Aurora mini 18
Aurora mini 18 is only 2 inches in diameter, yet controls 18 full-color (RGB) LEDs individually. The technology that enables this little thing is as amazing as the lights it produces.
Please review the instructables before purchase – assembly requires soldering skill. You will also need PIC programmer such as PICKit 3, ICD 2, ICD 3 (PICKit 2 doesn’t work with the PIC used). If you don’t have a programmer, you can purchase the PIC programmed with the latest firmware. (The PIC will be soldered to the PCB)
- Detailed technical information at instructables.com
- Aurora mini 18 part placement chart (PDF)
* Firmware update – download here *
*** Purchase Here ***
Follow
Aurora 9×18 Kits SOLD OUT
Thanks to your support, Aurora 9×18 kits are completely sold out.
Aurora 9×18 Kit Finally Available
*** Aurora 9×18 was available as a kit, but kits had been completely sold out. I’m keeping this post only as a record. The new & improved version is in the works. Please stay tuned. ***
The price for the kit is $179 and shipping is $5 for continental US. PCB alone is not available. This is to reduce the possibilities of malfunction or failure due to the part variance.
(international shipping is $13.50 except Canada which is $11.50)
The payments are accepted via PayPal (send to aki@theledart.com).
This is one-time only offering and the quantity is very limited.
You can find more details here.
Aurora 9 bar Kit
*** Sorry Aurora 9 bar Kit/PCB are discontinued. Please consider Aurora 12 bar instead. ***
All parts except Molex connectors and power supply are included. (See the picture for the contents.)
* The PIC microcontroller (PIC24F08KA101) is not pre-programmed. You need your own programmer (such as PICKit) to program the PIC microcontroller.
Please view my Instructable for the detailed information on Aurora 9 bar.
Aurora 9 bar
Since the introduction of Aurora 9×18, I received many requests for the kits and PCBs. I’m still quite undecided about making those available for a few reasons. However I really want other LED lovers (ok that sounds too much :) to be able to build one themselves.
So I came up with Aurora 9 bar. It’s a bare essential version of Aurora 9×18. In fact the circuit is almost exactly the same (with a lot less number of LEDs of course). Even the firmware is essentially the same. So it has the same super smooth color fades as Aurora 9×18.
You can now build Aurora 9 bar yourself! Details are at Instructables:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Aurora-9-bar-The-Essence-of-Aurora/
Aurora 9×18 auction on eBay closing tonight!
Please check it out if you haven’t already.
Aurora 9×18 on eBay
Aurora 9×18 auction has just started on eBay.
If you are interested, here is my auction.
(http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120750388231)
Thank you very much!
Thank you so much – I won the LED contest!
Big thanks to all of you! After the long agonizing wait, the winners were announced. I won the Instructable LED contest!!!
http://www.instructables.com/contest/led2011/?show=WINNERS
Thank you so much!
Aurora 9×18 on Instructables
Aurora 9×18 is now on Instructables! Which means you can learn how to build one of those yourself!
Aurora 9×18 Teaser Video
I thought it’s time for me to start putting some effort in creating better presentation of the work I do. Here are two versions of video that showcase Aurora 9×18.
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.
Aurora-mini is here
The same circuit posted before has made into a real unit.
Very smooth color changes (gamma-corrected 256 level PWM on each color/LED).