1. What does the LED Cube do?
The cube is designed and built to display amazing 3D animations that seem far complex using a unique method.
2. How does it light up and work perfectly?
The cube uses a technique called multiplexing to actually make the whole thing without compromising different animations.
3. How are all those designs created?
The designs/animations are created through a long line of code that is written through Arduino Sketch software. The coding language is called C++.
4. What is multiplexing and the science behind it?
Multiplexing is actually how the whole cube works. In order to light up an LED both the positive and negative must be connected at the same time. This is still goes for the cube as well, however the cube can only have one LED on at a time. Thanks to the multiplexing, LED’s turn on and off so fast that it is invisible to the human eye. LED’s blinking incredibly fast can make the cube seem as if there are many LED’s on all at once, but actually there is only one on at any given time.
5. How is the cube connected to the circuit board?
The only two leads on an LED is the Anode (positive) and the Cathode (negative). In the cube all connected anodes point down in columns while the negative side is connected in rows.
6. How are all the LED’s connected?
The cube is put together by soldering all the positives together and the negatives together as well. This is done by layers. Once a layer is finished there will be anodes sticking out of the bottom which will be eventually connected to the second layer. This process will continue until the cube is complete, making all anodes in columns and cathodes in layers.
7. What are the limits to what the cube is actually capable of doing?
The cube is limitless to what it can actually do based on its size. For example an 8x8x8 LED cube looks better and more detailed than a 4x4x4. The bigger and more complex the cube is, the more possibilities there are for animation ideas.
8. What technique is used to build the complex cube?
In order to build a cube, a jig is needed. A jig is a simple setup technique that holds the LED’s in place while you solder them together making them perfectly equal in distance between all the LED’s.
9. How long does it take to build an LED Cube?
Depending on the experience level and pre-preparation, the cube itself can take a couple days to complete. The circuit is put together by a PCB that already has the designed printed. Therefore the circuit itself shouldn’t take more a few hours to complete.
10. What is 4 bit angle modulation?
4-bit angle modulation is actually the more in depth way of how it works. This goes back to multiplexing in a sense of how the LED’s are actually blinking. Instead of random LED’s blinking everywhere, the cube actually has the LED’s running up and down the column (in micro seconds). If all the LED’s are on at full brightness, that means that the LED’s run the full 4-bit cycle. If you wanted to reduce the brightness, you can see the column actually skip a streak a few times depending on the brightness level.