Led Matrix Tests

So, i ordered a lot of stuff from seeedstudio (great place). Amongst the stuff are two 8×8 led matrices. One is for my gameboy monome.
Strange thing is that thereare 26 pins rather than 16 which is what you’d expect.
I loaded up a quick script on a spare arduino (just had pin 13 set to high) so i could figure out what did what.
I had the datasheet and it looked like the extra pins did nothing so i just found a combination of pins that lit an LED and matched it to the diagram.
He’s a photo of before and after the pins were snipped 🙂

Before and after

Front view

nice

Even newer update!

Just waiting for the final parts for my to extra shields now. Once i have them (and im done with my uni deadlines) i will post an idiots guide to shield assembly 🙂

Apart from that, nnothing realy to report on. Im still waiting on my faceplate from machine collective…hurry up pleeeease 😦
Im settling for a 64 arduinome but im going for a mini one stuffed into a gameboy. I’ll post details of how that goes when i get more parts.

Update

So, I got a bit behind with updating this blog.
I’ve had lots of problems with my arduinome. I got it working but had some phantom button presses. After resoldering everything it just didn’t work at all.
On the plus side, I just bought a monome keypad kit from the recent monome sale. It arrived yesterday and its already up and running.

I have 2 unsped shields on the way and i plan to get my arduinome up and running and then doubling it to turn it into a 128.

I’ve bought an enclosure from here and it looks great.
I have also just ordered a faceplate from machine collective. I’ll get some photos of my kit up once it arrives.

I’ll try to keep this blog up to date with my arduino build as soon as the shields arrive.

Arduinome Shield

The shield is a very crucial part of the project. This PCB sits on top of the Arduino and relays information between the button pads and your computer.

Firstly, you’ll need the shield itself. You will need to order this from a PCB manufacturing company by sending them these files.

Next, you need a number of components to solder to this PCB. I feel a list coming on!

1 x MAX7219CNG+ (available as a free sample)
1 x MM74HC165N
1 x MM74HC164N

1 x ED90053-ND socket for MAX7219
1 x ED90050-ND socket for 74HC165N
1 x ED90049-ND socket for 74HC164N

3 x .1uf ceramic capacitor
1 x 10uf Electrolitic
1 x 100kΩ Resisitor Network
3 x CONN. Header (Single Row, 36 position)
2 x CONN. Header (Dual Row, 32 position)

If you want IDC connectors (makes things easier) get the 2×8 ones here.
You will also need wire and ribbon cable to connect everything together. And of course a soldering iron and solder.

The final component is a single resistor with a value that depends on the LEDs you have bought. It wil let you set the maximum potential current and therefore the brightness of the LEDs.
Find the forward voltage of your LEDs in the table below. Next find the maximum DC forward current of the LEDs down the left side of the table. Then match them up and you’ll have your resistence. The Arduino site suggests limiting the current to 20mA.

That’s it! All the parts you need to make the Arduinome!

Parts List

Here is a parts list to build an Arduinome with 64 buttons. The links offer UK sourced parts.

1x Arduino Diecimila (for some reason not available at tinker.it at this time)

4x SparkFun Button PCB

4x Sparkfun Button Pad

64x 3mm/5mm LED of your choice. I got mine from ebay. Nice and cheap. (It’s worth buying a few extras as these can go wrong)

64x 1N4148 Diodes. Again, ebay for me. (Buy some more of these too)

These are not quite all of the parts. The next post will deal with the Arduinome shield, I think it deserves its own post.

Any questions, feel free to ask them.

Hi :)

My name’s Steve,

With this blog I aim to record my experiences of building a Monome clone using the Arduino platform. At the moment there’s lots of information all over the place so I’m going to try and create a brief one stop site with as many easy to understand posts as possible.

Stay tuned…