8x8x8 LED Cube
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[hide]Overview
I purchased a bunch of LED's a few years ago with the intention of making LED Christmas lights with them. Here is what they look like:
I got lazy and decided I didn't want to do that project. In early May, I decided that I wanted to do something with those LED's. So I Googled LED projects and found this 8x8x8 LED Cube. I thought it was the coolest project ever so I decided I wanted to try it. Here is how I did it...
How The Cube Works
This is an 8x8x8 cube which has 512 LEDs.
An LED has two legs. One leg is called the anode, which is the positive longer leg, and the cathode, which is the negative shorter leg.
The LED cube is made up of columns and layers. The cathode legs of every LED in a layer are soldered together. All the anode legs in one column are soldered together. There are 8 layers which have 64 LED's on each layer and there are 64 columns.
Each of the 64 columns are connected to the controller board with a separate wire. Each column can be controlled individually. Each of the 8 layers also have a separate wire going to the controller board.
Each of the layers are connected to a transistor that enables the cube to turn on and off the flow of current through each layer.
By only turning on the transistor for one layer, current from the anode columns can only flow through that layer. The transistors for the other layers are off, and the image outputted on the 64 anode wires are only shown on the selected layer.
To display the next layer, simply turn off the transistor for the current layer, change the image on the 64 anode wires to the image for the next layer. Then turn on the transistor for the next layer. Rinse and repeat very very fast.
NOTE: Taken from 8x8x8 LED Cube
First Cube
As stated in the previous section, the cathode legs of every LED are soldered together to form the layers of the cube. The easiest way to solder the LEDs together is to create a jig. Here is a pic of the first jig I created:
I knew I didn't want to use the LEDs I originally purchased for the Christmas lights because they are really flimsy. So I decided to use them to practice my soldering skills which would also allow me to figure out how the cube works. I started with a 5x5x5 cube.
I started soldering the cathode legs together.
I then soldered a piece of wire across the cathode leg of the LEDs to add support.
Once I got 1 layer done, I created another layer so I could figure out how to solder the anode layers together. I used an alligator clip to keep the LED leg where I wanted it.
Once I got the anode legs soldered together, I had a 5x5x2 LED Cube.
Second Cube
At this point I ran out of the White LED's. Luckily, one of our members Scott, bought out one of the electronic stores here in Huntsville...so he had so LED's to spare.
