Make your own 4x4x4 LED cube with an Arduino Uno Part List I’ll break this section down into two parts, the components that you’ll need to make the cube, and the tools that you’ll use to do it. The component list is pretty much fixed, with a few exceptions, but don’t feel restricted by the tools list, if you can think of a better way of doing something then by all means do it that way. Components: My cubes are made with parts ordered almost exclusively from eBay (because it’s cheaper to buy stuff from the Far East than it is from my local electronics store). Of course, you can order from your local store if you’re in a hurry, but to be honest you’re not going to get “better” components than if you order from Hong Kong. LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) These are the core of your cube, you’ll need 64 of them to make it, but you’ll probably find it cheaper to order a batch of 100. This will also give you some spares in case you have any duff ones, or damage any during construction. Standard LED sizes are 5mm and 3mm. I’d tend to stick with 3mm as it allows you to see more of the inner workings of your cube (5’s can obstruct your view of what’s behind them). You can get them in a variety of colours, but one thing you might want to consider is buying “diffused” LEDs. Diffused LEDs shine light evenly in all directions, whereas traditional ones shove most of their light out the top. You’ll get very different effects depending on which type you use. There’s no right answer, it’s completely your choice. Jewellers wire Or something similar. What you’re looking for is some solid core, uninsulated wire that can be used to join our LEDs together into grids of 4×4. Typing “jewellery wire” into eBay should yield some suitable wire. I use silver plated copper wire, but any conductive metal that matches the colour of your LED legs will do just fine.
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Make your own 4x4x4 LED cube with an Arduino Uno
Part List
I’ll break this section down into two parts, the components that you’ll need to make the cube,
and the tools that you’ll use to do it.
The component list is pretty much fixed, with a few exceptions, but don’t feel restricted by the
tools list, if you can think of a better way of doing something then by all means do it that way.
Components:
My cubes are made with parts ordered almost exclusively from eBay (because it’s cheaper to buy
stuff from the Far East than it is from my local electronics store). Of course, you can order from
your local store if you’re in a hurry, but to be honest you’re not going to get “better” components
than if you order from Hong Kong.
LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes)
These are the core of your cube, you’ll need 64 of them to make it, but you’ll probably find it
cheaper to order a batch of 100. This will also give you some spares in case you have any duff
ones, or damage any during construction.
Standard LED sizes are 5mm and 3mm. I’d tend to stick with 3mm as it allows you to see more of
the inner workings of your cube (5’s can obstruct your view of what’s behind them). You can get
them in a variety of colours, but one thing you might want to consider is buying “diffused” LEDs.
Diffused LEDs shine light evenly in all directions, whereas traditional ones shove most of their
light out the top. You’ll get very different effects depending on which type you use. There’s no
right answer, it’s completely your choice.
Jewellers wire
Or something similar. What you’re looking for is some solid core, uninsulated wire that can be
used to join our LEDs together into grids of 4×4. Typing “jewellery wire” into eBay should yield
some suitable wire. I use silver plated copper wire, but any conductive metal that matches the
colour of your LED legs will do just fine.
Resistors
You’ll need 16 resistors to protect your LEDs from blowing when connected to your Arduino
board. The actual value of your resistor will depend on the specifications of your LEDs, which
should be provided by the retailer.
Use an online checker to confirm the value of resistor that you should use.
For most 3mm LEDs, 100Ω or 330Ω (Ohms) should be sufficient. 330Ω is a very common resistor
value, so you should be able to pick up a ream of them cheaply.
We’re dealing with quite low power circuits here, so you should be ok with resistors rated at
0.25W (watts).
Arduino Uno board (or compatible)
The core of this project will be an Arduino Uno micro-controller board. The Uno is one of the
more popular Arduino boards, and suits this project down to the ground. The “official” version
can be bought from major retailers like RS Components, but you can also buy compatible boards
on eBay for a fraction of the cost.
In my experience, the “compatible” boards work fine for this project.
There’s nothing sinister about these boards, Arduino is an open-source platform. In other words,
any company can produce boards that are compatible with the Arduino software.
In this project I use a “Arduino Uno Ver 3″ compatible board, which I recommend you do too.
Jumper wires
Get these either as a ribbon cable or as individual strands, it doesn’t matter. You’ll need 20 cores
and I recommend getting them around 20cm long so that you have room to make all the
connections before you close the lid on your enclosure.
Don’t worry if it’s all in one ribbon, you’re going to be breaking it into parts to make things easier
for yourself.
It’s also a good idea to get multicoloured ones, so that you can colour code your design, which
will make it easier to plug the right wires into the right place. For my first cube, I used all red
wires, and it was a nightmare to connect everything up correctly.
