/1NOL/GICYB8CT/FOO1NOLGICYB8CT.LARGE.jpg)
LEDcube.Itgivesaverynice3deffect.
WemadetwoboxanimationfunctionsfortheLEDcube.
Effect_box_shrink_grow()drawsawireframeboxfillingtheentirecube,then
shrinksitdowntoonevoxelinoneof8corners.Wecallthisfunctiononetime
foreachofthe8cornerstocreateaniceeffect.Effect_box_woopwoop()draws
aboxthatstartsasa8x8x8wireframeboxfillingtheentirecube.Itthenshrinks
downtoa2x2x2boxatthecenterofthecube.Orinreverseifgrowisspecified.
Hereishoweffect_box_shrink_grow()works.
Ittakesfourarguments,numberofiterations,rotation,flipanddelay.Rotation
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FT8/NB8N/GICYB8CU/FT8NB8NGICYB8CU.LARGE.jpg)
specifiesrotationaroundtheZaxisat90degreeintervals.Flip>0flipsthecube
upsidedown.
Tomakethefunctionassimpleaspossible,itjustdrawsaboxfrom0,0,0toany
pointalongthediagonalbetween0,0,0and7,7,7thenusesaxismirrorfunctions
fromdraw.ctorotateit.
1)Entermainiterationloop.
2)Enterafor()loopgoingfrom0to15.
3)Setxyzto7i.Thismakesxyzthereverseofi.Wewanttoshrinktheboxfirst,
thengrow.xyzisthepointalongthediagonal.Wejustusedonevariablesince
x,yandzareallequalalongthisdiagonal.
4)Wheni=7,theboxhasshrunktoa1x1x1box,andwecan'tshrinkitany
more.Ifiisgreaterthan7,xyzissettoi8,whichmakesxyztravelfrom0to7
whenitravelsfrom8to15.Wedidthistricktoavoidhavingtwoforloops,whith
onegoingfrom70andonefrom07.
5)Blankthecubeanddelayalittlebittomakesuretheblankingisrenderedon
thecube.Disabletheinterruptroutine.Wedothisbecausethemirrorfunctions
takesalittletime.Withoutdisablinginterrupts,thewireframeboxwouldflash
brieflyintheoriginalrotationbeforebeingdisplayedrotated.
6)Drawthewireframeboxinitsoriginalrotation.sideoftheboxisalwaysat
0,0,0whiletheothertravelsalongthediagonal.
7)Dotherotations.Ifflipisgreatherthan0,thecubeisturnedupsidedown.rot
takesanumberfrom0to3where0is0degreesofrotationaroundZand3is
270degrees.Toget270degreeswesimplymirroraroundXandY.
8)Enableinterruptstodisplaythenowrotatedcube.
9)Delayforawhilethenclearthecube.
Theotherfunctioninvolvedinthewireframeboxeffectis
effect_box_woopwoop().Thenamewoopwoopjustsoundednaturalwhenwe
firstsawtheeffectrenderedonthecube)
Thewoopwoopfunctiononlydoesoneiterationandtakestwoarguments,delay
andgrow.Ifgrowisgreaterthan0,theboxstartsasa2x2x2boxandgrowtoa
8x8x8box.
Hereishowitworks:
1)Clearthecubebyfillingthebufferwith0x00
2)For()loopfrom0to3.
4)Setiitoi.Ifgrowisspecifiedwesetitto3itoreverseit.
5)Drawawireframeboxcenteredalongthediagonalbetween0,0,0and7,7,7.
Onecorneroftheboxusesthecoordinates4+iionallaxes,movingfrom47.
Theothercorneruses3iionallaxes,movingfrom30.
6)Delayforawhile,thenclearthecube.
Thesetwofunctionsareusedasonesingleeffectintheeffectlauncher.First
theshrinkgroweffectiscalled8times,oneforeachcorner,thenwoopwoopis
calledfourtimes,twoshrinkandgrowcycles.
Tolaunchtheshrinkgrowfunction,weusedaforloopwithsomeneatbit
manipulationtricksinsidetoavoidwriting8linesofcode.
Thesecondargumentoftheshrinkgrowfunctionsistherotation,in4steps.We
arecountingfrom0to7,sowecan'tsimplyfeediintothefunction.Weusethe
modulooperator%tokeepthenumberinsidearangeof04.Themodulo
operatordividesbythenumberspecifiesandreturnstheremainder.
