BUILDING YOUR LED CUBE KIT PART 1 - PCB
Required Tools:
Soldering iron ideally with a fine tip.
Solder.
A pair of tweezers for positioning surface mount components.
Recommended Tools:
A magnifying glass to help soldering of surface mount components.
A piece of perspex or plywood measuring about 185 x 185 mm which will be used as a jig for soldering the LED's that make up the cube.
3mm drill bit and drill.
A pair of small long nose pliers.
Soldering tip: When soldering components to a circuit board it is always best to start with the smallest components first. This helps keep the board flat and stops access to pads from being restricted by larger components. The first step is to start by soldering the small surface mount resistors, capacitors, and transistors. In your kit these will be packages in paper or plastic strips and their values are marked appropriately. These components are very small and it is wise when handling and positioning them to use a small pair of tweezers. The best technique to soldering them to the board is to first apply a small amount of solder to one of the pads on the PCB. The with the component held in your tweezers, carefully position the appropriate pad of the component against the soldered pad. Then with your soldering iron heat the solder so that it sticks to the component whilst gently pushing the components against the pad. Once the component is correctly positioned allow the solder to cool by removing the iron. The component should then be attached to the PCB and in the correct position for you to easily solder the remaining pad(s).
SM resistors, capacitors, and diodes
Locate the following resistor pads on the PCB...
... and solder the following resistors to the appropriate pads:
1K resistors (packaged in white paper tape and marked 102) to pads R1 & R5
33R resistor (packaged in white paper tape and marked 330) to pad R2
10R resistor (packaged in white paper tape and marked 100) to pad R6
470R resistors (packaged in white paper tape and marked 471) to pads R3, R4, R7, R9, & R12
10K resistor packs (packaged in white paper tape and marked 103) to pads R8, R10, & R11
Locate the following capacitor pads on the PCB...
...and solder the following capacitors to the appropriate pads:
10uF capacitor (usually beige coloured and packaged in clear plastic tape) to pad C1
100nF capacitors (usually beige coloured and packaged in white paper tape) to pads C2, C3, & C4
Locate the following diode pads on the PCB...
Diodes are black with 2 pins, packaged in a clear plastic tape, marked SS14, and have a white stripe on one side of the component. Unlike the resistors and capacitors it is important that these components are soldered in the correct orientation. Please reference the above image for the correct position. There are a total of 2 diodes - D1 & D2
SM Transitors
Locate the following transistor pads on the PCB...
Transistors marked J3Y (Black with 3 pins, packaged in a black plastic tape, and marked J3Y) to pads Q1, Q3, & Q3
Transistors package 4953BDY (Black with 8 pins, packaged in a black plastic tape, and marked 4953BDY) to pads Q4, Q5, Q6, & Q7. Please note correct orientation of this package as per IC's below.
IC's
Please note that it is important the IC's are soldered in the correct orientation. All the IC's supplied in this kit have a small circular indent in one corner of the package. This indent denotes pin 1 on the IC. Please refer to the images for the correct position of pin 1.
Locate the following IC pads on the PCB...
74HC138D 7 to 4 line decoder (16 pin packaged labelled 74HC138D) to pad U5
TM1818 LED driver (24 pin package labelled TM1818) to pads U1, U2, U3, & U4
Connectors
Tip: There are several types of connector in your kit. All of these connectors need to be placed on the same side of the PCB (underside) that the surface mount components are attached to. However, most of these connectors have pins that protrude through to the opposite side of the PCB. Therefore you will need turn the board over to to solder these components. It is therefore recommended that you start with lowest profile connector first so that component can be rested against a bench whilst soldering from the opposite side. Always solder one pin first and then check that the component is seated flat against the PCB before soldering the rest of the pins.
Identify the following connectors in your kit:
1x 6 pin 3 by 2 row right-angle male connector (ISP1)
1x 40 pin single row right-angled male connector (broken into smaller pieces to make connectors P1, P2, P3, P4, & P8)
1x 12 pin single row right-angled socket socket (P10)
2x 14 pin single row straight female socket (P6 & P7)
1x mini USB connector (USB1)
1x 3 pin DC power socket (P5)
Locate the following IC pads on the PCB...
Start with the 40 pin single row right-angled connector. This needs to be snapped into smaller pieces to make connectors P1, P2, P3, P4, & P8. Solder these connectors so that pins are pointing towards the edge of the PCB. You can reference the completed board picture to confirm the correct orientation.
Solder the (optional) 12 pin single row right-angled socket socket to P10
Solder the two 14 pin single row straight female sockets to P6 & P7
Solder the (optional) 6 pin 3 by 2 row right-angle male connector to ISP1
Solder the mini USB connector to USB1. Start by soldering one of the tabs first, then check that the 5 pins at the back of the connector are aligned correctly with the pads, and then solder the rest.
Solder the (optional) 3 pin DC power socket to P5
LED Sockets:
To connect the LED cube to the circuit board you need to solder a total of 72 small gold pins to the upper side of the PCB which will allow the legs of each LED at the base of the cube to be pushed into. Locate the bag containing the 72 small round gold receptacle pins show in the following picture:
These need to be soldered to the opposite side of the PCB that the surface mount components are soldered to (see above image for reference) in a gird formation.
Note that in the last circled column in the image about there are two pins to solder.
LEDs:
Your kit will have 4x 10mm and 4x 3mm clear LEDS. These will be packed separate to the frosted LEDs intended for creating the actual LED cube itself.
Solder the 10mm LEDs to the surface mount component side of the PCB. These LEDs will also form the feet of the LED cube with the components hidden on the underside of the PCB. You will notice that one leg on these LEDs is slightly longer then the other. This led is the positive or 'anode' and needs to be soldered to the square pad marked with a + sign on the PCB.
Locate the 4 clear 3mm LED's. These need to be soldered to the upper side of the PCB (opposite side to the 10mm LEDs and SM components) . Like the 10mm LEDs the will have one leg that is slightly longer then the other and needs to be soldered to the square pad marked with a + in the image above.
Microcontroller module:
Finally with all the components soldered to the PCB you can fit the microcontroller module.
This will plug into the 14 pin sockets you soldered previously. Note the correct orientation with components on the module facing towards the main PCB and the pin names matching the above image.
This completes the building of the PCB. You can now proceed to constructing the the LED cube.
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