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Step 9Making the LED Matrix -- Pin Headers and Resistors
Before you trim the red and black wires to length, determine where and how you are going to attach the Arduino to the umbrella. It should fit in the open space at the top. Once determined, cut the wires to length and solder them to the headers.
Slide pieces of heat shrink tubing onto the eight red wires, solder them to an 8-pin header, and heat shrink the tubing. Be sure to make the connections in a logical fashion. I consider the smallest inner ring to be row 1 so it gets attached to pin 1 on the header and the appropriate pin on the MIC2981. If you make a mistake, you can either resolder the wires or correct in code. Don't make a mistake. [I bunched the anode wires together and was too lazy to sort out the logical order. It turns out to be just as easy to control in code. See notes in programming section.]
Similarly make headers for the cathode chains. This time, however, the pin locations on the Arduino dictate that you make two headers. You also have to solder a single resistor in line. The resistor depends on the LED and voltage -- consult an online LED-resistor calculator for the proper value. Each header should have five (5) pins. Be sure to make the connections in a logical fashion.
Hot glue the connections as these will undergo bending and stress.
The picture below is of the mockup.
Slide pieces of heat shrink tubing onto the eight red wires, solder them to an 8-pin header, and heat shrink the tubing. Be sure to make the connections in a logical fashion. I consider the smallest inner ring to be row 1 so it gets attached to pin 1 on the header and the appropriate pin on the MIC2981. If you make a mistake, you can either resolder the wires or correct in code. Don't make a mistake. [I bunched the anode wires together and was too lazy to sort out the logical order. It turns out to be just as easy to control in code. See notes in programming section.]
Similarly make headers for the cathode chains. This time, however, the pin locations on the Arduino dictate that you make two headers. You also have to solder a single resistor in line. The resistor depends on the LED and voltage -- consult an online LED-resistor calculator for the proper value. Each header should have five (5) pins. Be sure to make the connections in a logical fashion.
Hot glue the connections as these will undergo bending and stress.
The picture below is of the mockup.
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