Thethirdargumentistheflip.Whenflip=0,thecubeisnotflipped.>0flips.We
usethebitwiseANDoperatortoonlyreadbit3ofi.
Bitwiseoperatorsareanabsolutemusttoknowaboutwhenworkingwithmicro
controllers,butthatisoutsidethescopeofthisinstructable.Theguysoverat
AVRFreakshavepostedsomegreatinformationaboutthistopic.Youcanread
moreathttp://www.avrfreaks.net/index.php?
name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=37871
Step61:Software:Effect5,axisupdownrandsuspend
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FR1/A1UQ/GI0TK2RR/FR1A1UQGI0TK2RR.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FRE/W2TX/GI0TMGV5/FREW2TXGI0TMGV5.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FDN/Z2O3/GICYB8IL/FDNZ2O3GICYB8IL.LARGE.jpg)
Thisisoneofourfavoriteeffects.Thevoxelsrandomlysuspendedinthecube
givesanice3ddepth,especiallyifyoumoveyourheadwhileviewingtheeffect.
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FNO/HKA1/GI0TDO6E/FNOHKA1GI0TDO6E.LARGE.jpg)
64voxelsstartoutononeofthesidewalls.Thentheyallgetassignedarandom
midwaydestinationbetweenthesidewalltheystartedatandthewallonthe
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FFM/UVDM/GICYB8IK/FFMUVDMGICYB8IK.LARGE.jpg)
oppositeside.
Thefunctionthenloops8timesmovingeachvoxelclosertoitsmidway
destination.After8iterations,thevoxelsaresuspendedatdifferentdistances
fromwheretheystarted.Thefunctionthenpausesforawhile,thusthename
axis_updown_randsuspend).Itthenloops8timesagainmovingthevoxelsone
stepclosertotheirfinaldestinationontheoppositewalleachtime.
Theactualvoxeldrawingisdoneinaseparatefunction,draw_positions_axis()
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FET/7XGY/GICYB8IJ/FET7XGYGICYB8IJ.LARGE.jpg)
soitcanbeusedindifferenteffects.Forexample,thevoxelscouldbe
suspendedmidwayinanonrandompattern.Wewillleaveituptoyoutocreate
thateffectfunction!:D
Youmayhavenoticedthatthedescriptionforthiseffectwaslessspecific.We
encourageyoutodownloadthesourcecodeandreadthroughthefunctions
yourself.Keepthetextaboveinmindwhenreadingthecode,andtrytofigure
outwhateverythingdoes.
Step62:Software:Effect6,stringfly
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FCL/Z6E7/GI0TK2TN/FCLZ6E7GI0TK2TN.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FPM/P8MQ/GICYB2SX/FPMP8MQGICYB2SX.LARGE.jpg)
8x8isaboutthesmallestsizerequiredtorenderameaningfultextfont,sowe
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FGS/L22M/GICYB8K3/FGSL22MGICYB8K3.LARGE.jpg)
justhadtodojustthat!
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F5L/KGMF/GI0TDUCU/F5LKGMFGI0TDUCU.LARGE.jpg)
Weloadeda8x5bitmapfontthatwehadpreviouslyusedwithagraphicalLCD
displayintoEEPROMmemory,andcreatedsomefunctionsthattookanASCII
charasanargumentandreturnedabitmapofthecharacter.
Thefunctionstringfly2takesanyASCIIstringanddisplaysitascharactersflying
throughthecube.
Itstartsbyplacingthecharacteratthebackofthecube,thenusestheshift()
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FF1/JCMF/GICYB8L6/FF1JCMFGICYB8L6.LARGE.jpg)
functiontoshiftthecubecontentstowardsyou,makingthetextfly.
Step63:Software:RS232input
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FXO/UWNG/GI0TMLBZ/FXOUWNGGI0TMLBZ.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FGM/6DHP/GI0TK89D/FGM6DHPGI0TK89D.LARGE.jpg)
Togeneratethemostawesomeeffects,weuseadesktopcomputer.Computers
candofloatingpointcalculationsandstufflikethatmuchquickerthanamicro
controller.Andyoudon'thavetoreprogramthemicrocontrollerforeveryeffect
youmake,oreverytimeyouwanttotestordebugsomething.
