instructables

Matrix LED Candle Light

by doncore

Hi, livingroom. And adafruit isn't the cheapest way to

in this instructable you will learn how to build a very
long lasting LED-Matrix-Candle.
It looks very modern, doesn't smoke ;) and can be
reloaded with your smartphonecharger.
The yellow light gives you a very good expression of
a real flame.
To be exact: it is a video of a real flame which is
converted into led-commands.
I came across this idea on several maker-faires and
by watching "flame pendent" on adafruit.
While the adafruit is nearly perfect, it doesn't look
elegant or at least like something i would put into my
build something.
The ones on the maker-faires where kits. Nothing
against kits, but you have to solder every SMD-LED
by hand.
And it was quite expensive, too.
You can buy ready-build candles from Ingo Maurer ...
if you have the money.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
A bright, modern looking LED-Candle on a
budget. Can't be that hard to build...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KemcS6kQ0rk&feature=youtu.be

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Step 1: What You Need

3D-printer (or printed parts)

quickcrete, (concrete)
arduino pro micro 16Mhz (8Mhz doesn't work)
TP4506 LiPo-loader
Adafruit LED-Matrix (yellow) and PWM Driver
some 1.5mm aluminium sheets (and a way to bend it)
double-sided gluetape
thin wire
small switch
one 18650 batterie with soldertips (no cheap ones, choose samsung or panasonic)
spraypaint (black matt recommended)

The soldering is quite easy.

If you can't get the aluminium or the 3D printed parts, you can contact me.

I still have some of them. This project didn't work on the first or even the third try. I've changed a lot while building
and have some spare parts.

To give you an idea of the construction, have a look at the animation.

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Step 2: Print the Parts

You don't have to print many parts.
It's the inner housing and the bottom plate (which
contains the switch).
At least 4 little helpers, which will be needed to guide
the wire through the aluminium.
After printing you should try if everything fits in. Or at
least the Arduino and the TP4506.
If you dont want to use aluminium and may have a
better idea, you can change the files, too.
All Fusion360 files are included.

View in 3D Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FYS/AUAM/JPINY28F/FYSAUAMJPINY28F.stl
…

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 https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FOW/6OZ2/JPINY285/FOW6OZ2JPINY285.stl
… View in 3D Download

View in 3D Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FT4/O1O5/JPINY27F/FT4O1O5JPINY27F.stl
…

View in 3D Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FQV/O81J/JPINY28G/FQVO81JJPINY28G.f3d
…

Step 3: The LED-Matrix

Every solderpoint is printed on the modules, so you on top of the aluminium and "stands" on the
can't make many mistakes. placeholders.

But you need to be carefull. Don't solder the pins I've tried several methods. Solder it before adding the
without numbers. shaft? After adding it? None is better.

You should solder only one side on the last pins to Cut the pins as short as possible AFTER soldering to
get the black placeholder on both sides. get a nice finish.

So: solder this Pin to the PWM but not to the LED- (This pictures are a little bit older. You don't need
Matrix. screws anymore)

Have a look at the picture 3. The matrix will be placed

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 1

1. solderpins

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Step 4: The Shaft

Two bended parts. One of them has to be 5mm
longer than the other one. 1.5mm aluminium (very
important)
Mine are about 185mm high, 28mm width (important).
The bended part is about 18mm long.
That way it fits perfectly between the LED-Matrix and
the PWM-Controller.
To fit the cables between those parts, you have to
glue the little helpers with double-sided tape on the
longer one.
not much room in there.
Put the wire between the helpers and place the other
shaft. As written before: 5mm difference.
You can place the display on top to get a perfect
match.
Cut the double-sided tape just under the display and
glue the second shaft on the helpers.
Congratulations. This was the first part where
everything could have been gone terribly wrong.

Just mark it with a knife. They should be placed about Use some thicker double sided tape on the "feets"
3cm higher, so the helpers do reach into the display. and peel the siliconpaper of.

On the bottom they can reach into the housing. That Now you have to use some force to push the shafts
way the hold the batterie in place, too. through the housing. It does fit, but it's as tight as
possible.
But don't let them get too long into the housing. It's

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 1
1
2

1. marked with a knife 1. i've used 3M 467 DS.Tape

2. should be longer, old picture

1. exactly.

