Aurora mini 18

My obsession of this year is full-color LED. I have made Aurora 9x18 as a result. As much as I love the scale of Aurora 9x18, I also wanted to have something smaller, perhaps something that can go on a costume.

Here's Aurora mini 18. It has 18 full-color/RGB LEDs on a smallest possible circle. With a single PIC microcontroller, changing 18 RGB LEDs smoothly is reaching the technical limit. With the new PIC with wider supply voltage, the circuit is simplified compared to Aurora 9 bar, and use of two AA or AAA batteries (3V operation) or one Lithium battery is now possible.

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Step 1: Concept & Circuit

Like Aurora 9 bar, Aurora mini 18 borrows its circuit from Aurora 9x18. Operating principle is exactly the same. Just extended the hardware and software to control more LEDs.

One of the new 24F line of PIC microcontrollers is PIC24FV16KA302. Unlike the similar PIC24F series controllers which are 3.3V limited, this controller can operate fully up to 5V. This eliminated the need for the 3.3V voltage regulator, and simplified the LED driving circuits. The resulted circuit with fewer parts count made this Aurora to be very compact.

aurora-mini18mk2-schematic-rev2.pdf84 KB

Ploopy says: May 18, 2013. 7:03 AM

Cool!

jtjones73 says: Feb 26, 2013. 1:00 PM

I made a quick mock up of this using the pdip version of the mcu and I have to say WOW, how in the heck did you do work the pwm fades and transitions? I have been working on something similar for my wife in the shape of a heart and pwm functions are not anywhere near what yours are. Is there any way possible I could take a peak at the code? PLEASE?????? I promise never to reveal your secrets to anyone, but I have got to know how you do it! They are simply amazing!

CR15P33 says: Dec 31, 2012. 5:35 PM

there is a girl in my class named aurora that iv`e had a crush on , now i know what to give her.

ledartist (author) in reply to CR15P33Jan 2, 2013. 9:51 AM

Cool! Was she also "mini"? :)

CR15P33 in reply to ledartistFeb 4, 2013. 7:43 PM

LOL a little bit

lmperkins says: Jan 20, 2013. 8:13 AM

I just finish incorporating the mini 18 into an infinity mirror. It looks great if I do say so myself.

ledartist (author) in reply to lmperkinsJan 20, 2013. 6:42 PM

Does look great! Congrats!

Aki

rhoaste says: Sep 28, 2012. 12:17 AM

I would like to know more about the technique you are using to handle the PWM. Is the source code available for this project ?

ledartist (author) in reply to rhoasteOct 5, 2012. 9:30 AM

Email me at aki (at) theledart (dot) com and I will email it to you.

lmperkins says: Sep 7, 2012. 5:15 AM

Just finished building mine from your kit. That's really cool. Makes me a lot more interested in the 18x18. That's the fifth kit of yours I've assembled. I continue to be pleased with the quality of design, construction and function of all your kits. Thanks and keep up the good work.

ledartist (author) in reply to lmperkinsSep 7, 2012. 9:15 AM

Thank you so much for your support!
Hearing people successfully building my projects makes me really happy.

Aki

Anders730917 says: Apr 14, 2012. 12:20 AM

Hi!
Just completed it and programmed it, but it just do red and purple, what could be wrong? mostly red...

ledartist (author) in reply to Anders730917Apr 14, 2012. 9:09 AM

First, check to see if there are no shorts between LED leads. Use a multitester set in Ohm (k Ohm) range and check the resistance between them. If it's very low like 0-10 ohm, you have a solder bridge somewhere.

Also check to see the Q1G (transistor in the center). It's easy to have loose connection on the transistor leads. You can apply a small amount of flux on the leads and give a little heat from a soldering iron.

Lastly, you should check the soldering of the PIC. Pin #21 drives the green channel, so pay extra attention to this pin. Again you can apply flux, and give a little heat on the lead to make sure there's a good bond.

Hope you found the problem.

Aki

ledartist (author) says: Feb 21, 2012. 5:37 PM

Aurora mini 18 kits are now back in stock! Thank you for waiting!

http://www.instructables.com/community/Aurora-mini-18-Kit-and-PCB/

nerd7473 says: Jan 11, 2012. 11:08 AM

what website do you go to for the kit?

ledartist (author) in reply to nerd7473Jan 11, 2012. 11:35 AM

Here's the info:
http://www.instructables.com/community/Aurora-mini-18-Kit-and-PCB/

It's out of stock right now, but will be available by February.

Thanks!

Nemissis456 says: Nov 24, 2011. 11:20 AM

can you use other LEDs too?
and whats the diameter of the pcb?

Nemissis456 in reply to Nemissis456Nov 26, 2011. 12:51 PM

I'll rephrase: is it possible to mount single color LEDs on it, like for example green ones, while at the same time keeping the animation program the same.

ledartist (author) in reply to Nemissis456Nov 28, 2011. 5:54 PM

You can. You can insert ordinary single-color LED into the PCB, only using two of the four holes. This will connect the LED to the blue circuit, leaving red and green open. So you will get the blue-only animation in the color of your choice.
Note that the placement of the LED will be a bit off if you do this...

ledartist (author) in reply to Nemissis456Nov 26, 2011. 9:37 AM

Not sure what other types of LEDs can fit...
The diameter of the PCB is 50mm.

Aki

dstinger says: Nov 20, 2011. 5:59 PM

This is such an awesome lighting effect! I am working on a project having to make lighting effects with an Arduino board. Is it possible to control the Aurora 18 mini with an Arduino board?? If so how would I accomplish this?

ledartist (author) in reply to dstingerNov 21, 2011. 10:11 AM

I guess one can use SPI or something to communicate between Aurora and Arduino. I will look into it for the next firmware upgrade.

What sort of things you want to control from Arduino?

Aki

dstinger in reply to ledartistNov 21, 2011. 8:02 PM

I had wanted to control the Aurora sequencing of colors with the Arduino. I didn't know how the PIC worked and was wondering if I could use an Arduino to replace this as the controller. I guess I would need to look into the SPI. The other parts of the project are controlling a string of LEDs with an Arduino. I would need to know if it would be a possibility by this next week for presentations. I had just found this lighting effect and thought it would be an awesome thing to add!

ledartist (author) in reply to dstingerNov 22, 2011. 8:14 AM

To control Aurora with Arduino (or any other digital devices) Aurora has to be able to take commands. I have to correct what I said in that SPI is not possible because it uses at least two I/O lines, where Aurora 18 only has one I/O pins available as external I/O (one that connects to the switch).
You can still use this pin to receive data using async serial.
As for replacing the PIC with Arduino, I guess that's possible, but not an easy task. PIC24F used here is a bit more capable than Arduino...

Hope this makes sense...

Aki

mrnick1234567 says: Nov 9, 2011. 3:14 PM

Really nice design. I'd love to buy a kit but am worried I will probably ruin it with my soldering skills.

Would you consider selling a kit with the surface mount suff pre-soldered?

rclayled in reply to mrnick1234567Nov 17, 2011. 12:55 PM

mr nick - send me your kit and I'll assemble it for you - no charge. These go together in about 30 minutes. I have built (2) of the Aurora 9x18s, a 9 bar and the Mini 18. If you are intersted, drop me a PM or email - rclay701 at gmail dot com.

ledsign says: Oct 26, 2011. 7:50 PM

It's very beautiful!