TheUSARTinterfaceintheATmegaisconfiguredtoworkat38400baudwith
onestopbitandnoparity.Eachbytethatissentdownthelinehasastartbit
andastopbit,so10bitsissenttotransmit8bits.Thisgivesusabandwidthof
3840bytespersecond.Thecubebufferis64bytes.Syncingbytesmakeup2
bytespercubeframe.At38400baudweareabletosendabout58framesper
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FAO/TSER/GI0TDP9U/FAOTSERGI0TDP9U.LARGE.jpg)
second.Morethanenoughforsmoothanimations.
0xffisusedasanescapecharacter,andputsthers232functionintoescape
mode.Ifthenextbyteis0x00,thecoordinatesforthebufferarerestoredto0,0.
Ifthenextbyteis0xff,itisaddedtothebuffer.Tosend0xff,yousimplysendit
twice.
Thers232functionjustloopsforever.Aresetisneededtoenterthecube's
autonomousmodeagain.
Step64:PCSoftware:Introduction
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FHF/3FSF/GICYB7UZ/FHF3FSFGICYB7UZ.LARGE.jpg)
ThecubejustreceivesbinarydataviaRS232.Thisdatacouldeasilybe
generatedbyanumberofdifferentprogramminglanguages,likepython,perlor
evenphp.
WechosetouseCforthePCsoftware,sincethemicrocontrollersoftwareis
writteninC.Thiswayeffectsfromthemicrocontrollercodecanjustbecopy
pastedintothePCsoftware.
Justlikeinthemicrocontrollercode,thiscodealsodoestwothings.Wherethe
microcontrollerhasaninterruptroutinethatdrawsthecontentsofcube[][]onto
theLEDcube,thePCsoftwarehasathreadthatcontinuallysendsdatatothe
LEDcube.
cube_pcv0.1.tar.gz
(/files/orig/FDJ/3BMV/GICYBAHY/FDJ3BMVGICYBAHY.tmp)82KB
Step65:PCSoftware:Cubeupdaterthread
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F7I/VR49/GICYB7X3/F7IVR49GICYB7X3.LARGE.jpg)
Incube.cwehaveafunctioncalledcube_push().Thistakesthe64bytearray
andsendsitdowntheseriallinetotheLEDcube.
Italsohandlestheformatting,sendingevery0xffbytetwicebecause0xffisour
escapecharacter.0xffand0x00issentfirsttoresettheLEDcubesinternalx
andycounters.
Inmain.cwehavethefunctioncube_updater().Thisfunctionislaunchedasa
separatethreadusingpthread_create().Themainthreadandthecubeupdater
threadsharesthememoryarears232_cube[8][8].Thecubeupdaterthreadis
justawhiletrueloopthatcallscube_push()overandover.
Thefirstattemptatanupdaterthreadturnedouttocreatesomeflickeringinthe
animations.Aftersomedebugging,wefoundoutthatframeswerebeing
transmittedbeforetheywerefullydrawnbytheeffectfunctions.Wegenerallydo
afill(0x00),thensomecodetodrawnewpixels.Ifaframeistransmittedright
afterafill(0x00),thecubewillflashanemptyframefor1/60thishofasecond.
Thiswasn'taprobleminthecoderunningontheLEDcube,sinceithasa
refreshrateofover1000FPS,butat60FPSyoucannoticeit.
Toovercomethiswecreateadoublebufferandsyncthetwobuffersatapoint
intimewheretheeffectfunctionhasfinisheddrawingtheframe.Luckilyallthe
effectfunctionsusethedelay_ms()functiontopausebetweenfinishedframes.
Wejustputamemcpy()insidetheretocopythecubebuffertothers232buffer.
Thisworksbeautifully.Nomoreflickering!
Step66:PCSoftware:Effect1,ripples
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FSC/KYL8/GI0TDO8C/FSCKYL8GI0TDO8C.LARGE.jpg)
ThisisthefirsteffectwemadeforthePCsoftware,andwethinkitturnedout
verynice.
Whilethismayseemlikeacomplicatedeffect,it'sreallynot!
