6 ms·

How to build an 8x8x8 LED cube

266 points by bvi 16y ago

jrockway 16y ago
The instructabliss site is almost as excellent as the LED cube!
- aquinn 16y ago
  Yes amazing, I used to have Instructables in my rss reader but had to remove it due to the articles being totally unreadable.
  - jacquesm 16y ago
    Instructables has pulled a 'scribd'.
- icco 16y ago
  Yes. I had seen that led cube instructable a few times, but the complete redesign of the instructables page design is where the real interest is in this page. No ads, all of the pictures and step links and the top. Simple, accessible and usable.
- pstuart 16y ago
  They are stealing content from instructables.com -- how is that excellent?
  - nollidge 16y ago
    Check the URL. It doesn't look like it's stealing content, just reformatting it. Like Readability for Instructables.
  - calloc 16y ago
    I work for a company that does content protection, and even I fully support this instructabliss... Instructables has become very cluttered and unusable.
  - jrockway 16y ago
    It's excellent because people have contributed a lot of great content to instructables, but it's unreadable with instructable's current design. ("Log in to see more than one sentence!")
makeramen 16y ago
I wonder how much it would take to mass produce these and sell as programming toys/tools? I'd buy one. PS: if someone else would be serious about pursuing this, i'd love to be a part of it
- redthrowaway 16y ago
  If you were truly mass producing them, it'd be cheaper to get them made in China/India, and cooler if you could do it with smaller leds in a smaller cube.
- amandle 16y ago
  Thinkgeek sells a 4x4x4 version for $80: http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/techies/d71d/ http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/techies/d71d/
  - zoul 16y ago
    Doesn’t look programmable, though? That would make it next to worthless for me, unless it’s possible to hack it easily (not that I would be able to do that).
    - bockris 16y ago
      i have this one http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/rainbow-cube-kit-rgb-4x4x4-rainbowduino-compatible-p-596.html http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/rainbow-cube-kit-rgb-4x4x4-... I've put it together but haven't had the time to test it out. It also requires one of these: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/rainbowduino-led-driver-platform-atmega-328-p-371.html http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/rainbowduino-led-driver-pla... So it is most definitely programmable, It was a bitch to solder together though.
- mootothemax 16y ago
  Great idea! To be honest though I lean more towards toughening them and selling as nightclub lights. Even the smallest of places spends megabucks on their lighting rigs, and this would be a toy that every bored sound tech would love to play with :) Edit: I'm not the only one to have thought about this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cLLyfop3QI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cLLyfop3QI Edit2: This company appears to be offering them for sale in sizes up to 32x32x32: http://www.seekway.com.cn/e/ledsys9.htm http://www.seekway.com.cn/e/ledsys9.htm
imaginator 16y ago
Das Labor (a hacker space) has been doing these cubes for a while. They even have a multi-colour cube now: http://www.das-labor.org/wiki/Blinken_Borgs http://www.das-labor.org/wiki/Blinken_Borgs
- calloc 16y ago
  The amount of soldering for RGB LED's is absolutely insane.
CWIZO 16y ago
I'd love to have this. I'd make a 3D snake game out of it. Unfortunately I don't have the time and knowledge to build something like this cube.
marksands07 16y ago
Someone should implement Pong in this cube. Now that would be cool.
yycom 16y ago
1. Could have put some more movement in the camera work to show off the parallax. 2. Next: RGB for 4D.
sdghrjyt 16y ago
●---------------------------------------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●---------------------------------------●
lwhi 16y ago
I'm currently building a 4x4x4 cube with full fading/multiplexing, using a bunch of TLC5940 ICs. Placing it in a dark perspex obelisk; it's very dorky .. but I can't wait to complete it.
latch 16y ago
We built a shitty oscillator in passive circuit classes. This type of thing, and Mythbusters, always makes me think how awesome school ought to be.
- nickpinkston 16y ago
  Yea, I know. When I was in school I kept wondering why I couldn't just build things using math / science instead of just learning the rote info / methods.
daniel-cussen 16y ago
You could make holograms with this.
Murkin 16y ago
Any EBay mass seller willing to buy bulk and sell a package with all the components needed ? Don't mind paying extra to have it shipped in one box.
- HeyLaughingBoy 16y ago
  Sparkfun has a 3x3x3 kit for $69: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9867 http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9867
msluyter 16y ago
This is so cool, it makes me salivate a little. The author said it took 4-5 days for the construction and another 4 or so for the software. Anyone know how long it takes for someone without much electronics background? I have a vision of a bunch of unfinished components sitting around on my kitchen table for... months.
- jacquesm 16y ago
  The level of the instructions is such that you should be able to hit the ground running, debugging the circuitry might take you a bit longer, I'd start off with a much smaller one to try to get some experience with soldering and handling components, maybe build a few $10 kits to get proficient, then build this. Shouldn't give you any problems.
geekinthecorner 16y ago
This would be a good opportunity for Adafruit to start pre-selling an 8x8x8 programmable kit.
euccastro 16y ago
Suggestion for cool side project: attach an accelerometer and do some fluid dynamics simulation. A bit heavy on the math side; you'd need a good foundation of calculus for engineering. All the rest is here: http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~rbridson/fluidbook/ http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~rbridson/fluidbook/
apu 16y ago
Our research lab recently created a more involved version of this using fairly cheap materials that's much more expressive: http://www.cs.columbia.edu/CAVE/projects/3d_display/ http://www.cs.columbia.edu/CAVE/projects/3d_display/ (Don't miss the video at the bottom of the page.)
- mkeblx 16y ago
  Really cool. I really want to play that 3D maze-like game. The link says this was created in 2006/7. Have there been any advances since then in terms of resolution, or otherwise?
  - apu 16y ago
    Not directly, but there was some work on animating speech in virtual avatars[1] (constructed from a single image of a face) which uses the cubes to make animated 3d avatars. What I found especially interesting is that even though the point-etching in the cubes is static (and of a generic head), faces are mostly similar enough (and the animations required for speech small enough) that looking at the animations actually looks very realistic in person. [1] http://www.cs.columbia.edu/CAVE/projects/avatar/ http://www.cs.columbia.edu/CAVE/projects/avatar/
- gcr 16y ago
  Why use different kinds of static point clouds? If you have a one that's dense enough and a projector with enough resolution, can't you display any 3D model to as much accuracy as your resolution allows? Or are the different point clouds tailored to certain kinds of models?
fractallyte 16y ago
Finest example: hanging from the ceiling of Zurich's Central Train Station. 25,000 lights in 24 bit color... Enthralling! http://www.thecoolhunter.co.uk/article/detail/1286/3d-led-lighting http://www.thecoolhunter.co.uk/article/detail/1286/3d-led-li...

