Introduction: Christmas Tree PCB Gift
It was in the middle of september where i wanted to do a fun little project. Because christmas was approaching and I wanted to give some homemade gifts to my family I choosed to do a christmas tree.
The christmas tree should:
- must be power efficient
- not be larger than 10*10cm
- programmable
- must have a base, where the battery is placed
- must have more than 1 mode of operation
I designed the PCB in Altium Designer, printed the PCBs on JLC, programmed the atmel microcontroller in Atmel Studio 7.0 and designed the 3d model in SolidWorks.
Step 1: The Plan
My plan is to design 2 christmas tree shaped pcbs.
Before I started to work on the schematics I choosed the microcontroller, power supply, led drivers...
For the microcontroller i used the ATTINY85-20SU because of its simplicity (8pins).
For powering the microcontrollers and leds i choosed 3 AA batterys.
For switching the leds i choosed mosfets SI1012CR-T1-GE3.
Step 2: Designing the PCB
First i made the schematic then the PCB layout.
After i choosed the microcontroller i looked at the datasheet of the controller and the pinout. The microcontroller needed to have a sleep mode and atleast 4 I/O pins for 3 mosfets, one for each color(red,yellow,green) and a push button. The attiny85 was perfect.
Pin1(RESET) - is reset pin, where I connected an 10 kOhmPULL UP resistor (package 1206)
Pin2 - i used this pin for the push button, everytime i pressed the pushbutton the pin got pulled down to ground(so I programmed this pin as input and used an internal PULL UP)
Pin3 - in the SCH1 I did connect this pin on the male header but i didnt used it.
Pin4 - Ground
Pin5(MOSI) - goes to the gate of the mosfet Q3 for yellow leds
Pin6(MISO) - is connected to the gate of the mosfet Q2 for green leds
Pin7(CLK) - connected to the gate of the mosfet Q1 for red leds
Pin8 - Vcc
Datasheet of the mosfet: https://www.vishay.com/docs/67519/si1012cr.pdf
On one mosfet there are 12 leds ( total power consumption for 1 mosfet: P=I*U, P=20mA*4.5V=90mW)
I also added 6 vias(2.54 mm from each other for programming (header 4 and header 2 on the SCH)).
After the SCH i went on arranging the board. I cut out the christmas tree shape, and then I layed out the components.
I added two decoupling capacitors 100pF and 10uF to stabilize the input voltage.
The 100 kOhm resistor that is in SCH i didnt use.
I added the gerber files for both PCBs.
Step 3: Soldering
I used an old soldering iron I had laying around.
First i soldered all the smd components, then all the through hole components.
After soldering it was time for fun programming :D
Step 4: Programming
For programming I used the AVRISP mk2 .
Because you need an external power supply to power the microcontroller and programator I connected 5v and gnd from Arduino Mega just for power. Then i connected the programator on my programmable pcb where i connected:
1 pin(RESET) to RESET
4 pin(GND) to GND
5 pin(MOSI) to MOSI
6 pin(MISO) to MISO
7 pin(CLK) to CLK
8 pin(Vcc) to Vcc
I attached the program code.
I the code i implemented pwm control, sleep mode, interupts...
The firs mode is just blinking all the leds, in the second mode i used the pwm to change the brightness(i just need to tweak a little to make it more fluently, the third mode is just turning the led on and off in steps, the fourth mode is just crazy blinking( i used the pwm function like in the second mode) i call it "funky" mode :D
After you press the push button an timer ist started that counts 5 minutes an then goes back to sleep mode( in sleep mode the power consumption is like 2-6 uA)
WARNING!!!
Before you programm your attiny85 with this programm, you need to disable8 Mhz fuse. because if not your attiny85 will work at only 1 Mhz
Attachments
Step 5: Component List
I ordered components for 12 christmas tree i added an file of components that i ordered from Farnell and Mouser, other components i ordered from aliexpress:
- LEDS
Amazon.de:
- battery
Attachments
Step 6: 3d Modeling
I wont describe how i designed the 3d model for the base, but if you want you can PM me and i send you the files.
I made some opening for the on/off switch and the Push button.
First i soldered some wires on the push button and switch, then i positioned them and hot glued them from the inside of the base, then i cut out the perf boards, and soldered the female connectros and wires together and hot glued everything inside the base.
Step 7: Summary
Main purpose of this project was that i wanted to suprise my family with something homemade, that was the motivation that helped me to complete it.
Special thanks to my friends that helped me with this project.
I added an excel file, where i calculated how long would the battery last(in ideal conditions).
If you have any questions leave a comment.