Alltheeffectfunctionsrunningonthemicrocontrollermostlyuseif()statements
tocreateeffects.TheeffectsonthePCsoftwarearebuiltalittledifferent.We
usealotofsin(),cos()andothermathfunctionshere.Mostcoordinatesare
calculatedasfloatingpointcoordinatesthentypecastintointegersbeforebeing
drawnonthecube.
Theeffectyouseeinthevideoisactuallyjustasinewaveeminatingfromthe
centerofthecube,x=3.5,y=3.5.
Hereishowitworks:
1)Loopthroughtheiterationcounter.
2)Loopthroughall64xandycoordinates.
3)Calculatethedistancebetweenthecenterofthecubeandthex/ycoordinate.
4)Thezcoordinateiscalculatedwithsin()basedonthedistancefromthe
center+theiterationcounter.Theresultisthatthesinewavemovesoutfrom
thecenterastheiterationcounterincreases.
Lookhoweasythatwas!
Step67:PCSoftware:Effect2,sidewaves
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F4W/3XW4/GI0TMGZ6/F4W3XW4GI0TMGZ6.LARGE.jpg)
Thisisbasicallytheexactsamefunctionastheripplefunction.
Theonlydifferenceisthecoordinatesofthepointusedtocalculatethedistance
toeachx/ycoordinate.Wecallthispointtheorigin,sincethewaveemanates
fromthispoint.
Theorigincoordinateiscalculatedlikethis:
x=sin(iterationcounter)y=cos(iterationcounter)
Theresultisthatthesexandycoordinatesmovesaroundinacircle,resultingin
asinwavethatcomesinfromtheside.
Wejustwantedtoshowyouhoweasyitistocompletelyalteraneffectby
tweakingsomevariableswhenworkingwithmathbasedeffects!
Step68:PCSoftware:Effect3,fireworks
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FO5/CMRY/GI0TK2XC/FO5CMRYGI0TK2XC.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FZS/IWAP/GI0TDO8K/FZSIWAPGI0TDO8K.LARGE.jpg)
Thiseffectwasquitefuntomake.
Tomakethiseffect,wereallyhadtositdownandthinkabouthowfireworks
work,andwhichforcesinfluencethefireworkparticles.
Wecameupwithatheoreticalmodelofhowfireworkswork:
1)Arocketisshotuptoarandomposition,origin_x,origin_y,origin_z.
2)Therocketexplodesandthrowsburningparticlesoutinrandomdirectionsat
randomvelocities.
3)Theparticlesaresloweddownbyairresistanceandpulledtowardsthe
groundbygravity.
Withthismodelinmindwecreatedafireworkseffectwithaprettyconvincing
result.Hereishowitworks:
1)Arandomoriginpositionischosen.(withincertainlimits,xandybetween2
and5tokeepthefireworksmoreorlessinthecenterofthecube.zbetween5
and6.Fireworksexplodingnearthegroundcanbedangerous!:p)
2)Therocket,inthiscaseasinglevoxelismoveduptheZaxisatthexandy
coordinatesuntilitreachesorigin_z.
3)Anarrayofnparticlesiscreated.Eachparticlehasanx,yandzcoordinate
aswellasavelocityforeachaxis,dx,dyanddz.
4)Wefor()loopthrough25particleanimationsteps:
5)Aslowrateiscalculated,thisistheairresistance.Theslowrateiscalculated
usingtan()whichwillreturnanexponentiallyincreasingnumber,slowingthe
particlesfasterandfaster.
6)Agravityvariableiscalculated.Alsousingtan().Theeffectofgravityisalso
exponential.Thisprobablyisn'tthemathematicallycorrectwayofcalculating
gravity'seffectonanobject,butitlooksgood.
7)Foreachparticle,thexyandzcoordinatesareincrementedbytheirdx,dy
anddzvelocitiesdividedbytheslowrate.Thiswillmaketheparticlesmove
slowerandslower.
8)Thezcoordinateisdecreasedbythegravityvariable.
9)Theparticleisdrawnonthecube.
10)Delayforawhile,thendothenextiterationoftheexplosionanimation.
Wearequitepleasedwiththeresult.
