https://gregdavill.com/blog/d20
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ouch, the howto is a mess, full of his mistakes (which is good for learning, I guess, butā¦). Itās also not addressable.
I think there is absolutely a market for addressable triangular matrix panels with/in a variety of sizes. If someone even just makes a PCB that can be ordered (including SMT parts), that would be huge
or maybe not:
and PCBway says:
and seeed says:
(looking at seeed now, as they offer this, and claim they are good at itā¦ they offer just one sk6812 model and itās 7+ cents each. sigh.
Soā¦ sounds like a PCB with SMT is outā¦ unless its ordered and then hand placed, reflowed?
Someone offering a cheap ready to use Triangle panel would be a godsend.
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Greg is kind of a legend with soldering and PCB design, and his icosahedron is amazing in person. These are addressable - just not serial addressable LEDs like we use with Pixelblaze. Instead this is more like a custom LED wall panel.
Iāve also written about this āEvil Popcornā and itās one of the main reasons I manufacture my LED panels myself. I could not find a reliable source.
It all comes down to dehydrating the LEDs. I bake them at 70C for 2 days before assembly. We could make triangular LED PCBs with PB compatible LEDs. One would need to be designed first though.
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No pricing. very much meant to do flat, connected matrix, 2D only. 144 pixels
Single led triangles:
expensive per led
and really, 1 led per triangle?
hereās one with 45 pixels, arranged nicely.
http://ledpcba.sell.everychina.com/p-108907969-splicable-mountable-triangle-led-pcb-assembly-with-ws2812b-high-current-capable.html
No pricing
The 37 led hexes from m5stack are cheap, bright, and relatively small. Thatās kinda the ideal, I think, except tiling hexes is fine, but not much you can do with 3D. If they did a triangle panel of the same side, that would great.
yeah, I knew Iād seen the single led elsewhere, and I was thinking of Jasonās spirals, as well.
On the other end of the scale:
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Another option, with 3 LEDs per equilateral triangle face: https://www.tindie.com/products/warmbit/origami-discoball
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I made one with 15 LEDs per face that used JST connectors on the back, instead of the (expensive) castellated edges: https://twitter.com/jasoncoon_/status/1393573200550899717
But I struggled with how to mount them into an icosahedron or other shapes. I havenāt revisited (yet).
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others I found:
https://store.nledshop.com/index.php/apa102-led-panel-3-pixel-triangle.html
Iāve bought a controller (or two) from them, have to hook it up (for Poi, to compare to Pico). They also have hex and pentagon, but Iām not crazy about any of those, really.
more nanoleaf like, but they do show them in 3D configs
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/RGB-Addressable-Aurora-SK6812-App-Control_62245348949.html
but of course, one big panel of color, not a matrix
And lastly, thanks to a link on twitter from Jason:
https://blinkinlabs.com/blinkytile
and EightByEight Blinky ā Blinkinlabsšŗšø
which is a square, but is also self-contained controller and allā¦
Imagine a Pico combined with a matrix, and a battery, as a necklace)
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you really want 138 degree angle connectors, likely best 3d printed.
I see you went for a cleaner design, but I suspect a simple screwed connector would yield easier mounting/assembly options. (Iām picturing just a simple 90 degree style 2 screw mount, but at 138 degrees, so youād screw each edge to the next.)
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Loved the story about evil popcorn. I think I will be getting some 8x8 panels from wizard for Christmas 
Hey @wizard any plans on making HD107s panels? Iām seeing more lose HD107s 5050s packs on aliexpress so the leds are gaining acceptance. I also have interest in triangle led boardsā¦ that would allow building into 3d shapes.
https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/201291/KLUS-42719.html
135 degree connector for LEDs. Really not quite what I meant butā¦ Damn close.
Likely something like this can be customized:
@devoh
Iām working on hd108 and ws2816 support. I have sk9822 panels now, but I suppose running some hd107 wouldnāt be too bad if the footprint is the same. How many would you need?
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I would like to make a cube so 6 and a PB Pico to go inside. hmmm I forgot this hobby is expensive And speaking of expensive, Iād like to make an Isohedron when we get someone to make some nice trianglesā¦ and hexagonsā¦ We have some VERY talented people in our PB worldā¦ oh the 3d shapes we could make
Also if you are working on HD108 then no need for the HD107s. The HD108 are its replacement and better I think that HD108ās would be a hit due to their power saving and brightness levels, not to mention insane refresh speed.
So my wishlist is you offering HD108ās (8x8) and making some shapes like triangles and hexagons that we can use to build other shapes.
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hereās another 1 pixel LED triangle:
also Trixel LED - Seeed Fusion Gallery
I canāt tell if those are populated or notā¦ but price drops hugely in quanity.
Iām about to attempt SMD at home on some HD108 LEDs. Any tips for me to dehydrate without having a dedicated oven?
If the LEDs are packed fresh with desiccant and a moisture detection card, you are probably fine without dehydration.
Iāve heard of someone doing it in their cooking oven, but I wouldnāt recommend it, at all. The temperature control of those is very poor, and you risk contaminating your oven with burnt plastic fumes and other things.
The next best thing would be a food dehydrator. The cheap circular ones also work well for drying printer filament!
I have not had great luck with HD108 LEDs even with baking moisture out, not sure if I had a bad batch, or they are particularly sensitive. I wish you luck, and let us know how it goes!
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Oh I have a food dehydrator! I can run that for days.
Will let you know how this project goes! 