3D LED Cube - Anyone interseted in building one?

[Picklz]

So I've been looking at these for a while, for those unfamiliar with them they are a 3D cube of LED's that you can program to display different sequences / animations. You can buy the 5x5x5 versions pre-made, but I'd really like a 8x8x8 or 10x10x10 which don't seem to be commercially available.

I found this how-to though.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Led-Cube-8x8x8

I'm reading through it now, and seriously considering giving building one of these a shot. Parts seem to be $50-80, plus some tools if you don't already have a good soldering iron.

Curious if anyone else is interested in building one? We might be able to save some money both in shipping and Quantity discounts if we bought all the parts at the same time.

 

[dmention7]

I have no idea what I'd use one for but it certainly looks pretty cool. I've wanted to try some projects like this for awhile, but it always sounds daunting to get started. Getting together with a few people and pooling tools/skills for occasional random projects would be a fun thing to do, especially in the winter. Sort of a manlier/geekier version of when women get together and quilt. lol

 

[Z-licious]

This is what I went to college for.

 

[mndsm]

I know shit about it, but I really do like those. I'd be in.

Also LOL @ 512 LEDs.

 

[ohsixspeedsix]

I would be in. That thing is sick.

 

[Picklz]

I urge you guys to read through that whole article if you haven't, it looks like quite a lot of work and a TON of soldering, gonna take quite a bit of time to assemble.

I'm working on putting together a parts list with prices including power supply, and parts to build a 4x4 cube as well (to practice on before building the 8x8) I may including pricing on a good soldering iron in case anyone is going to buy one.

I'll try and figure out the discount's we would see by buying parts for 2,3,4+ cubes at the same time as well, then we can discuss payment / delivery / etc for anyone who's actually gonna take this project on.

If these pages don't scare you then game on lol
http://www.instructables.com/id/Led-Cube-8x8x8/step24/Build-the-cube-bend-the-pins/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Led-Cube-8x8x8/step30/Build-the-controller-layout/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Led...ild-the-controller-Connect-the-ICs-8bit-bus-/

 

[Z-licious]

Yeah, it's a ton of work, which is why I didn't say I was interested lol

 

[ohsixspeedsix]

Go big or go home 20x20

 

[Picklz]

20x20x20 would be 8,000 LED's, not only would the structure itself take forever to build, but the controller you would need to drive that would be nuts. More power to you if you want to build something that big, but it aint for me lol.

 

[Picklz]

Here's where I'm at.

The majority of the parts to build the 8x8x8 look to be around $50-60 per cube or so with shipping, there isn't much savings (beyond shipping) unless we were building these on a huge scale. I'm still sorting out a few pieces which is why I don't have an exact # yet.

What's NOT included in that $50-60:
The LED's (512 + status LEDs) ($25-$60+ depending on color and quality)
A 5v power supply ($10-15+ on ebay, or use an old PC supply).
Wooden base to use as a template / final mount (or some other material)
AVR Programmer - $22 http://www.adafruit.com/products/46

Tools - at the very least you should have a decent soldering iron, solder, multimeter, Kynar wire, center punch, drill + bit, small gauge steel wire

Other things that could be quite helpful - Breadboard, caliper, helping hand/soldering station, various pliers, cutting tools, etc.

I'm planning on putting an order in on Amazon for a new soldering iron ($18) and a few other items. Most the other parts I'm going to order from futurlec.com, ebay.com and mouser.com Right now I'm leaning towards red or green LED's as they are much cheaper than blue.

If anyone's still in for this let me know, I'll make sure I have proper quantity for however many I'm ordering parts for and post totals/detailed part lists. Again if you've not done quite a bit of soldering or haven't built any electronic projects before I don't know if this would be a wise choice for a first-timer.

 

[dmention7]

Wait... so, the LEDs aren't included in the $50-60? What IS included then??

 

[Picklz]

Wait... so, the LEDs aren't included in the $50-60? What IS included then??

