Nuno Sucena Almeida wrote: > ...if you want to avoid too much soldering, consider using a led > matrix, instead of individual LEDs.
That was my first thought as well. It'll give you a perfectly consistent LED spacing. But in addition to it not conforming to the curve, and that these types of matrix modules are a tad bulky, you would still have some soldering challenges. You'll still have a bunch of pins (12 for example) on each module and you'll have to mount it to perf board or sections of rigid PCB. You could, for example, put each display on its own PCB segment, and join the segments with some solid wire jumpers, which would act as a hinge. Another possibility is to use flexible LED strips, like these: http://www.google.com/products?as_q=flexible+led+strips&num=100&scoring=p&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&price1=&price2=&as_occt=any&show=dd&safe=active You'd presumably use as many strips as you want rows in your display. But they have two problems. One is that they typically don't have a dense enough spacing to make an effective display. The other is that they are typically wired in series, so you'd have to hack it by cutting traces and tacking on wires, which would be a mess. The ideal solution would be to create a custom display board using the same flexible PCB substrate used for the flexible strips. Incorporate the matrix driver onto the board. Use SMD LEDs and attach them with solder paste and baking in the oven, rather than individual soldering. Though not a quickie project. Also, consider using RGB LEDs so you can create even more effects. -Tom _______________________________________________ Hardwarehacking mailing list [email protected] http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/hardwarehacking
