I am currently working on the initial preparations for a somewhat larger project. For this I need LEDs that shine a little brighter.
At the same time, I didn't want to do without the convenience of the familiar WS2812 aka Neopixel LEDs.
For those who have not yet heard of them: These have the great advantage that they can be connected to each other like a kind of shift register. This means that only one GPIO of the microcontroller used is required to control up to 512 LEDs. Nevertheless, the brightness/color of each individual LED can be set individually.
Unfortunately, the WS2812 LEDs are currently only available as a 5050 SMD version. They can be supplied with a maximum of 20mA per color. The brightness is not bad. But for lighting in direct daylight, it could be a little tight.
That's why I designed the nanoPxl mentioned here. I got the original idea from kd_technology and then modified it a little.
The 5730 LEDs used have a forward current of 180mA. They are therefore correspondingly brighter 🙂
Here are a few impressions of the assembled nanoPxl and the instructions for rebuilding it.
Safety instructions
I know the following notes are always kind of annoying and seem unnecessary. Unfortunately, many people who knew "better" have lost eyes, fingers or other things due to carelessness or injured themselves. Data loss is almost negligible in comparison, but even these can be really annoying. Therefore, please take five minutes to read the safety instructions. Because even the coolest project is not worth injury or other trouble.
https://www.nerdiy.de/sicherheitshinweise/
Affiliate links/advertising links
The links to online shops listed here are so-called affiliate links. If you click on such an affiliate link and make a purchase via this link, Nerdiy.de will receive a commission from the relevant online shop or provider. The price does not change for you. If you make your purchases via these links, you support Nerdiy.de in being able to offer other useful projects in the future. 🙂
Requirements
For the assembly you have to master SMD soldering tasks. The following articles contain tips for this.
Electronics - My friend the soldering iron
Electronics – Solder THT components by hand
Electronics – Solder SMD components by hand
Required tool:
Required material:
In the following list you will find all the parts you need to build a nanoPxl.
PCB ManufacturingAll infos you need for the production of the PCBs can be found here:
https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/nanoPxl_v1_1_by_Nerdiy_de_1.html
Collect the necessary parts
Before you can start building your nanoPxl, you should of course have the necessary parts together.
You will need the parts shown to build a nanoPxl.
Of course, you only need one circuit board per nanoPxl.
View of (part of) the required components.
- 1x WS2811 IC
- 3x 5730 SMD LEDs (red, green and blue)
- 6x SL2302 N mosfet
- 2x 13Ohm 1206 SMD resistor
- 1x 18Ohm 1206 SMD resistor
- 6x 10k 0805 SMD resistor
- 1x 100nF 0805 SMD capacitor
View of the front of the PCB.
View of the back of the PCB.
Apply solder paste
Soldering the SMD components always starts with applying the solder paste. You can do this using a stencil or manually with a syringe with a suitable tip.
I did this with a syringe as you can see here. Apply a small amount of solder paste to each SMD pad.
Place components on the front
The board is assembled on both sides. I started by assembling the LED side first.
To do this, place the LEDs and resistors in the corresponding position as shown.
Make sure that you place the right LED color in the right position.
As soon as the 0805 10k resistors are in position, you can now also connect the series resistors of the LEDs.
These are the two 13Ohm and the 18Ohm resistor.
After that, only the SL2302 N-Mosfets remain.
And that's it with the assembly of the first side. Now you can solder the components. You can see this in the following video.
Soldering components on the front
The easiest way to solder the components in place is with the help of a hot air dryer. Heat the components as shown in the video. I used a temperature of 250°C for this. If in doubt, however, you should always refer to the information in the component data sheet.
Once soldered, your circuit board should look something like this.
Another view of the soldered components on the front.
Another view of the soldered components on the front.
Another view of the soldered components on the front.
Another view of the soldered components on the front.
Another view of the soldered components on the front.
Place components on the back
After the front side, the rear side is now assembled.
To do this, first apply soldering paste to the corresponding...
...SMD pads. Take care not to apply too much solder paste.
Once you have applied the solder paste, you can attach the components to be soldered.
Pay attention to the orientation of the IC. The dot in the corner of the IC must be congruent with the position of the dot on the PCB.
Close-up view of the mounted but not yet soldered components.
Soldering components on the back
You can now solder the components on the back in the same way as the components on the front.
View of the soldered components on the back of the nanoPxl.
View of the soldered components on the back of the nanoPxl.
View of the soldered components on the back of the nanoPxl.
Control of the nanoPxl
Since the nanoPxl uses a WS2811 to control the individual LEDs, you can connect and control the nanoPxl in the same way as you are already used to with the WS2812 aka Neopixel LEDs. 🙂
Each nanoPxl must be connected to 5V and GND. The data lines are then connected to each other from DOUT to DIN.
Code examples
One library that you can use to control the nanoPxl is the Neopixel Library from Adafruit. You can find it here: https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_NeoPixel
You can find sample code to help you with your first test here: https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_NeoPixel/tree/master/examples
Have fun with the project
I hope everything worked as described for you. If not or you have questions or suggestions please let me know in the comments. I will then add this to the article if necessary.
Ideas for new projects are always welcome. 🙂
PS Many of these projects - especially the hardware projects - cost a lot of time and money. Of course I do this because I enjoy it, but if you think it's cool that I share the information with you, I would be happy about a small donation to the coffee fund. 🙂
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