Various Quantities of the items listed below for building the control circuit - with various items still needing to be added (some resistors, pushbuttons, connectors, etc.) The two prototype boards, ATMega32, and Edge Trigges / FlipFlop IC's are about $16-18 alone.

qty 50 x 100ohm Resistors
prototype board
MicroController
Edge Trigger
NPN Transistor
qty 50 1kohm Resistors
Decoder
RS232 IC
14.7456MHz Crystal
22pF 50V Ceramic Capacitors
.1uF 50v Ceramic Capacitor
1000uF 16V Radial Electrolytic Capacitor
10uF 16V Radial Electrolytic Capacitor
100uF 16V Radial Electrolytic Capacitor
16 Pin IC Socket
20 Pin IC Socket
40 Pin IC Socket
Grey Ribbon Cable - 10 core
Grey Ribbon Cable - 16 core
Multicolor Ribbon Cable - 16 core
16 Contact IDC Socket Connector
10 Contact IDC Socket Connector
16 Pin Shrouded Male Headers
8 Pin .100" Straight Male Headers
8 Pin .100" Header Connector
Female Pin for Header Connector
8 Pin .100" Right Angle Headers
4 Pin .100" Straight Male Headers (10 pack)
4 Pin .100" Header Connector
2 Pin .100" Straight Male Headers (10 pack)
Shorting Block Closed Black
2 Term. PCB 5mm Terminal Block (Side Entry)
2 Pin Male Polarized Header
2 Pin .155" Polarized Header Connector
Crimp Pin for Header Connector (10 pack)

 

[mndsm]

Ugh, I may be out of this one, that's A- damn expensive and B- a lot of words I don't understand.

 

[SLyness18]

are these available to purchase anywhere? even if they are smaller? they are pretty bad ass but idk if id have the time or patience for something like that-
Pretty easy to make a small mistake and not catch it, then have to try and figure out where it all went wrong

 

[Picklz]

They sell 4x4x4 cubes for $75-100 from what I've seen. I haven't found anyplace that sells bigger ones, mainly due to complexity/cost/time involved to build one that large.

 

[Picklz]

Alright I'm moving forward with this sumbitch, I increased the quantity of a number of items as I wanted extras if I messed something up or got a bad item or two, so that inflated the Price a bit, but here's what I bought:

From Futurlec.com
Part No. Description Qty Price Each Total Price
74HC138 74HC138 - 3 to 8 Decoder/Demultiplexer 2 $0.35 $0.70
74HC574 74HC574 - Octal D-type F/F Edge-Trigg. Tri-State 9 $0.60 $5.40
C010U16E 10uF 16V Radial Electrolytic Capacitor 6 $0.05 $0.30
C022PC 22pF 50V Ceramic Capacitors 5 $0.05 $0.25
CRY14.7456 14.7456MHz Crystal 1 $0.75 $0.75
EXPBRDLGPHEN Experimenters Board Large - Phenolic 3 $2.90 $8.70
FHEADS4 4 Pin .100 Straight Female Single Headers 1 $0.80 $0.80
GRCABLE10 Grey Ribbon Cable - 10 core 2 $0.40 $0.80
GRCABLE16 Grey Ribbon Cable - 16 core 8 $0.45 $3.60
HDCONNS8 8 Pin .100 Header Connector 9 $0.18 $1.62
HDPINF Female Pin for Header Connector 10 $0.60 $6.00
HDSHCB Shorting Block Closed Black 2 $0.15 $0.30
HEADRAS8 8 Pin .100 Right Angle Headers 1 $0.25 $0.25
HEADS2 2 Pin .100 Straight Male Headers 1 $0.70 $0.70
HEADS8 8 Pin .100 Straight Male Headers 2 $0.70 $1.40
ICS16 16 Pin IC Socket 3 $0.07 $0.21
ICS20 20 Pin IC Socket 9 $0.09 $0.81
ICS40 40 pin IC Socket 2 $0.15 $0.30
IDCC10 10 Contact IDC Socket Connector 1 $0.25 $0.25
IDCC16 16 Contact IDC Socket Connector 2 $0.25 $0.50
IDCMH10 10 Pin Shrouded Male Headers 1 $0.25 $0.25
IDCMH16 16 Pin Shrouded Male Headers 2 $0.25 $0.50
MAX232 MAX232 Dual RS232 receiver/transmitter 2 $1.50 $3.00
MCCABLE16 Multicolor Ribbon Cable - 16 Core 2 $0.85 $1.70
MPOLHDR2 2 Pin Male Polarized Header 2 $0.10 $0.20
PCBT2 2 Term. PCB 5mm Terminal Block 1 $0.40 $0.40
PCON2 "2 Pin .155"" Pins for Connectors" 2 $0.10 $0.20
PLHDPIN Crimp Pin for Header Connector 1 $0.60 $0.60
RN100R 100ohm 9 Resistor Network (10 pins) 10 $0.25 $2.50
RN1K 1kohm 9 Resistor Network (10pins) 10 $0.25 $2.50
Subtotal $45.49
Shipping $6.00
Total $51.49