266 points by bvi 16y ago

jrockway 16y ago

The instructabliss site is almost as excellent as the LED cube!

aquinn 16y ago
Yes amazing, I used to have Instructables in my rss reader but had to remove it due to the articles being totally unreadable.
- jacquesm 16y ago
  Instructables has pulled a 'scribd'.
icco 16y ago
Yes. I had seen that led cube instructable a few times, but the complete redesign of the instructables page design is where the real interest is in this page. No ads, all of the pictures and step links and the top. Simple, accessible and usable.
pstuart 16y ago
They are stealing content from instructables.com -- how is that excellent?
- nollidge 16y ago
  Check the URL. It doesn't look like it's stealing content, just reformatting it. Like Readability for Instructables.
- calloc 16y ago
  I work for a company that does content protection, and even I fully support this instructabliss... Instructables has become very cluttered and unusable.
- jrockway 16y ago
  It's excellent because people have contributed a lot of great content to instructables, but it's unreadable with instructable's current design. ("Log in to see more than one sentence!")

makeramen 16y ago

I wonder how much it would take to mass produce these and sell as programming toys/tools? I'd buy one. PS: if someone else would be serious about pursuing this, i'd love to be a part of it

redthrowaway 16y ago
If you were truly mass producing them, it'd be cheaper to get them made in China/India, and cooler if you could do it with smaller leds in a smaller cube.
amandle 16y ago
Thinkgeek sells a 4x4x4 version for $80: http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/techies/d71d/ http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/techies/d71d/
- zoul 16y ago
  Doesn’t look programmable, though? That would make it next to worthless for me, unless it’s possible to hack it easily (not that I would be able to do that).
  - bockris 16y ago
    i have this one http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/rainbow-cube-kit-rgb-4x4x4-rainbowduino-compatible-p-596.html http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/rainbow-cube-kit-rgb-4x4x4-... I've put it together but haven't had the time to test it out. It also requires one of these: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/rainbowduino-led-driver-platform-atmega-328-p-371.html http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/rainbowduino-led-driver-pla... So it is most definitely programmable, It was a bitch to solder together though.
mootothemax 16y ago
Great idea! To be honest though I lean more towards toughening them and selling as nightclub lights. Even the smallest of places spends megabucks on their lighting rigs, and this would be a toy that every bored sound tech would love to play with :) Edit: I'm not the only one to have thought about this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cLLyfop3QI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cLLyfop3QI Edit2: This company appears to be offering them for sale in sizes up to 32x32x32: http://www.seekway.com.cn/e/ledsys9.htm http://www.seekway.com.cn/e/ledsys9.htm