Step69:PCSoftware:Effect4,Conway'sGameofLife3D
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FDE/IFJV/GICYBA5H/FDEIFJVGICYBA5H.LARGE.jpg)
TheGameofLife,alsoknownsimplyasLife,isacellularautomatondevisedby
theBritishmathematicianJohnHortonConway.Youcanreadmoreaboutthis
onWikipedia(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway's_Game_of_Life),ifyou
haven'theardaboutitbefore.
Bypopulardemand,wehaveimplementedGameofLifein3DontheLEDcube.
Tomakeitworkin3dtheruleshavetobetweakedalittle:
Adeadcellbecomesaliveifithasexactly4neighbors
Alivecellwith4neighborslive
Alivecellwith3orfewerneighborsdie
Alivecellwith5ormoreneighborsdie
Theprogramstartsbyplacing10randomvoxelsinonecornerofthecube,then
thegameofliferulesareappliedandtheiterationsstarted.
Inthesecondvideo,weruntheanimationfasterandseedwith20voxels.
Step70:RunthecubeonanArduino
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F3X/EXOV/GICYB2YC/F3XEXOVGICYB2YC.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F9U/YXTC/GI0TDO8V/F9UYXTCGI0TDO8V.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FQX/QGWP/GI0TK2XE/FQXQGWPGI0TK2XE.LARGE.jpg)
SincewepublishedourlastLEDCubeinstructable,wehavegottenalotof
questionsfrompeoplewonderingiftheycoulduseanArduinotocontrolthe
cube.
Thistime,weareonestepaheadofyouonthe"Caniuseanarduino?"front:D
TheIOrequirementsforan8x8x8LEDcubeis:
Layerselect:8
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FU5/T6VZ/GI0TDO8R/FU5T6VZGI0TDO8R.LARGE.jpg)
Databusforlatches:8
Addressbusforlatches:3
Outputenable(OE)forlatches:1
Total:21
TheArduinohas13GPIOpinsand8analoginputs,whichcanalsobeusedas
GPIO.Thisgivesyouatotalof21IOlines,exactlytheamountofIOneededto
runtheLEDcube!
Butwhywriteaboutitwhenwecouldjustshowyou?
WehookedthecubeuptoanArduinoandportedsomeofthesoftware.
SincethemultiplexerarrayandAVRboardareseparatedbyaribboncable,
connectingtheIOlinestoanArduinoisasimplematterofconnectingsome
breadboardwires.Luckily,wesolderedinafemale0.1"pinheaderforthe
transistorlineswhenweweredebuggingthefirstsetoftransistors.Justremove
theATmegaandconnectwiresfromtheArduinotothesepinheaders.
Weconnectedthecubelikethis:DATAbus:Digitalpins07.Thiscorresponds
toPORTDontheATmega328ontheArduinoboard,sowecanusedirectport
accessinsteadofArduinosdigitalWrite(whichisslow).Addressbus:Digitalpins
810.ThiscorrespondstoPORTBbit02.OnthisweHAVEtousedirectport
access.ArduinosdigitalWritewouldn'tworkwiththis,becauseyoucan'tset
multiplepinssimultaneously.Iftheaddresspinsarenotsetattheexactsame
time,theoutputofthe74HC138wouldtriggerthewronglatches.OutputEnable:
Digitalpin11.Layertransistors:Analogpins05anddigitalpins12and13.
WehadtogoabitoutsidethescopeoftheArduinoplatform.Theintentionof
ArduinoistousedigitalWrite()forIOportaccess,tomakethecodeportableand
someotherreasons.Wehadtosidestepthatandaccesstheportsdirectly.In
additiontothat,wehadtouseoneofthetimersfortheinterruptroutine.
TheregistersfortheinterruptandtimersaredifferentondifferentAVRmodels,
sothecodemaynotbeportablebetweendifferentversionsoftheArduino
board.
ThecodeforourquickArduinohackisattached.
arduinocube.pde
(/files/orig/FNH/V3UU/GICYB47D/FNHV3UUGICYB47D.tmp)12KB
Step71:Hardwaredebugging:BrokenLEDs
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FJA/IRLD/GICYB6YO/FJAIRLDGICYB6YO.LARGE.jpg)
Disasterstrikes.ALEDinsidethecubeisbroken!
WehadacoupleofLEDsbreakactually.Luckilythehardestonetogettowas
onlyonelayerinsidethecube.
