LittleArduinoProjects#216 OSHChip driving SPI LED module

How easy is SPI with the OSHChip? I thought I'd find out by first controlling a module that has a very basic SPI-ish slave interface.

I'm using the LEDx16Module that I designed in the KiCad like a Pro course from Tech Explorations. It has dual 74HC595 shift registers that can be driven with SPI to control 16 onboard LEDs.

As always, all notes, schematics and code are in the Little Electronics & Arduino Projects repo on GitHub.

LittleArduinoProjects#212 Stay Creative!

A simple project inspired by Make your own LED Sign VU Meter by GreatScott!. The catch-phrase should be familiar if you subscribe to his channel;-)

It's a VU meter, but rather than doing the "bar graph" thing à la LM3915, it pulses the intensity of all LEDs to the volume of the incoming audio.

As always, all notes, schematics and code are in the Little Electronics & Arduino Projects repo on GitHub.

LittleArduinoProjects#209 a funky little LED display

I found this interesting LED display at Sim Lim Tower, and grabbed one to test. The LED unit combines 7 x 7-segment display (no decimal points) and 7 indicator LEDs (Red-Green-Yellow).

It is marked as "72R02PHIL T9717". I have no idea what that means(!), and of course there's no sign of a datasheet on the net, so pinouts needed a bit of reverse-engineering. All in all, an interesting display unit for a combination of numerical and status display.

As always, all notes, schematics and code are in the Little Electronics & Arduino Projects repo on GitHub.

LittleArduinoProjects#192 Sagrada Família model with LED effects

The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família has been under construction since 1882. The magnitude of the vision driving the project - both physically and creatively - is striking, especially at first hand.

Then you see the work in progress - the cranes, scaffolding, workers scurrying around the site. But that is what I think really brings it to life. This is not a frozen, finished statement of something other-worldy. It's a vibrant expression of the hope and aspirations of a whole bunch of people working together.

In other words, it is the ultimate maker project! Personally, I think it will be a sad day when someone declares it actually "finished".

Now at the extreme other end of the maker-scale is this neat little paper nano Sagrada Familia kit that I picked up in my travels.

I've "electrified" it to some extent with some LowVoltageGlowingLEDs that animate the background, just running off a 1.5V supply. Although I think I could have slowed down the LEDs even further.

A nice effect I think..



As always, all notes, schematics and code are in the Little Arduino Projects repo on GitHub.

LittleArduinoProjects#191 glowing LEDs on 1.5V

So for another project I wanted some "glowing" LEDs, ideally powered from a single 1.5V AA or AAA battery. That seemed like an interesting challenge, especially when the forward voltage of the LEDs I'm using is about 2.1V.

I had a feeling I could cobble together a couple of ideas (Relaxation Joule Thief and RC Oscillator) .. and lo, it works!



As always, all notes, schematics and code are in the Little Arduino Projects repo on GitHub.



Here's a glimpse of the "modified oscillation". CH2 (red) is the LED cathode/transistor collector - as it rises and falls the LED slowly switches off then back on.

For protoboard-based builds I tend to layout the schematic with PAD tools (Pencil-Aided Design) ...