imaginator 16y ago

Das Labor (a hacker space) has been doing these cubes for a while. They even have a multi-colour cube now: http://www.das-labor.org/wiki/Blinken_Borgs http://www.das-labor.org/wiki/Blinken_Borgs

calloc 16y ago
The amount of soldering for RGB LED's is absolutely insane.

CWIZO 16y ago

I'd love to have this. I'd make a 3D snake game out of it. Unfortunately I don't have the time and knowledge to build something like this cube.

marksands07 16y ago

Someone should implement Pong in this cube. Now that would be cool.

yycom 16y ago

1. Could have put some more movement in the camera work to show off the parallax. 2. Next: RGB for 4D.

sdghrjyt 16y ago

●---------------------------------------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●------ http://goo.gl/l5v0b http://goo.gl/l5v0b ------● ●---------------------------------------●

lwhi 16y ago

I'm currently building a 4x4x4 cube with full fading/multiplexing, using a bunch of TLC5940 ICs. Placing it in a dark perspex obelisk; it's very dorky .. but I can't wait to complete it.

latch 16y ago

We built a shitty oscillator in passive circuit classes. This type of thing, and Mythbusters, always makes me think how awesome school ought to be.

nickpinkston 16y ago
Yea, I know. When I was in school I kept wondering why I couldn't just build things using math / science instead of just learning the rote info / methods.

daniel-cussen 16y ago

You could make holograms with this.

Murkin 16y ago

Any EBay mass seller willing to buy bulk and sell a package with all the components needed ? Don't mind paying extra to have it shipped in one box.

HeyLaughingBoy 16y ago
Sparkfun has a 3x3x3 kit for $69: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9867 http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9867

msluyter 16y ago

This is so cool, it makes me salivate a little. The author said it took 4-5 days for the construction and another 4 or so for the software. Anyone know how long it takes for someone without much electronics background? I have a vision of a bunch of unfinished components sitting around on my kitchen table for... months.

jacquesm 16y ago
The level of the instructions is such that you should be able to hit the ground running, debugging the circuitry might take you a bit longer, I'd start off with a much smaller one to try to get some experience with soldering and handling components, maybe build a few $10 kits to get proficient, then build this. Shouldn't give you any problems.

geekinthecorner 16y ago

This would be a good opportunity for Adafruit to start pre-selling an 8x8x8 programmable kit.

euccastro 16y ago

Suggestion for cool side project: attach an accelerometer and do some fluid dynamics simulation. A bit heavy on the math side; you'd need a good foundation of calculus for engineering. All the rest is here: http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~rbridson/fluidbook/ http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~rbridson/fluidbook/

apu 16y ago

Our research lab recently created a more involved version of this using fairly cheap materials that's much more expressive: http://www.cs.columbia.edu/CAVE/projects/3d_display/ http://www.cs.columbia.edu/CAVE/projects/3d_display/ (Don't miss the video at the bottom of the page.)

mkeblx 16y ago
Really cool. I really want to play that 3D maze-like game. The link says this was created in 2006/7. Have there been any advances since then in terms of resolution, or otherwise?
- apu 16y ago
  Not directly, but there was some work on animating speech in virtual avatars[1] (constructed from a single image of a face) which uses the cubes to make animated 3d avatars. What I found especially interesting is that even though the point-etching in the cubes is static (and of a generic head), faces are mostly similar enough (and the animations required for speech small enough) that looking at the animations actually looks very realistic in person. [1] http://www.cs.columbia.edu/CAVE/projects/avatar/ http://www.cs.columbia.edu/CAVE/projects/avatar/
gcr 16y ago
Why use different kinds of static point clouds? If you have a one that's dense enough and a projector with enough resolution, can't you display any 3D model to as much accuracy as your resolution allows? Or are the different point clouds tailored to certain kinds of models?

fractallyte 16y ago

Finest example: hanging from the ceiling of Zurich's Central Train Station. 25,000 lights in 24 bit color... Enthralling! http://www.thecoolhunter.co.uk/article/detail/1286/3d-led-lighting http://www.thecoolhunter.co.uk/article/detail/1286/3d-led-li...