» Aurora 9×18 assembled - The LED Artist

Aurora 9×18 assembled

Just finished assembling Aurora 9×18. Based on the prototype aurora 9, this unit has 18 tri-color LEDs in each of 9 circles.
Because of the number of components (162 LEDs), assembly was quite a chore. Tri-color LED has pins that are close together, very narrow for a through-hole component. Solder bridging can happen very easily. (I’ve been soldering for over 30 years now, and thought I had good enough skill to get through the soldering, but I had a bit of a struggle…)

Now it’s done, and the hard work is worth it. It’s beautiful… LEDs are controlled in 9 groups of 18 each. Each group of LEDs are forming a circle. Each RGB component is controlled by PWM, with effective resolution of about 13 bits.

The colors produced by those LEDs are beautiful, the transitions between colors are smooth. To me this is fascinating…

Here’s the schematic if you are interested.

This entry was posted on June 4, 2011. It was filed under LED Circuits, The Art and was tagged with Art, Aurora, Aurora 9x18, LED, PIC, PWM, RGB.

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12 Responses

Ben

Hi again Aki,

It seems you program the microcontroller with a number of programs and then solder it to the board. I’m interested in being able to re-program the PIC after it’s permanently fixed (like arduino) using a mini usb port. Can this be done? Would you need a switch to separate the PIC pins from the rest of the circuitry while you re-program? (I don’t know how arduino does it).

Thanks,

Ben

October 31, 2012 at 9:01 pm

Reply
- The LED Artist
  
  Hello Ben,
  
  The microcontroller (PIC) is soldered to the PCB, and then programmed by a programmer via ICSP (In Circuit Serial Programming). The programmers typically connect to a computer via USB (I use PICKit 3).
  
  Even though this process is called “programming”, it’s simply uploading HEX file to the flash memory inside PIC. You can rewrite the flash memory thousands of times using PICKit or other programmers. The way this is done is pretty much the same as Arduino. However Arduino has USB interface chip on board, Aurora doesn’t. In essence PIC programmer is just an USB interface between PIC and computer.
  
  Aki
  
  October 31, 2012 at 9:31 pm
  
  Reply
  - Ben
    
    Thanks Aki, much appreciated!
    
    November 2, 2012 at 3:24 am
    
    Reply
Ben

Hi Aki,

I love your work! You’re the first person I have seen to use very smooth colour and brightness fades…I think this is the future of LED design. I am also an artist, though only starting to get my head around microcontrollers etc. As I understand it your 18×18 aurora PIC can control 18×3(rgb) individual pins. I am working on a sculptural artwork that will require control of 30×3 (rgb) individual pins (though using a lot less LEDs overall). Once I properly understand your architecture…hoping I can of course ;) … could I use the same method with a larger PIC to achieve this?

Thanks,
Ben

June 28, 2012 at 8:00 pm

Reply
- The LED Artist
  
  Thanks for your comments!
  It took me a while to refine the PWM method to achieve smooth transitions and economy. You can always use dedicated PWM LED controller IC to get the fades, but that will take too much PCB real estate, and cost much more.
  
  Regarding your question, yes you can extend this design to control more LEDs. I have made up to 48 LED version. This one required an extra logic IC to double the RGB busses, but up to 30 LEDs can be done without the IC, using 40 pin PIC micro.
  
  Thanks,
  Aki
  
  June 28, 2012 at 8:30 pm
  
  Reply
Carson T Moore

Wow this is REALLY amazing.
I have seen a lot of LED stuff, and this is the best so far. Great transitions between each row. Mind if I email you about a couple of questions?

-Carson Moore

September 22, 2011 at 12:43 am

Reply
- The LED Artist
  
  Of course. Be sure to checkout my Instructables as well. ( http://www.instructables.com/id/Aurora-9×18-RGB-LED-art/ and others)
  
  My email is aki @ theledart.com.
  
  September 22, 2011 at 6:40 pm
  
  Reply
Gary B

Please, I beg of you, make these available. You have something that no one else has. They will sell, either in kit form or assembled. I know I would gladly pay into the hundreds for one. Please keep us posted on when and where :-)

Gary B

June 25, 2011 at 10:20 pm

Reply
- The LED Artist
  
  Hello Gary,
  
  Just wanted to let you know that Aurora 9×18 is now available as kit.
  
  http://www.theledart.com/blog/?p=241
  
  Thanks,
  Aki
  
  July 30, 2011 at 7:57 pm
  
  Reply
pim

beautiful ;)

June 12, 2011 at 4:55 pm

Reply
Tobias

can you also give us some notes on how you realised the programming for the color waves with your schematic? – would be very interesting cause the colors are amazing!
thank you
tobias

June 7, 2011 at 12:13 pm

Reply
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