ToremovetheLED,justtakeasmallpairofneedlenosepliersandputsome
pressureonthelegs,thengiveitalighttouchwiththesolderingiron.Theleg
shouldpoprightout.Dothisforbothlegs,andit'sout.
InsertinganewLEDisthetrickypart.Itneedstobeassymmetricalandniceas
therestoftheLEDs.Weusedahelpinghandtoholditinplacewhilesoldering.
Itwentsurprisinglywell,andwecan'tevenseewhichLEDshavebeen
replaced.
Step72:Feedback
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F5W/33J7/GICYB3NJ/F5W33J7GICYB3NJ.LARGE.jpg)
Welovegettingfeedbackonourprojects!The4x4x4LEDcubehasreceiveda
tonoffeedback,andmanyusershavepostedpicturesandvideosoftheirLED
cubes.
IfyoufollowthisInstructableandmakeyourownLEDcube,pleasepost
picturesandvideo!
Oh,anddon'tforgettoratethisInstructableifyoulikedit:)
Asatokenofgratitudeforallthegreatfeedback,hereisacollageofsomeof
thefeedbackonour4x4x4LEDcubeinstructable:
Wehaveabenicecommentpolicy.
Pleasebepositiveandconstructive.
IMadeit!
140of
2823
AddImages
MakeComment
Next(http://www.instructables.com/id/LedCube8x8x8/?
&sort=ACTIVE&limit=40&offset=40#DISCUSS)
likehamza(/member/likehamza/)
4daysago
Reply
ihavemodifiedoriginalcodebychrandsupertechittoworkableonarduino
(/member/likehamza/)
mega2560alongwithpinconfigurationletmeknowiwillmailthatcodetoone
whoislookingforit
andpleasehelpmewiththediagramofmusicmodeinledcubeifanyone
haveanyidearelatedtoaddingmusicmodeinchr'sledcube8x8x8then
pleasesendme
myemailis:likehamza@gmail.com
flag
SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT/)
(/member/SuperTech
IT/)
4daysago
Reply
Istillhavesomeifanyonewants....
Actuallyit'stheRev.4thatIhavewhichfixtheminorissueswiththeRev.3
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F47/VU4U/HTIWDXHX/F47VU4UHTIWDXHX.LARGE.jpg)
flag
jlj0425(/member/jlj0425/)madeit!
18daysago
Reply
(/member/jlj0425/)
imadeit!!!Thanksguys.itsreallygreat
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FHK/CQXI/I50X315D/FHKCQXII50X315D.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FS3/T7VW/I50X3197/FS3T7VWI50X3197.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/F23/WTHB/I50X31AH/F23WTHBI50X31AH.LARGE.jpg)
(http://cdn.instructables.com/FLD/GWUL/I50X31DA/FLDGWULI50X31DA.LARGE.jpg)
flag
frederick.willie.1(/member/frederick.willie.1/) jlj0425
5daysago
Reply
hey.iwanttotrymakethisledcube8x8x8.canusentallinfothati
(/member/frederick.willie.1/)
neededtomakethisledcubeplease?senttothisemail
hediana11@yahoo.com
flag
jlj0425(/member/jlj0425/) frederick.willie.1
4daysago
Reply
http://www.pyroelectro.com/projects/8x8x8_led_cube/
Gohere.Ihasallthestepbystepguidewithpictures.
(/member/jlj0425/)
flag
SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT/) jlj0425
4daysago
Reply
Ya,butifyourunnormalcodeonthatcircuit,theletterscomeout
(/member/SuperTech
backwards.
IT/)
flag
jlj0425(/member/jlj0425/) SuperTechIT
4daysago
Reply
No.Mineworkperfectly.Andididnotuseonlyonecode.Icombineall
availablecodeinthenettoasinglecode.Anditworksperfect.
(/member/jlj0425/)
flag
SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT/) jlj0425
4daysago
Reply
Itworksfinewithyourcode,ortheonebyJamecowhichis
(/member/SuperTech
backwardswhencomparedwithCHRsoriginalproject.Trustme.
IT/)
flag
4daysago
Reply
Gohere.Ihasallthestepbystepguidewithpictures.
