3x3x3 RGB LED Cube

Music is purely audible, but some people respond better to both visual and audible cues. How can we make music more visually interactive to the listener? Using LEDs we can create a 3-Dimensional visualizer. This makes music more accessible to those who may not be able to hear music, but with this they could be able to visually connect to music.

Our group had 2 references for building this LED cube. One was Water Speakers which shoots out jet streams of water to the beat of music and changes color. The other reference was a website that is a 3D visualizer, and changes color and has different animations, for music.

Step 1: Gather Materials

Materials:

-RGB LEDs Sparkfun

-Wire Sparkfun

-Alligator clips Adafruit

-Resistors RadioShack

-LilyPad Arduino Sparkfun

-Arduino Uno (In the wishlist)

-SparkFun LED Driver TLC5940 (In the wishlist)

-Computer

Tools:

-Soldering Iron

-Wire cutters

Sparkfun Wishlist (It seems only the Arduino Uno and the TLC5940 is in the wishlist, please use the other links for the other items.)

Step 2: Create a 3x3 LED Array

Materials:

-LilyPad Arduino Sparkfun or the whole kit.

-LEDs Sparkfun

-RGB LEDs Sparkfun

-Post card Walmart

-Alligator clips Adafruit

-Wire Sparkfun

-Computer (to code)

Tools:

-Soldering Iron

You can use the 3x3 Array Code from our github (or the pdf).

The regular LEDs are from the LilyPad Arduino kit which you can buy from Sparkfun, but you don't have to buy the kit if you don't want to. You can skip the regular LED step if you want.

In the picture with the LilyPad Arduino we would target one LED by turning one column on high and a row on low. That is why we wired the columns and rows together, so we can just turn on one column on high and one row on low to target one LED.

This step is to ensure that one layer of the LED Cube will work before adding more layers on. Connect each column and row so that you can pin point a single LED. The columns and rows will then be connected to the LilyPad Arduino.

Then you switch to RGB LEDs to make a more complex array. The new LEDs you use will give you a better idea of what your final product will be. You will no longer need wire or a post card, you can connect the LEDs together with one of it's legs then use alligator clips to connect the LilyPad Arduino to the LEDs other leg.

Step 3: Make a 2 Layer LED Cube

Materials:

- RBG LEDs Sparkfun

-Alligator Clips Adafruit

-LilyPad Arduino Sparkfun

-Computer (to code)

Tools:

-Soldering Iron

You can use the 2x2 LED Cube Animation Code and the 2x2 Library Code from our github (or the pdfs). In the code we target each LED individually to light them up, think of it like a graph. In the 3x3x3 version (or bigger) it is like a 3D graph.

You can use http://have.funoninter.net/LEDCube/ to easily create animations for your desired cube size.

This step is to ensure that a 2 layer LED cube works with the code before adding your final layer. You can scale down to a 2x2 to make it more simple in order to test the code. Again, you use the legs of the LEDs to connect them to one another and then you use alligator clips to connect the LED cube to the LilyPad Arduino.

Step 4: Add Your Final Layer to the LED Cube

Materials:

-RGB LEDs Sparkfun

-Popsicle Sticks (to stabilize the cube) Amazon

-Resistors RadioShack

-Wires Sparkfun

-Wire rods Eastwood

-LED Driver TLC5940 (In the wishlist)

-Arduino Uno (In the wishlist)

-Computer (to code)

Tools:

-Soldering Iron

-Wire cutters

You can use the 3x3x3 RGB LED Cube Code from our github (or the pdfs).

This is the final step in creating a 3x3x3 LED Cube. You should add resistors (we recommend the ones in our materials list) so that the LEDs don't burn out. The wire rods are used to connect the columns and rows of the LEDs. The wire rods are then soldered to wire which connect to the TLC5940 board to make the LEDs work. The Arduino Uno is wired to the TLC5940 to supply power to the entire LED Cube.

We ended up laser cutting a box to put all the wiring into, with all the notches we can easily take the box apart to access the wires, and then put it back together again.