Prototyping board
Sometimes called Veroboard or Stripboard. This is a great way to quickly make electronic circuits
without going to the effort of having a proper PCB (Printed Circuit Board) made up.
The type that you want has common strips, which is great for connecting components together
without the need for wires.
In this project we’re going to use it to hold the LED array in place, and also to put our resistors in
line before soldering on the jumper wires which connect to the Arduino.
Some form of case
In this instance I use a black ABS plastic case from Maplin, but any case will do. Just so long as it’s
around 40mm deep (room for the Arduino + jumper wires) and big enough for the Cube to site
on top of.
Of course, you may have something else in mind. You might be fabricating your cube onto an
existing surface, or putting the cube inside a more complex project. But, if you want a standalone
unit then you’ll need a case.
For reference, the one I use is around 120mm x 100mm x 40mm.
Tools and equipment
You’re going to need to get a few bits and pieces together in order to complete this project. Some
of them are optional and you can do without, but I strongly recommend that you make use of all
of the tools mentioned here:
Soldering iron / gun (+ solder)
Thin nose pliers (two pairs)
Wire cutters / strippers
Small saw
Hand drill / electric drill
3mm / 5mm drill bit (depending on your LED size)
1.5mm drill bit
Set square
Ruler / measuring tape
Masking tape
De-soldering tool
An electric detailing tool
Once you’ve gotten all of this together you’re ready to build your cube from start to finish, so
take a deep breath and click on the next page to see how the cube is put together.
Constructing a former
The cube is made up of 4 layers which are each made up of 16 LEDs in a square configuration, so
the first step is to put together four identical layers which will be soldered together later.
The layers are made by bending the cathodes (short legs) of the LEDs by 90 degrees and then
soldering them all together to form a common cathode. You’re then left with one common
cathode and 16 individual anodes (long legs) per layer.
If you try and construct the layers by hand you’re going to have a really bad time, so the first thing
to do is make a former which will then be used to space out the LEDs evenly.
Before you can make your former, you need to know how far apart to space the holes, and the
easiest way to do that is to work out how long the cathodes are when bent.
Most LEDs have a little nub on the legs about 3mm from the LED body. It’s designed to provide
a good base for soldering, but it’s also an excellent way to make sure you bend each LED at the
same point.
My advice would be to make the bend just before the nub, which came out at about 23mm on
the LEDs I’m using.
If you want, you can bend the cathodes flat against the base of the LED, which will give you greater
distance between them, but will also increase the possibility of damaging the LEDs while soldering
them together.
The distance between your LEDs needs to be just a tiny bit smaller than the length of the bent
cathode, so that you’ve got some overlap to solder the cathodes together. But it doesn’t need to
be any more than a 1mm overlap.
Now that you have this measurement, you can space out the holes in your former. I tend to
scribble down the sums on a piece of masking tape, that way the measurements are available if
you forget.
The easiest thing to do is use the lid of your box, and I’m going to assume that’s what you’re
doing, but if you can’t do that then just use a piece of scrap wood.
Use some masking tape to cover the surface of the box, this will protect from pen marks and
flux/solder.
Next, use a set square and ruler to mark out grid lines on your box.
Then, take a 3mm or 5mm drill bit (depending on your LED size) and drill out the 16 holes for your
LEDs.
Finally, at one end of the grid, drill four 1.5mm holes inside the gridlines as shown in the photo
below. These extra holes will be used to connect the four common cathodes to the Arduino using
strands of jewellers wire. You can drill these holes wherever you want, but it’s a lot easier to
solder the strands of wire if they’re near the edge of your cube.
Your former is now complete, next stage, soldering together LEDs!
Creating the LED layers
As mentioned previously, your cube will be made of four identical layers, each with 16 LEDs, so
you’ll need to follow the steps on this page four times in order to create enough layers for your
cube.
The first thing that you need to do is a bit tediuos and boring, but it’s definitely worth doing. You
need to test all 64 of your LEDs.
As with all things in life, you’ll occasionally get a lemon, and it’s better to find out you have one
now rather than waiting until it’s in the middle of your cube.
Not to fear though, there are two really easy ways to test LEDs.
Firstly you can get a CR2032 coin cell (like in a car remote keyfob) and press the legs of the LED
against either side of it. Do it the right way round and your LED should light up, do this 64 times
and you’re done.
Or, you can use the “Blink” program on your Arduino board and then connect your LEDs one by
one across pin 13 and the ground pin. I recommend doing it this way as it’s easier to test your