(/member/jlj0425/)
flag
frederick.willie.1(/member/frederick.willie.1/) jlj0425
5daysago
Reply
jlj0425:Hai,iwanttomakethisledcube8x8x8.canusentmeallthe
detailtomakethisthing.ialsowanttheprogramtomovethisthing.
senttomyemailhediana11@yahoo.com.
flag
4daysago
Reply
Justfollowthis.Moredetailedinstruction.Gudluck
(/member/jlj0425/)
flag
floren.vanolden(/member/floren.vanolden/) jlj0425
15daysago
Reply
Niceandcleansetup,funnyyoukepttheimageunderneath.
(/member/floren.vanolden/)
flag
bhuvan.endran.7(/member/bhuvan.endran.7/)
4daysago
Reply
itmadeit
(/member/bhuvan.endran.7/)
flag
4daysago
Reply
itmadeit
flag
4daysago
Reply
itmadeit
flag
4daysago
Reply
flag
bhuvan.endran.7(/member/bhuvan.endran.7/) bhuvan.endran.7
4daysago
Holy
Cow!Thatthingisabsolutelyamazing!Icouldn't
buildoneifItried,
butWOW!Iamveryimpressedwithnotonlyhowit
looksandallthe
countlessthingsitdoes,butitmusthavetakena
wholelotof
intelligencetoputthistogether,soCongratulations
tothecreator!
AWESOME!
Reply
by.bhuvan.dr.nnce
flag
4daysago
Reply
itisbrithdaylight
flag
4daysago
Reply
itisbrithdaylight
flag
4daysago
Reply
itisbrithdaylight
flag
4daysago
Reply
itisbrithdaylight
flag
4daysago
Reply
itisbrithdaylight
flag
MontanaGnostic(/member/MontanaGnostic/)
20daysago
Reply
HolyCow!Thatthingisabsolutelyamazing!Icouldn'tbuildoneifItried,but
(/member/MontanaGnostic/)
WOW!Iamveryimpressedwithnotonlyhowitlooksandallthecountless
thingsitdoes,butitmusthavetakenawholelotofintelligencetoputthis
together,soCongratulationstothecreator!AWESOME!
flag
SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT/) MontanaGnostic
18daysago
WithmyPCBoards,justaboutanyonecanmake
(/member/SuperTech
one.
Reply
IT/)
Inboxmefordetailsifyouwant.
flag
frederick.willie.1(/member/frederick.willie.1/) SuperTechIT
5daysago
hey.doyoumeansicanthisoneusingthisPC
Boards.emailme.hediana11@yahoo.com
Reply
flag
frederick.willie.1(/member/frederick.willie.1/) frederick.willie.1
5daysago
*icanmakethisthingusingPCBoards
Reply
flag
SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT/) frederick.willie.1
4daysago
http://www.instructables.com/id/CHRs8X8X8LED
(/member/SuperTech
CubeRevisitedwithimprovements/thiswillhelp
IT/)
inconstructionandalsoexplaintheadvanced
featuresofmyadditionslikemusicresponse.
Reply
flag
Zonderling1(/member/Zonderling1/)
5daysago
Reply
Greatexplanation!
(/member/Zonderling1/)
Igenerallyuseadifferentwaytostraightenwiresthatyoumightliketotry:
holdoneendfixedinapairofpliersandfastentheotherendinanelectronic
drill.Carefullyallowthedrilltotwistthewire,while(only)gentlypullingthe
wire.
flag
Yogesh909(/member/Yogesh909/)
17daysago
Reply
Hey,Iwishtomakeone!
theproblemisthevalueofresistors
(/member/Yogesh909/)
I'mnotabletounderstandwhichvaluesofresistorsarebeingusedwhere!
soIrequesttokindlysaymethevalueofresistorsfor
1.Baseoftransistor
2.Collectoroftransistor
3.64resistors(arethey100ohms???
)
I'vejustgotamonthtocompletetheproject
Sohopingafastresponse!
Anyhelpwouldbeappreciated
thankinadvance!!
flag
SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT/) Yogesh909
9daysago
Reply
I'dput1Konthebases,and100ohmsforeverythingelse(atleast
(/member/SuperTech
that'swhatIdidwithmyPCBoardsforthisproject)
IT/)
flag
tanguy.hector(/member/tanguy.hector/) SuperTechIT
5daysago
HelloSuperTechIT
Reply
(/member/tanguy.hector/)
FirstThanksforyoursupertutorialandtimeyou
spendtohelppeople!itisreallynice.