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Step 5: Molding the Base
I'm a big fan of quick drying concrete. You can mix it
quite liquid and it still works very good.
To build the mold, i'm using waterresistant plywood.
In Germany they are called "Siebdruckplatte".
10mm around and 15mm on top of the housing is
enough concrete.
Prepare the housing by sealing the USB-Port and
with very thin (tesafilm) tape, the shafts.
If you miss this part, the concrete will pour into the
shaft. Looks terrible and the concrete will tend to tear
apart at exactly that position.
1. Use an exacto to cut the masking
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Put good double-sided tape on the bottom plate of the
housing. This way the hole thing will stay in place
while pouring the concrete into the mold.
Let it dry at least twice the time you think it should
have been enough time.
If the base doesn't look perfect enough you can file
the edges or use some sandpaper.
It doesn't have to be perfect. It's concrete. It has to
have some "errors".
You need to peel the double-sided tape of the bottom
plate. Use a spatula to get it of the wood.
1. very important preparation!
 1

1. in germany it is called
"teppichkleber"

1. just some helpers to get it in 1. gulp

position

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 1

1. use a sharp knife to peal the film of

1. if it looks like this, everything

went perfectly

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 1

1. if you destroy the bottom plate, just print a new one.

Step 6: Put Colour on It

The aluminium should be cleaned with some kind of Spray two or three very thin layers to get a perfect
alcohol. finish.

Using isopropanol is allways a good way to start. You
don't have to grind/sand the surface before
spraypainting it.
Just cover the concrete as precise as possible at the
entrypoint of the shaft.
Let it dry twice the time as noticed on the spraycan.
At this point i let it cure over night in a warm room
before getting to the next steps.
The concrete will change the colour over night.

And cover the wires and little helpers on top.

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 1

1. tight

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Step 7: Electronics (in the Box)

Flash the Arduino with the added code. You can try D3 -> SDL
the code from adafruit, but it will not fit. Just a little bit
to big. VCC -> VCC

EDIT: I've added another code. It's one frame smaller. Ground -> Ground
Just in case.
TP4506 -> Arduino
EDIT 2: I've added a data.h with rotated frames.
Out - -> Ground
I've deleted just one frame and recompiled the code
with the python script. Using 99% of space. Out + -> /Switch -> RAW

28664 bytes ... just 6 bytes left. TP4506 -> Battery

While you flash you will see three LEDs. One in
constant red and two blinking. The constant red LED
(near to the usb-Port) should be destroyed with a very
small plier. Well, you could change the code, so the
LED doesn't light up, but you can destroy it, too. And i
don't think that there is enough space left for the
code. Or you have to delete another frame.
The connections are quite easy.
Arduino -> Display
D2 -> SDA
self explaining
Just make sure all wires are long enough. I'm using
10cm long wires.
Solder every solderpat before soldering the wires on
them. You don't want to push the wires through the
pinholes.
Just solder them on the pinholes and think of the way
the wires will bend, when you have to put all parts
together.

1. the LED to destroy

Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FEB/0FLP/JPINY5V1/FEB0FLPJPINY5V1.zip
…

Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FWL/SEZ8/JS0ONWSU/FWLSEZ8JS0ONWSU.zip
…

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 https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FYE/HCPF/JTON60UH/FYEHCPFJTON60UH.h
… Download

Step 8: Electronics and the Display

If you bend the pre-soldered endings from the wires
just a little bit, those endings will just slip into the
pinholes from the display.
This is the most annoying part in this instructable.
You may pull the wires from within the housing to get
a better position.
Trust me, it will fit. I've made three of them, but
couldn't find a real good solution.
Check your connections twice.
First test. Finally. You will be amazed.
picture 1), your batterie is to low.
Now you can peal off the upperpart from the
siliconpaper on the helpers and put the display right
in place.
As gently as necessary. Everything in place and it still
works? Fine. To fix the display finally, you should
pour some clear glue from top through the Matrix and
the PWM-Driver. Just where the wires where
soldered.
The glue will find a way through the wires and glues
the Display onto the helpers.

If the display just gives you one random pattern (see

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Step 9: Final Assambly

You should bring the Arduino first into position,
followed by the TP4506.
There may be too much space for the TP. If thats the
case, you can glue it.
full in here. Try to bring the wires down.
All in place, try to put the bottom plate on it. If it
doesn't fit, you can use a plier to break the noses
away.

You should be able to push a USB-cable into it They are just an extra support to the batterie.
without moving the TP inside the housing.
Put some feet under it, if you like.
Now bring the isolated batterie into it. It's getting quite
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Step 10: Final Thoughts

The candle lasts 29 hours until it has to be reloaded.
You can even get a little bit more runtime by using a
adafruit trinket. But it's quite expensive.
I've made some tests with several Arduino-like-
systems:
WEMOS D1 mini: starts at 3.3 V and draws 0.15A
Pro Micro: starts at 3.2V and draws 0.1A
The TP shines red while loading (with max 1A) and
gets blue, when the battery is full.
A two sided version is possible, but not easy to build.
The PWM-Driver can power two Displays at once.
But you have to mirror all solderpoints and connect
some tiny cables. Sounds like fun.
The energy draw does not get much higher while
using two displays. About 0.01A.

Original Trinket: starts at 3V and draws 0.08A Sources:

A nano doesn't work because it needs 4.4 V to start https://learn.adafruit.com/animated-flame-pendant/...

(drawing 0.11A)
https://www.ingo-maurer.com/de/produkte/my-new-fla
A 8MHz pro micro gives you about 12 frames per ...
second. That will drive you crazy. So don't even try.
https://du-kannst-mitspielen.de/elektronik/bausatz...
When the battery gets empty, the last frame will be
shown on the display. Just no animation, but still light. Thank you for reading.

The microchip needs just a little more power than the
display.
The light is quite bright and really gives a candle-like
feeling - just with an industrial modern look.
I hope my english wasn't that bad.
I would be really happy if you vote for this project
in the "Glow" contest.

Matrix LED Candle Light: Page 21

Hello Doncore. Thank you for having shared your project.

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I am wanting to make a double sided version, I hoped to simply use a second LED matrix with
driver on the same I2C address but it seems this will not work.

Perhaps I will have to use one driver and two LED displays, which seems to be what you referred
to? I am wondering how you did this since there is no resistor in line with each LED and putting
LEDs in parallel does not ensure equal brightness...

You suggestions would be most appreciated, thank you....

Exactly. One Driver andep two displays. The brightness keeps quite bright. I've put one Display
onto the other one. Was just for testing. Worked.
Great Instructable! I'm being to build one with 2 displays. It would be nice if the second display on
the backside would show a mirrored frame. But i stuck on it. There is no way to mirror the wiring
because of the schematic of the charlieplexed matrix board. A own mirrored matrix PCB would be
a solution, but who want to solder from hand 144 LEDs. Or a second driver with own address and
mirroring in code. But i understand the code to less for that.
I'll send you the Code. No big Problem.

great, tnx for the good work!, hope you win the competition

Hi, i've added a new data.h. The frames should now be rotated 180°.
While this competition is allready over, i would be glad if you vote for my REMIX version:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Ring-of-Fire-REMIX/
Done! tnx a lot, kind regards, Paul

Very good Instructable! But when i try to upload the code, i got the message that the sketch is too
big. The Sketch size is 29.312 bytes, the maximum is 28.672 bytes. Can you help me?
Hi, sorry for beeing late...
well, the code should fit. but i'll make another one with just one frame dropped.
I'll post it later...
Hi doncore, i've just uploaded the new sketch, and it works like a charm! Thank you very much for
your help, Dankeschön!
Which promicro arduino would recommend?

It needs to have the 16mhz chip.

example :
https://m.de.aliexpress.com/item/32840365436.html?pid=808_0003_0109&spm=a2g0n.search-
amp.list.32840365436&aff_trace_key=732a24c246ef4a8583f4a341992f579e-1548393018100-
03952-UneMJZVf&aff_platform=msite&m_page_id=8298amp-
DGwWrHtjUdN1cx1DXqDieQ1548393052714
i want that module matrix wher to order any link

https://www.adafruit.com/product/2946
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2948

robotshop.com
electronic-shop.lu
exp-tech.de
I really like the way you were able to get that lighting effect with the Adafruit matrix board! Well
done.

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