About LEDs

This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Gadget Freak in the LEDs category. They are listed from oldest to newest.

Japan is the previous category.

Light flashers/blinkers is the next category.

Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

Sign up for the fortnightly Circuits eNewsletter. Get design ideas and circuit schematics straight to your email inbox, no fuss. Just tick the option for Circuits.

RSS Subscribe to this blog's feed
[What is this?]

Archives

Main

LEDs Archives

September 3, 2007

Build a 7x7 monochrome LED display

Here is the circuit schematic as well as build instructions and parts list for an easy to build 7x7 LED matrix.

LEDs1.JPG

Continue reading "Build a 7x7 monochrome LED display" »

September 6, 2007

The not-so-bright LED night light

From our sister publication Made by Monkeys, a tale of what happened when engineer Dave Johnson felt ripped-off by the purchase of a cheap LED night light. He reconfigured the circuit and turned it into a much more expensive one – but at least it works.

LED%20nightlight.JPG

Continue reading "The not-so-bright LED night light" »

September 18, 2007

White-LED driver: I've got the power!

It seems the stage is set for world domination from the humble LED.

whiteLED1.JPG

Continue reading "White-LED driver: I've got the power!" »

September 24, 2007

When high fashion meets electronics engineering

At the height of her career, Marlene Dietrich – that famous woman in trousers – said, ‘I dress for the image. Not for myself, not for the public, not for fashion, not for men.’

In an age where skinny jeans reign, and thousands flock to Top Shop hoping to emulate the style icon Kate Moss, dressing for image is a given. After all, wasn’t former Givenchy svengali Alexander McQueen christened the ‘enfant terrible’ of British fashion?

Given the spirit of Gadget Freak, we present the work of British fashion designer Hussein Chalayan MBE. Born in Cyprus, the Central St Martin alumnus showcased his Spring Summer 2007 collection which featured a vast array of garments that require an electrical engineer to operate them via a specially designed remote control.

Continue reading "When high fashion meets electronics engineering" »

September 27, 2007

Rainbow LED indicates voltage with colour

Who says you can’t have fun with LEDs?

rainbow1.JPG

Continue reading "Rainbow LED indicates voltage with colour" »

October 4, 2007

Fantastic atom expander

The fantastic atom expander produces an “exploding atom” effect using 98 LEDs.

fireworks.JPG

Continue reading "Fantastic atom expander" »

October 8, 2007

How to build a rotating LED display

Alan Parekh designed a rotating LED display.

rotating.JPG

Continue reading "How to build a rotating LED display" »

October 18, 2007

White LED driver provides 64-step logarithmic dimming

This circuit for the white LED driver drives as many as four white LEDs from a 3.3V source and adjusts the total LED current from 1 to 106 mA in 64 steps of 1 dB each.

white%20LED%201.JPG

Continue reading "White LED driver provides 64-step logarithmic dimming" »

November 2, 2007

Bill had that weird feeling he was being watched

Partial to things that go bump in the night, Bill built a circuit that slowly illuminates and fades a pair of red LEDs. It consists of two op amps, one producing a slow rising and falling voltage (3 - 6V) and the other functioning as a voltage comparator. In operation, a linear 3V ramping waveform is generated at pin 1 of the LM1458 IC and buffered with an emitter follower transistor stage. Make the rate adjustable by using a 100K potentiometer in place of the 47K resistor at pin 2. Install it in a skull as a Halloween prop or if spooky things aren't your thing, use it as a fancy power indicator for a home appliance.

Click the continue reading link for full build instructions, parts list, and circuit schematic.

bill1a.JPG

Continue reading "Bill had that weird feeling he was being watched" »

December 6, 2007

Jon knows how to spread Christmas cheer

Deck the halls with LEDs this Christmas

Tired of bobbing reindeer heads and inflatable snowman displays, Jon decided to add some real flash to his holidays. By combining a digital counter, decoder, drivers, and relays, he built a simple, yet flexible circuit that allows for exciting flashing patterns and sequences for a few or many light strings. Building the "flasher" on a solderless breadboard makes modifications easy.

jonknows.JPG

Continue reading "Jon knows how to spread Christmas cheer" »

