Projects/charlie cube

Project Charliplexed LED cube
Name	Charliplexed LED cube
Start	2020/01/08
End
Contact	Kuro_Maii
Website
Information	A 6×6×6 green LED cube made with a 15×16 charlieplexed grid
Status	Beta

To control all the 216 LEDs in this cube with as few control pins on a microcontroller as possible I opted for a charlieplex gird as a starting option. To get to at least 216 LEDs in a charlieplex I needed a grid of 15 columns and 16 rows (for a total of 240 LEDs).

The gird is divided in 4 panels of 6×6 LEDs, 2 panels of 6×3 and 2 of 3×6. This leaves the last row of 15 and a section 3×3 LEDs unused by the cube but they can be put somewhere as status LEDs or some such [ideas pending].

- 2020-02-26: the panels have been created and tested. next up arranging them into a proper cube. ~~making the code to light up the LEDs in fancy 3D patterns.~~

- Before the start of 2021: the cube got assembled and a proper circuit was devised with the help of some of the other members. However, after testing the cube in it's assembled form it turned out that the LEDs where, in part due to their age, not actually bright enough to be easily visible from different angles. New LEDs where acquired with a clear cap and much brighter, this would probably need a slight adjustment in the pins connected to the arduino so the overall control circuitry can be controlled via PWM and thus adjust the brightness of the cube as a whole.

- 2021-08-15: almost all of the panels have been resoldered to use the new LEDs, after which the panels can be restacked into the cube with some temporary wiring for testing. a more proper wiring will be done later that will be able to support the cube and connect it to a PCB that can be hidden below a display case