[dorkbotpdx-blabber] Advice on large LED matrix

[dalas v.]

Heck, maybe even just buying this thing and rewiring it into a matrix:

http://www.ledunderbody.com/3-Million-Led-Underbody-Kit.aspx

Might be a quick and dirty way to do it.

-dalas


--- On Tue, 12/9/08, dalas v. <dalasv at yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: dalas v. <dalasv at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [dorkbotpdx-blabber] Advice on large LED matrix
> To: "A discussion list for dorkbot-pdx (portland,  or)" <dorkbotpdx-blabber at dorkbot.org>
> Date: Tuesday, December 9, 2008, 5:03 PM
> ShiftBrite looks like it might be a good place to start.
> 
> -dalas
> 
> 
> --- On Tue, 12/9/08, Hans Lindauer
> <armatronix at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> 
> > From: Hans Lindauer <armatronix at sbcglobal.net>
> > Subject: Re: [dorkbotpdx-blabber] Advice on large LED
> matrix
> > To: "A discussion list for dorkbot-pdx (portland,
>  or)" <dorkbotpdx-blabber at dorkbot.org>
> > Date: Tuesday, December 9, 2008, 11:19 AM
> > As Mykle already mentioned, shift registers seem to be
> the
> > way to go for this.  There are ones like the Texas
> > Instruments 5940 which are specifically made for
> controlling
> > LEDs - they have on-board pulse width modulation for
> > controlling brightness and are able to drive a high
> enough
> > load that you don't need external drivers (for
> standard
> > LEDs).  There are other versions without the PWM, if
> you
> > don't need the brightness control.  You can chain
> them
> > together to get as many pinouts as you need.  There
> may be
> > simpler options than the 5940 - I experimented with
> them a
> > little bit, but I thought they were a little more
> cumbersome
> > than they needed to be.
> > 
> > There's a kit available for a 25x25 LED array,
> although
> > it's not RGB:
> >
> http://evilmadscience.com/tinykitlist/35-tinykitcat/75-peggy2
> > That one must be doing multiplexing, because you'd
> need
> > forty 5940 chips to control each LED directly.  For
> RGB
> > you'd need 120, and that might be prohibitive.  Of
> > course, multiplexing cuts your brightness at the same
> time
> > as it decreases the number of pinouts you need.
> > 
> > You could also do a grid of ShiftBrite modules:
> > http://www.macetech.com/blog/
> > 
> > LED dance floor projects might be a good place to
> look. 
> > There are others trying to do large RGB grids -
> I've
> > seen a lot of similar inquiries on other forums when
> doing
> > my own research.
> > 
> > -Hans
> > 
> > 
> > dalas v. wrote:
> > > I'm thinking of building a matrix of RGB
> LEDs.
> > Brightness is a priority. Size would be maybe 1 or 2
> square
> > feet. Battery power would be preferred, but if there
> is a
> > need for AC power, I'd need to use a prebuilt
> power
> > supply, because I don't want to attempt making
> one.
> > Minimum control would be 32 color options (preferably
> more),
> > maybe you can program 8 - 12 sequences and switch
> between
> > them?
> > > 
> > > It seems like the arduino might be able to handle
> > this? It would be my first arduino project. I know
> that it
> > can control LED matrices and sequences, how would it
> be for
> > a large matrix and how big / bright can I get?
> > > 
> > > I'm in the really early stages with this, so
> any
> > advice or links to kits would be appreciated.
> > > 
> > > -dalas
> > _______________________________________________
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> > dorkbotpdx-blabber at dorkbot.org
> >
> http://music.columbia.edu/mailman/listinfo/dorkbotpdx-blabber
> 
> 
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