From Mouser.com
Select
Product Detail

Customer Part #

Order Qty.

Price
(USD)

Ext.
(USD)

Status Date Invoice #

Mouser #: 107-LP12-7-EV
Mfr. #: 107-LP12-7-EV
Desc.: Pushbutton Switches ILLUM 12MM GRN
1 $2.79 $2.79
1 Pending Pending -

Mouser #: 10KB012
Mfr. #: 10KB012
Desc.: Pushbutton Switches LT BU BDY RND BK CAP
1 $1.35 $1.35
1 Pending Pending -

Mouser #: 10KB011
Mfr. #: 10KB011
Desc.: Pushbutton Switches LT BU BDY RND RD CAP
1 $1.35 $1.35
1 Pending Pending -

Mouser #: 279-CFR100J100R
Mfr. #: CFR100J100R
Desc.: Carbon Film Resistors - Through Hole 100Ohm 1W 500PPM
70 $0.05 $3.50
70 Pending Pending -

Mouser #: 647-UVR1C101MDD1TD
Mfr. #: UVR1C101MDD1TD
Desc.: Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors - Leaded 16volts 100uF
3 $0.05 $0.15
3 Pending Pending -

Mouser #: 647-UHM1C102MPD3TD
Mfr. #: UHM1C102MPD3TD
Desc.: Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors - Leaded 1000uF 16V 105c
5 $0.11 $0.55
5 Pending Pending -

Mouser #: 594-K104K15X7RF5TH5
Mfr. #: K104K15X7RF5TH5
Desc.: Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCC) - Leaded 0.1uF 50volts 10% X7R 5mm LS
18 $0.06 $1.08
18 Pending Pending -

Mouser #: 279-FRN50J1K0/S
Mfr. #: FRN50J1K0/S
Desc.: Metal Film Resistors - Through Hole 1 KOhm 1/2W 350PPM
20 $0.04 $0.80
20 Pending Pending -

Mouser #: 512-PN2222TA
Mfr. #: PN2222TA
Desc.: Bipolar Small Signal NPN Transistor General Purpose
18 $0.06 $1.08
18 Pending Pending -

Mouser #: 556-ATMEGA32A-PU
Mfr. #: ATMEGA32A-PU
Desc.: Microcontrollers (MCU) 32KB In-system Flash 2.7V - 5.5V
2 $5.36 $10.72
2 Pending Pending
total of $23.37

And a USB programmer for $27 shipped
http://evilmadscience.com/productsmenu/tinykitlist/106-usbtiny

So right around $100 total with shipping, I just made an offer for 1000 green LED's on Ebay for $23 so we'll see if that get's accepted. I probably have $15-20 worth of 'extra' parts that could go towards a second cube, depending on how my first one turns out I may build a blue one next Note I already had some items like Solder, Soldering Iron, Kynar wire, etc so I didn't have to buy any of that. And I have spare wood to make a base and such.

I decided to use a spare PC power supply for now, if the cube turns out really well I'll probably build or buy something that looks nice or can be hidden in the base

I'll try and keep this updated with my progress

 

[Picklz]

Picked up 1000 high output green diffused 3mm LED's on Ebay for $24! I think that'll be everything needed, now to wait for shipping of everything

 

[Picklz]

Well my first order came in - the Adafruit USBtinyISP kit (this), it's a programmer that will be used to program/control the LED cube - I guess I should have realized from the word 'kit' in the title that I was gonna have to build the damn thing lol. Oh well it was good solder practice i guess, got it all put together and the LED lights up green when plugged into USB like it's supposed to so I'm going to assume I didn't screw anything up lol. Everything else has shipped just waiting on stuff to start showing up.