MOOD BOX

LIST OF MATERIALS

• MDF sheet (1100x800x6mm)

• All purpose glue

• Tape

• WS2801 LEDs (strand of 50 LEDs)

• Arduino UNO

• Wires (jumper wires or single core wires)

• Soldering gun

• Rectangle switch button (approx. 25mm x 21mm x 15mm)

• 50x50cm white opal (semi-transparent) perspex

• 5V power source

STEP 1: LASER-CUTTING THE CASEWe need to create a case for our Moodbox. To do this we will laser-cut our MDF sheet into different parts and then glue them together.

1. Use the MoodBoxCase_LC.eps to laser cut the case out of your sheet of MDF.

Outer case

Back panel

LED panel Support strips

STEP 2: ASSEMBLING THE CASEAll the components need to be glued together to form both the outer case and the inner structure that will hold the LEDs.

1. Glue together the outer parts that will form the case as shown in the opposite image. Make sure that the glue has dried before moving to the next steps. The holes on the side will tell you which is the front of the box and which is the back - the holes will be closer to the back.

2. Measure 6.5 cm on the inside of the case and make a mark on all 4 sides (measure from the front of the box inwards). Glue the long, thin pieces of MDF at the 6.5cm marks. This will be the holding structure for the LED board.

3. Take the small triangles and glue them under the holding structure. This will provide extra support for the LED board.

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STEP 2: ASSEMBLING THE CASE

54. Glue the LED board (the MDF piece with 49

holes in it) on top of the holding structure.

5. Insert the LEDs into the panel as shown on the right. The beginning of the strip is where the black clip with wires has 2 small handles. The 50th LED will not be used - you can cut it off or tape it to the side of the box.

6. Time to put the perspex on. Flip the box around. Put glue on the edges of the perspex sheet and slide it inward just enough so that it sits at the same level as the edges of the outer case.

The switch button and Arduino will go here

Start here

STEP 3: WIRINGTo do the wiring you will need a solder gun.

1. The first LED that you inserted into the board has 5 wires, 3 of which are tied together through a black clip. Take the two wires that are loose and solder jumper wires at their end. Then, insert jumper wires in the black clip as shown in the images opposite. Put tape around the soldered wires to isolate them.

2. Insert the switch button through the first hole on the side of the box. If the button doesn’t sit snug in the hole, glue it.

3. Solder a jumper wire to one of the metallic ends of the button. Solder the other end of the red wire (the red wire from step 1) to the other metallic end, making sure that they don’t touch each other.

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STEP 3: WIRING

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4. Insert the loose wire from the switch button (black one in this case) into the 5V pin on Arduino. Take the loose blue wire from the LED strand and insert it into any GND pin on Arduino.

5. Now, attach the wires tied in the black clip to Arduino. Insert the yellow wire into pin 11, the green into pin 13 and the blue into any GND pin.

6. Carefully glue the wired Arduino in the holes under the switch button. Make sure that no wires get detached!

STEP 4: CODE

1. First, download the Arduino IDE from arduino.cc/en/Main/Software

2. For the LEDs to communicate with Arduino we need a hardware specific library. Go to Adafruit and download the WS2801 library. Copy this into your Documents/Arduino/Libraries folder.

3. Connect Arduino to your computer by using the USB cable.

4. From the Tools menu, select Arduino Uno as your board and the respective port.

5. Open MoodBox.ino and click the upload button (highlighted in yellow in the opposite image).

6. Disconnect Arduino from your computer and attach the 5V power source.

7. When everything is in working order you can glue the backboard on.

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Switch on and enjoy!