IwouldliketoclarifythevaluesoftheresistorsthatI
amusing.
Baseoftransistor:1kohmtolimitcurrentand
protectthetransistor.
Collectoroftransistor(pullupresistor):
UNDETERMINED.
64resistors:100ohmtoprotecttheleds.
Myquestion:shouldn'tweuse4.7kohminsteadof
100ohmthatyouadvisedinthepreviouscomment
forthepullupresistorvalue?
flag
SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT/) tanguy.hector 5daysago
Reply
thisisn'tmytutorial,it'sCHR's,buthemadeitalongtimeago,andI
(/member/SuperTech
assumehasmovedontogreenerpastures.Asforthepullups,thisisn't
IT/)
ananalogcicuit....thelowerthevalue,thefasterthesnapfrom0to5V
(moresquarewave)....butyoudon'twanttooverloadthetransistor
either.Iused100ohmsbecauseIhadlots,anditworkedwellforthe
purpose.
flag
floren.vanolden(/member/floren.vanolden/) SuperTechIT
8daysago
Reply
I'mtroubledbytheIcc=70mAratingofthe74HC574chipsinthe
datasheet.8ledsx16mA=128mA,resultingin128mA>70mAby
(/member/floren.vanolden/)
almost2times.
3.4V=dropvoltageoverablueLED.
(5V3.4V)/100R=0.016A=16mA(forblueandwhiteLEDS)
(5V2V)/100R=0.030A=30mA(formostotherledcolors,resulting
inblownleds).
Soifnotusingblueorwhite,Iwouldgofor220Ohmresistors.Stillnot
takingintoacountthespecsofthe75HC574.
flag
SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT/) floren.vanolden
7daysago
Imakeexactlythatsamecommentinmy"revisited"
(/member/SuperTech
instructableonthisproject,andalsoelsewherein
IT/)
thecommentshereagesago.
Reply
flag
SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT/) SuperTechIT 7daysago
Reply
PleasealsonotehoweverthatyourcalculationsarebasedonDC
(/member/SuperTech
current,whichisthemistakeallthedesignersmadeinitially.Youcan't
IT/)
dothat.WearevirtuallypulsewidthmodulatingtheLEDs,which
changeseverythingquitedramatically,andcompletelynullifiesthese
calculations.
flag
Yogesh909(/member/Yogesh909/)
6daysago
Reply
Hi,
(/member/Yogesh909/)
DoIneedtoincludethepowersupplycircuit(7805andcapacitorsandall?)ifI
amusingarduinouno??
Anyhelpwouldbeappreciated!
Thanksinadvance!!!
flag
piddy0504(/member/piddy0504/)
11daysago
Reply
Iamcurrentlybuildingthiscube,waswonderinghowitwouldbepossibleto
(/member/piddy0504/)
useamomentaryswitchtocyclethroughthedifferenteffects,anypointersas
tohowtomodifythesoftwaretoachievethiswouldbemuchappreciated.
flag
SuperTechIT(/member/SuperTechIT/) piddy0504
9daysago
Reply
Ihavecodethatdoesthis.Seemy"revisited"instructableonthis
(/member/SuperTech
circuit.
IT/)
flag
piddy0504(/member/piddy0504/) SuperTechIT
9daysago
Reply
Thankyouforyourreplyandexcellenttutorial.Ihavemycircuit
completedandamcurrentlywaitingonmoreLEDtofinishthecubeasi
(/member/piddy0504/)
onlyreceivedenoughfor3layersinsteadofthe8ihadorderedfrom
china.Onceihavecompletedmybuildiamsureiwillbeneedingyour
helpagainassoftwaresideofthingsisstillabiglearningcurveforme.
flag
zachl.pederson(/member/zachl.pederson/)
14daysago
Reply
Ok,soI'mquitenewatthisandIamtryingtodecideifAVRorArduinois
(/member/zachl.pederson/)
betterforme.Idon'townanyofeitheryet.Basically,I'mwonderingfora
beginner,whichisbetter/easier/cheaperforthisproject?
flag
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&sort=ACTIVE&limit=40&offset=40#DISCUSS)
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IMadeit!
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