Scrolling LED Project Michael Turovskiy IME 458 Dr. Jianbiao Pan 6/5/2013

My Scrolling LED

I purchased a starter kit from Carl’s Electronics at the beginning of the quarter because I thought that a Scrolling LED was something that I would actually use. – I didn’t realize how much work it was going to be, but I really enjoyed every minute of working on it. Especially, since IT WORKED!!

My Scrolling LED The purpose of this project was to become more familiar with microelectronics components and layouts. Through this project I was able to accurately measure and draw out the various components that will go on my PCB. I was able to make a functioning schematic and layout. I used the program DipTrace to accomplish these tasks. Finally, I was able to assemble all of the necessary parts, and found out that I had a skill for soldering small components to a PCB without any issues.

My Scrolling LED Schematic

My Scrolling LED Layout

My PCB

In total my PCB has 42 components!! The 8x8 LED matrix is able to work using only 3 shift regulators because each row of LED’s is connected to each other. This allows each regulator to control the 8 rows on each LED matrix. – There is actually a function on the Scrolling LED to show how this works!! – You can see how the LED is rastering the various rows, but it does it so quickly that your eye can not detect a change.

My Scrolling LED Demonstration!!! Hopefully you can see it!!

My Scrolling LED If you missed that… it said… “Hi, my name is Michael and this is my Scrolling LED Project for IME/MATE 458. Thank You!! ” – This message can be changed at any time using the 4 tact switches on the front of the board.

The Front of My Scrolling LED

The majority of my components (and everyone’s components) are on the front of my PCB. – I did my best to orient my components so that they would take up the least amount of space on the board. I included 4 mounting holes on each corner of the board. I included 3 fiducials on three corners of the board. I also have a silk screen on the board that lays out exactly where all of the components should go, and which orientation they needed to be in to function correctly. The board is run through a 9V battery

The Front of My Scrolling LED Bill Of Materials – 1 18 pin PIC microcontroller – 3 8x8 LED Array’s – Ω resistors – A transistors – 1 LM317 regulator – µF ceramic capacitors – 1 1 kΩ resistor – 4 10 kΩ resistors – regulator – 4 tact switches – Ω resistor – 1 22 µF electrolytic capacitor – 1 power input (1.3x2.5 mm jack)

The Back of My Scrolling LED

The Back of My Scrolling PCB You will notice that I have components on both the back and front of my PCB. – This was done to reduce space on the PCB. The 3 parts you see on the back are the 3 74AC164 shift registers controlling the 3 8x8 LED array’s on the front.

Conclusion This project was extremely beneficial in my growing understanding of electronic components. I may not know exactly how my Scrolling LED project works, but I feel that it is a huge step that I was able to start from scratch (almost) and create a functioning PCB.

Future Work The starter kit came with 2 more resistors, and it would be interesting to see how the LED’s function differently based on which resistor is used. It would be beneficial to order original parts from Digi-key and see if they work the same way as the components sent by Carl’s Electronics. It would also be a great challenge to try to make the PCB for this Scrolling LED project even more condensed. – There is some “white space” where components could potentially fit. Making a package, such as a belt, to encapsulate the Scrolling LED and make it even super COOLER than it already is!!

Thank You!! Questions?