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Hobby Components V2 4x4x4 LED Cube Kit Build Manual

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Hobby Components
V2 4x4x4 LED Cube Kit
Build Guide
Document version 1.0

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Summary of Contents for Hobby Components V2 4x4x4 LED Cube Kit

  • Page 1 Hobby Components V2 4x4x4 LED Cube Kit Build Guide Document version 1.0...

  • Page 2: Copyright Notice

    However, some familiarity with soldering is required to construct this kit . DISCLAIMER This document is provided "as is". Hobby Components Ltd makes no warranties, whether express, implied or statutory, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy or lack of negligence. Hobby Components Ltd shall not, in any circumstances, be liable for any damages, including, but not limited to, special, incidental or consequential damages for any reason whatsoever.

  • Page 3: Before You Start

    Before You Start Kit contents The first thing you need to do is check that all the components are enclosed in your kit. Here is a check list of all the components included in the kit: Description Version 2 4x4x4 Cube Kit PCB 180 Ohm resistors (BRN, GRY, BLK, BLK, BRN) 220 Ohm resistors (RED, RED, BLK, BLK, BRN) 10K Ohm resistor (BRN, BLK, BLK, RED, BRN)

  • Page 4: Required Tools

    Required tools In order to build the cube, you will need the following tools: Soldering Iron (Ideally with a fine tip) Solder A small pair of snips or side cutters A pair of small, long nose pliers Recommended 4x4x4 V2 Cube kit LED template (SKU: HCPROT0101) A piece of perspex / plywood which will be used as a jig for soldering the LEDs that make up the cube 3mm drill bit and drill...

  • Page 5: Soldering Tips

    Part 1: Building the PCB Soldering notes Take the PCB out of your kit and you’ll notice that one side of the PCB has white silkscreen printed on it with the other side being completely blank. All components, apart from the male to female sockets, will be soldered to the silkscreen side of the PCB.
  • Page 6 When soldering components with multiple pins it is recommended to solder one pin first, then check that the component is still sitting flat to the PCB, then solder the rest of the pins. In the case of IC sockets, solder pins in opposite corners of the socket first. That way if the socket isn’t sitting flat it is then easy to reheat the soldered pads to flatten the socket before soldering the rest of the pins.
  • Page 7 4x 220 Ohm resistors R19 to R21 (marked , BLACK, BLACK, BROWN The orientation of the components doesn’t matter. 1x 10K Ohm resistor R1 (marked BROWN BLACK , BLACK, BROWN The orientation of this component doesn’t matter.
  • Page 8 Step 2: Diode 1x SR1100 Diode D5 Note that the orientation of the diode is important - solder it to the PCB with the silver band pointing to the edge of the PCB. Step 3: IC sockets 1x 18 pin & 1x 28 pin IC socket In both cases solder the sockets with the notch end of the socket pointing into the PCB.
  • Page 9 Step 3: Serial port 1x 5 pin right-angled header This may be supplied as a 40 way strip which can be broken into a 5 pin section. Solder this header with the pins pointing to the outside of the PCB. Step 4: Capacitors 3x 100nF ceramic capacitors C1, C2, &...
  • Page 10 Step 5: Switch 1x Push button switch Note that the orientation of the switch is important - referencing the image, insert the switch into the PCB so that the pins are on the top and bottom sides of the switch. Step 6: 5V Power socket 1x DC Socket...
  • Page 11 Step 7: Cube sockets 20x Male to female sockets P1 to P20 The male to female header pins will be supplied as a 40 pin strip. Using a pair of pliers or snips they can be broken into individual pins. The outer plastic casing can either be left on the pin or removed depending on your preference.
  • Page 12 Step 9: ICs 1x 28 Pin ATMega328 1x 18 pin ULN2803 Insert the ICs into their sockets. Note that the orientation of the IC’s is important – at one end of each IC you will notice a semi circle cut into the case. When the IC’s are inserted into the board these should point to the inside of the PCB.
  • Page 13 Part 2: Building the LED cube To build your LED cube you will need to solder the 64 3mm LEDs supplied in your kit into four sets of 4 x 4 grids. This will take a little time and so it is important that you understand how to construct these grids before starting.
  • Page 14 Before you start building here’s a few tips: Tip 1 : Before you start soldering your LEDs together we strongly recommend testing each LED first. You can do this by using your newly built PCB as an LED tester! Simply power the PCB up by connecting the supplied USB cable, then check each LED by inserting it into the two sockets shown in the image below.
  • Page 15 Step 1: Bending the LED legs The first step of constructing the cube is to bend the LED legs. The LEDs for columns 1 to 3 will require both legs on each LED bending and LEDs for column 4 will only require one leg bending. Start by taking 48 of the 3mm LEDs out of your kit bag.
  • Page 16 Once you have 48 LEDs bent you can then bend the LED legs for column 4. Take 16 more 3mm LEDs out of your kit bag and bend each LEDs long leg in the same way as you did for the previous LEDs;...
  • Page 17 Take 3 LEDs that have both legs bent, and one LED that has just one leg bent. Solder them together to make the first row with the LED that has the single leg bent on the far left hand side. Make sure that none of the short legs are touching the long legs where they pass over them.
  • Page 18 Next, solder the long legs together… Step 4: Making 3 more 4x4 grids Once step 3 has been completed with all 4 row and 4 column legs soldered together, the entire 4x4 grid can now be carefully removed from your jig and set aside. The next step is to repeat steps 2 &...
  • Page 19 Step 5: Insert the girds into your PCB Now that you have the 4 grids constructed they can be inserted into the LED sockets on your PCB. Orient your built-up PCB so that the silkscreen (component) side is facing down and the DC power socket is to the rear of the PCB.
  • Page 20 Now repeat the last step with the remaining 3 grids, inserting them into each following row of LED sockets. Note the last row of sockets (P17 to P20) at the rear edge of the PCB should be left unconnected...
  • Page 21 Step 6: Soldering the grids together With all 4 grids inserted into the PCB the short legs of each grid need to be soldered together. Start by soldering the top row of legs together first whilst making sure each grid is evenly spaced from the next...
  • Page 22 Repeat this step for the other 3 rows of short legs… The short legs on the rear 4x4 grid can be trimmed with a pair of snips/side cutters as they don’t need to be connected to anything.
  • Page 23 The final step is to connect the last row of sockets at the rear of the PCB (P17 to P20) to each cube LED level. This can be done using the length of solid core wire included in your kit. This needs to be cut into 4 appropriate lengths. You can either completely strip off the outer insulation or leave it on and just strip the ends of each length depending on your preference.
  • Page 24 Step 7: Testing your cube Your cube kit is now complete. Give the cube and PCB a final inspection for any shorts or unsoldered connections. If everything looks good you can now connect the USB cable to the DC power socket and a suitable USB 5V power supply. The cube doesn’t require much power so most types of standard USB supplies should work fine with it.