Dot Matrix Business Card

Dot Matrix Business Card
If my flashlight business card isn't advanced enough for you, then how about one with a full graphical display on it that can be customised for a number of scrolling messages? This one could be made in quantity for about a $5 parts cost, and it is only a little bit more expensive if you are making just a few. I won't kid you that this is an easy design to make - don't try it unless you have very good soldering skills and some experience in electronics. Some of the components here are smaller than grains of rice, so it would be useful to have good eyesight as well! Like the flashlight card, it is more of a proof of concept than something you can churn out in quantity, but it might at least give you an idea of what can be achieved, and where business cards might be in just a few years time.


 
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Step 1About The Design

About The Design
This is the sort of card that would suit a high-tech business, or those who were involved in high-value contracts, where an innovative image is all important. I would never suggest that it would replace a conventional business card, but to impress that all-important prospective client, there would be more than a few companies who would be happy to spend just an extra few dollars. Like the flashlight card, the aim is to design a business card that people just can't throw away!

The design is really quite simple for what it does - a matrix of 5x15 LEDs, connected to a single-chip "PIC"microcontroller. A handful of resistors and switches complete the design (Schematic available below). By keeping the microcontroller in sleep mode unless the buttons are pressed, the battery can last several years, and still allow a couple of thousand displays of your messages.
MatrixSchematic.pdf(595x842) 101 KB
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146 comments
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Feb 20, 2012. 10:43 AMindia5785 says:
I am looking to build the same circuit but modify the program. I have run into a road block trying to get a PCB manufactured. My education hasn't covered creating Gerber files and such... Is the PCB simply 2 layers?
Jan 29, 2012. 2:40 PMofftherails2010 says:
DUDE !!!

Seriously awesome stuff ! Many thanks for showing exactly how this is made with VERY - Clear & concise pictures and steps!

Also interested in your MK 2 version with colour OLED screen!

Undoubtedly Awesome & is every possible meaning of my words!