January 30, 2008

Les wears his silicon on his sleeve

Looking for cool way of wowing that special someone on Valentines Day? Build her a flashing heart made from LEDs driven by a programmable microcontroller. Les' gadget is simple to build and made from easily-obtainable parts. The unique thing about this design is the LEDs are in an X-Y matrix so each LED is addressable. This allows an unlimited combination of displayed patterns for the heart. Source code and schematics are all available here and if you're not into hand wiring, even the PCB can be had for a small fee. Diamonds may be a girl's best friend but gadgets are forever.

les1.JPG

Continue reading "Les wears his silicon on his sleeve" »

February 13, 2008

Pete decided to give his lamp a facelift

Making an ordinary lamp a work of art

Seeing great potential in a normal, off-the-shelf product, Pete Griffiths designed a circuit he popped into the lamp to give it a new lease of life. His design combines a PIC and three constant current buck converters to create the RGB LED controller. This controller drives the high power 350mA LEDs using PWM to control the LED brightness. By driving the red, green and blue LEDs with varying pulse widths the controller can generate up to 16 million colours using fades, strobe and static effects. Who says you can't give the humble lamp a nip and tuck?

pete.JPG

Continue reading "Pete decided to give his lamp a facelift" »

March 26, 2008

Trip the Light Fantastic with LED Gadget Freaks

From their humble beginnings as little red dots that let the user know if household appliances are switched on, LEDs can now be ultra bright light sources capable of lighting up a room or illuminating the road ahead of a vehicle.

High performance LEDs are now being churned out from many manufacturers around the world like they’re going out of fashion.

Here is a collection of the best LED gadgets that have made themselves home in Gadget Freak.

leds1.JPG

Continue reading "Trip the Light Fantastic with LED Gadget Freaks" »

April 2, 2008

Three new Circuit Design Ideas

white%20noise%20generator%20cicrcuit.jpg

Check out three new Circuit Design Ideas that have been added to the site - examples to give you inspiration for designing your own circuits. And they have an international flavour...

Continue reading "Three new Circuit Design Ideas" »

April 7, 2008

Sixty-five competition entries and counting...

There have been 65 entries so far for the Gadget Freak competition, and we are still counting, so make sure you have a go!

All you have to do is answer a question based on the use of an RGB LED controller in one of our Gadget Freak blog posts.

Enter the competition (see the Terms and Conditions)

Pictured is the prize - a wind-up, solar-powered Freeplay EyeMax Self-Sufficient AM/FM Radio, which also includes a (small) integrated flashlight.

Freeplay wind-up radio

April 15, 2008

3D LED cube dazzles in amazing fashion

This little gem from gizmodo.com:

“Seekway has put together this spectacular 3D LED display, which is capable of displaying images in full 3D at an amazing 30 fps."

Continue reading "3D LED cube dazzles in amazing fashion" »

May 8, 2008

Super flashlight: When the humble torch just isn't enough

Thanks to Electronics Weekly’s Technology Editor for sending us this gadget.

The super flashlight, from the CandlePower Forums, received rave reviews from visitors to the website. Link includes parts list and build instructions.

super%20flashlight.JPG

Continue reading "Super flashlight: When the humble torch just isn't enough" »

July 16, 2008

LED Jellyfish Mood Lamp

Jellyfish led.jpgWelcome to the "hypnotic, other-worldly appeal of the LED Jellyfish Mood Lamp".

This press release has just caught my attention - a light-hearted one for Gadget Freak, I thought.

How much of a challenge would it be to recreate such a device?... (The real challenge would be in circulating the jellyfish in an interesting manner, I think, rather than the lighting effect)

The ambient lighting device is described as having a "whisper-quiet" operation and features an auto-off safety function that kicks in after four hours of use.

Continue reading "LED Jellyfish Mood Lamp" »

August 15, 2008

Peter's F1 gantry start-lights race into position

gf aug 08 lights and board.jpg
Peter Griffiths - the man who turned a lamp into a work of art - moves into pole position with the featured Gadget Freak for August.

Based around LED cluster modules and a microcontroller, the circuit drives F1-style gantry race start lights.

Who wouldn't want to be the race controller, with their finger on the starting switch?

Fully documented in terms of parts and the build process, Peter has provided loads of photos to help navigate construction. And for those of you who don't have access to PCB making facilities, there are photos of building the project on stripboard.

Continue reading "Peter's F1 gantry start-lights race into position" »