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.
This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Gadget Master in the LEDs category. They are listed from oldest to newest.
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Light flashers/blinkers is the next category.
Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.
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This blog is brought to you in association with RS.
Here is the circuit schematic as well as build instructions and parts list for an easy to build 7x7 LED matrix.
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.
It seems the stage is set for world domination from the humble LED.
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 Master, 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" »
Who says you can't have fun with LEDs?
Continue reading "Rainbow LED indicates voltage with colour" »
The fantastic atom expander produces an "exploding atom" effect using 98 LEDs.
Alan Parekh designed a rotating LED display.
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.
Continue reading "White LED driver provides 64-step logarithmic dimming" »
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.
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?
Continue reading "Pete decided to give his lamp a facelift" »
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 Master.
Continue reading "Trip the Light Fantastic with LED Gadget Masters" »
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."
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.
Continue reading "Super flashlight: When the humble torch just isn't enough" »
Welcome to the "hypnotic, other-worldly appeal of the LED Jellyfish Mood Lamp".
Continue reading "Peter's F1 gantry start-lights race into position" »
See also: Electronics Weekly's roundup of content related to LEDs, with a special focus on both white LEDs and coloured LEDs:
LED technology - Coloured LEDs
LED technology - LEDs Lighting
As the last glimpses of autumn sunshine begin to fade into the long dark nights of winter, those athletic Gadget Master readers who avidly insist on cycling to work everyday are presented with a potentially dangerous problem. Continue reading "Ultra-bright and ultra-durable LED bicycle lights" »
Thanks to our Technology Editor, Steve Bush, for spotting this one - SpokePOV, or "persistence of vision for your bike". It's a way to have a bit of fun, driving LED lights to improve your bike's visibility.Continue reading "SpikePOV - Bicycle LED persistence of vision" »
Thanks to Geoff for sharing this circuit with us. He decribes the circuit as "a simple way of panning between led colours, amber and cyan, to give white light with control over how warm it looks". Will temperature control overcome colour rendering objections, he asks?Continue reading "White light colour rendering trial circuit" »
This month's featured Gadget Master is provided by an old favourite of the blog, Peter Griffiths. He shares all the details necessary to build your own 5 x 5 LED cube.
Thanks to our Technology Editor Steve Bush for flagging this one - Build a DIY LED - which continues the LED theme nicely, following our Build your own LED cube post.Most of you will know this substance as the black "sand" splinters on sand paper. Due to its extreme hardness it is most often used in abrasive substances and tools. You could easily cut glass with it. I picked up four boxes with 1 cm big crystals for one Euro total on Ebay.
Continue reading "Peggy 2 LED array becomes animated video " »
The Bulbdial Clock [pictured, below] has no hands - just one pole in the center of the clock, and three light sources of varying heights which revolve around the pole casting shadows. In the model illustrated above, the light sources are each attached to a ring which rotates around the pole. The innermost ring rotates once per minute, casting a "second hand" shadow. The middle ring rotates once per hour, and casts the "minute hand" shadow. And the outer ring rotates once every 12 hours, casting the "little hand" shadow.Well, the excellent evilmadscientist.com website picked up this bulb and ran with it, as it were, constructing a working, LED-based bulbdial clock that builds on the original concept.
This excellent idea was originally a concept in a design competition which we covered back in January 2009 but due to the fantastic response from cyclists all over the world the inventors have decide to produce and market a working product.
Continue reading "LED Lightlane increases bicycle safety at night" »
Continue reading "Spinning up time on an LED hard drive clock" »
Continue reading "Arduino accelerometer hikes bike safety with LED brake lights" »
Here is an excellent resource, certainly worth bookmarking if you are creating your own LED lighting systems - the LED series/parallel array wizard.The LED series/parallel array wizard is a calculator that will help you design large arrays of LEDs. The LED calculator was great for single LEDs--but when you have several, the wizard will help you arrange them in a series or combined series/parallel configuration. The wizard determines the current limiting resistor value for each portion of the array and calculates power consumed. All you need to know are the specs of your LEDs and how many you'd like to use.Check out the screen grab below for our example generation.
Continue reading "LED Wizard calculates resistors and draws schematics" »
Here's another interesting one from the ever-reliable Instructables. It's making your own, LED-based light-up table cards, befitting a wedding reception or special Christmas party or some such...
Here's one I meant to highlight a while ago, and thanks to Sue P. for flagging it to our attention. It involves a rollerball pen, conductive ink and flexible electronics...
Here's a piece of news that may be of interest - Microsoft has announced the official launch of Gadgeteer, a set of electronic parts designed to be plugged together to build prototypes or working electronic devices. Remote controlled cars and cameras are given as possible examples.Continue reading "Microsoft Gadgeteer takes on Beagle Board and Arduino" »
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