You're A Genius! Simply-Said !
Jan 27, 2012. 11:11 AMnerd7473 says:
where did you get the parts?
Jan 27, 2012. 8:53 PMsokamiwohali says:
check out step 2
Jan 27, 2012. 7:10 AMfarzadbayan says:
Very interesting!
Jan 27, 2012. 12:06 AMaytacgul says:
Coooooool!
Nov 24, 2011. 6:49 AMCHANNIHONEY says:
channihoney says:
how can write new message this display ?
Oct 5, 2011. 2:29 PMomgitsarhino says:
I've made a few of these already, they have been working great :) I've also recently started working on a completely flush version, which will hopefully be just as thick as the pcb... All the components are sunk in, except for the LEDs! Thank you so much for this amazing Instructable, you've given me hours of trial and error and most of all a chance to learn about smd soldering and programming :)
Sep 17, 2011. 8:02 PMThe nerdling says:
wow!!!!!
Sep 17, 2011. 4:11 PMaessam1 says:
i really like it
it's very well designed
and i really like the idea for the overlay
Sep 17, 2011. 1:44 AMmichaelgohjs says:
very nice....
good job pal
Aug 14, 2011. 7:28 PMMatthewEnderle says:
got an idea tom to revise the board. Where the Battery is placed cut out a hole and place the battery in the hole, and use tin flaps soldered to the board. That will make it thinner.
May 19, 2011. 12:11 AMyakteeno says:
Hello
How can I make one of these
Jan 29, 2011. 12:00 PMmangomango says:
im really interested in making this into a portable sound analyzer. like a SpeaQualiser. anyway, i was wondering just how durable this is and size comparisons. like would i be able to keep this in my wallet?
Jan 15, 2011. 2:46 AMvolkee says:
May i make this commercially in Thailand?
Just using the idea, not the whole thing.
Jul 19, 2010. 9:13 PMshaf789 says:
i dont no how to re name?
Jun 24, 2010. 9:11 AMGonzalo Ruiz says:
It's not becouse you make It in a Mac? I use only Windows, i never tried Mac. Anyway I opened It with Notepad of Windows and It says this (a little part): €B | < ÎëH§(ƒ x ™ G©Í ü>€ÂFˆÊ ü>€ÂFˆÊ ü>€ÂFˆÊ ÿ a™™™™™©?a™™™™™™? Top Bottom Pads Vias Unrouted Dimension tPlace bPlace tOrigins bOrigins tNames bNames tValues bValues tStop bStop tCream bCream !" tFinish "! bFinish #$ tGlue $# bGlue %& tTest &% bTest '( tKeepout (' bKeepout )* tRestrict *) bRestrict ++ vRestrict ,, Drills -- Holes .. Milling // Measures 00 Document 11 Reference 22 dxf 34 tDocu 43 bDocu 56 tGND_GNDA 65 bGND_GNDA 87 wert [[ Nets \\ Busses ]] Pins ^^ Symbols __ Names `` Values aa Info bb Guide d Muster ee Patch_Top ff Vscore hh Name tt Patch_BOT yy _tsilk zz _bsilk —— HeatSink ÈÈ 200bmp ÉÉ 201bmp ÊÊ 202bmp úú Descript ûû SMDround þþ cooling P - ««‡ ¸ ó € \ Lightbox E þÿsë ÐqfSO28W +€ &ïþÿPLÿÿ¸ø* 2 +€ Ú PLÿÿ¸ø* 13 +€ `½þÿPLÿÿ¸ø* 1 +€  ÿÿPLÿÿ¸ø* 3 +€ ^RÿÿPLÿÿ¸ø* 4 +€ vB PLÿÿ¸ø* 14 +€ >ß PLÿÿ¸ø* 12 +€ ¢­ PLÿÿ¸ø* 11 "€ '‘þÿxæ þn xæ ç "€ 'þn ˆÿÿ‘þÿˆÿÿç "€ '‘þÿˆÿÿ‘þÿxæ ç "€ 3„a xoÿÿ|~þÿxoÿÿø "€ 3|~þÿxoÿÿ|~þÿ ƒÿÿø "€ 3|~þÿ ƒÿÿ|~þÿˆ ø "€ 3|~þÿˆ „a ˆ ø "€ 3„a ƒÿÿ|~þÿ ƒÿÿø 1€`½þÿœ1 Î >NAME +€ –µÿÿPLÿÿ¸ø* 6 +€ jJ PLÿÿ¸ø* 9 +€ úƒÿÿPLÿÿ¸ø* 5 +€ 2çÿÿPLÿÿ¸ø* 7 +€ | PLÿÿ¸ø* 10 +€ Î PLÿÿ¸ø* 8 "€ 3„a ˆ „a ƒÿÿø "€ 3„a ƒÿÿ„a xoÿÿø 1€`½þÿÈœÿÿÎ >VALUE"€ 'þn xæ þn ˆÿÿç +€ vB °³ ¸ø* 15 +€ Ú °³ ¸ø* 16 +€ >ß °³ ¸ø* 17 +€ ¢­ °³ ¸ø* 18 +€ | °³ ¸ø* 19 +€ jJ °³ ¸ø* 20 &€ 3÷³þÿ00ÿÿÇþÿkÿÿ &€ 3“åþÿ00ÿÿ¹øþÿkÿÿ &€ 3/ÿÿ00ÿÿU*ÿÿkÿÿ &€ 3ËHÿÿ00ÿÿñ[ÿÿkÿÿ &€ 3gzÿÿ00ÿÿÿÿkÿÿ &€ 3¬ÿÿ00ÿÿ)¿ÿÿkÿÿ &€ 3ŸÝÿÿ00ÿÿÅðÿÿkÿÿ &€ 3; 00ÿÿa" kÿÿ &€ 3×@ 00ÿÿýS kÿÿ &€ 3sr 00ÿÿ™… kÿÿ &€ 3¤ 00ÿÿ5· kÿÿ &€ 3«Õ 00ÿÿÑè kÿÿ &€ 3G 00ÿÿm kÿÿ &€ 3ã8 00ÿÿ L kÿÿ &€ 3ã8 q” L ÐÏ &€ 3G q” m ÐÏ &€ 3«Õ q” Ñè ÐÏ &€ 3¤ q” 5· ÐÏ &€ 3sr q” ™… ÐÏ &€ 3×@ q” ýS ÐÏ +€ Î °³ ¸ø* 21 +€ 2çÿÿ°³ ¸ø* 22 +€ –µÿÿ°³ ¸ø* 23 +€ úƒÿÿ°³ ¸ø* 24 &€ 3; q” a" ÐÏ &€ 3ŸÝÿÿq” ÅðÿÿÐÏ &€ 3¬ÿÿq” )¿ÿÿÐÏ &€ 3gzÿÿq” ÿÿÐÏ +€ ^Rÿÿ°³ ¸ø* 25 +€  ÿÿ°³ ¸ø* 26 +€ &ïþÿ°³ ¸ø* 27 +€ `½þÿ°³ ¸ø* 28 &€ 3ËHÿÿq” ñ[ÿÿÐÏ &€ 3/ÿÿq” U*ÿÿÐÏ &€ 3“åþÿq” ¹øþÿÐÏ &€ 3÷³þÿq” ÇþÿÐÏ Üÿÿ$ õ rf +€2 pÆ Ä°' P$1 +€2 8c ÄÄ P$2 +€2 ÄÄ P$3 +€2 ÈœÿÿÄÄ P$4 +€2 9ÿÿÄÄ P$5 4ÿaÿÌ f #rf "€3Èœÿÿ8c 8c 8c { "€18c 8c 8c Èœÿÿ{ "€08c ÈœÿÿÈœÿÿÈœÿÿ{ "€2ÈœÿÿÈœÿÿÈœÿÿ8c { +€ ,kÿÿˆ; œ1Î P$1 +€ ,kÿÿxÄÿÿœ1Î P$3 +€ Ô” ˆ; œ1Î P$2 +€ Ô” xÄÿÿœ1Î P$4 mþmþ““ 2rf %€ 3 ö ö { *€ `½þÿ`½þÿˆ POS1 *€ vB vB ˆ POS2 *€ `½þÿvB ˆ NEG1 *€ vB `½þÿˆ NEG2 (€ ø* € led íÿÏÿ 1 Lrf?rf +€ L    C +€ ´âÿÿ   A &€ 3lîÿÿ” ” 4! &€ 3lîÿÿÌÞÿÿ” lîÿÿ "€ 3`ðÿÿ” `ðÿÿlîÿÿü "€ 3  ”   lîÿÿü &€ lîÿÿ Hôÿÿ¸ &€ ¸ ” ¸ &€ $úÿÿ Ü ¸ 1€2çÿÿ2çÿÿÎ >NAME And I can't change the name, in properties and when I download It, says: Downloading FJ57QXVFT3K2QPS.tmp... Did you tried to download It in your PC? It's really strange. Now I use Windows 7
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Jun 24, 2010. 1:18 AMGonzalo Ruiz says:
Hi in the step 8, the download link is naemd 'Led Card.brd' and when I download It it´s named 'FJ57QXVFT3K2QPS.tmp'. Why It´s different?Why the format is '.tmp' in stead of '.brd'? Please help me.
May 31, 2010. 4:36 PMsamr37l says:
 Where did you find the library for the led's? I can't seem to find the library....
Sam
Jun 1, 2010. 3:33 AMsamr37l says:
 Yah, but I would like to design my own. (Yours is just WAY to complicated for me, but it is REALLY cool)
Thanks,
Sam
May 27, 2010. 8:42 AMsatadru says:
hi...i jst gng to start wth pic mic.can u tell me which book is good to guide me properly with pic microcontroller........
Apr 4, 2009. 2:37 PMglocketz says:
Hey, Sunstone circuits (custom pcb manufacturer) requires the matrix to be in either a .RAR, .123, . BRD, or .BIN formats. Can you please upload a copy of the matrix in one of those formats so I can have a circuit printed? Thanks.
Apr 14, 2010. 1:09 AMl4a says:
Hello, I have a bit of a problem. And  I'm asking for a help. I have succesfully soldered everything and programmed it. But it doesn't work as it should. When I insert the battery all the LED's are turned on. Even if I press one of the four switches nothing happens (all the LED's are still on). Could you help me with the problem, please? Thanks
Apr 19, 2010. 6:59 AMl4a says:
Hi again. I'm new in this and I'm having some troubles understanding your solution. Could you please tell me where can I select this fuse/option bit?
Thank you for your time! I really appreciate it.
May 4, 2010. 9:24 AMl4a says:
Well I haven't been able to fix it so I decided ti make another one. And even this one doesn't work. I have checked all the connections and everything seems OK. So is it possible that I have overheated the PIC while soldering?

p.s. Is it possible that you could send me one of your prototypes? I would pay you of course.

Thanks
May 5, 2010. 11:02 AMl4a says:
I think I might have solved the problem. I don't know how I did that but I turned the LEDs up side down! This week I'll try to do another one and I'll tell you the result!
Apr 26, 2010. 9:56 PMstan4 says:
You totally got me!
I was totally curious to see what was the part number of the display, hahahaha, very nice work!

I gave you 4.5 stars because I don't think the card is waterproof.
Apr 24, 2010. 12:37 PMcodongolev says:
this might be a stupid question, but how does the microcontroller drive a single LED at a time?
Apr 25, 2010. 9:57 AMcodongolev says:
so.... another stupid question.... does high mean it's giving off power and low mean it's ground? I think that's my understanding of it, but I might be wrong....
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