MAKE: Blog: "Peggy," - A Light emitting pegboard display

"Peggy," - A Light emitting pegboard display

2230068885 458F6D23B2
Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories have released "Peggy" this is a great open source hardware project for LED art makers! -

With all the cool things that you can do with LEDs today, there is still one thing that's lacking: simplicity. If you want to run a bunch of LEDs at a time, you usually end up spending a fair bit of time worrying about series and parallel combinations, matching brightness, and picking load resistors. Or, if you're a beginner, maybe you only get one third of the way through the previous sentence-- wondering if you're already in over your head.

Suppose that you want to make a big LED display for your window or wall: maybe it's your logo, a symbol, your favorite 8-bit character, or maybe even a sign that spells out words like "OPEN" or "ON AIR." How do you go about it? The usual DIY solution involves drilling holes in a panel to fit your LEDs, then spending a heck of a lot of time wiring everything up-- ending up with one resistor per LED (and a three-dimensional mess if you happen to look at the back side of the panel). And, if you do everything in the most obvious ways, it can even end up consuming a surprising amount of power.

While I have certainly spent my share of time constructing things with the aforementioned technique, at some point it becomes clear that there has to be a better way. In this day and age, shouldn't LEDs be about as difficult to play with as, say, a Lite Bright? Today we are releasing a new open-source hardware and software design that takes some of the sting, complexity, and mess out of playing with LEDs. It's a versatile and powerful light-emitting pegboard that lets you efficiently drive hundreds of LEDs in whatever configuration you like, without so much as calculating a single load resistor.

Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories - "Peggy," - A Light emitting pegboard display Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Feb 1, 2008 12:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Open source hardware | Permalink | Comments (2)

Comments

Oldest comments listed first.

Posted by: The Oracle on February 1, 2008 at 9:15 AM

When is version 2 coming out.

The one with a full panel of RGB LEDs and user programmable images.

Even as is, this could be a great product for retail signage.

Posted by: Chris Tucker on February 1, 2008 at 9:32 PM

Soon to be Banned in Boston.

Subscribe to MAKE Magazine!

Subscribe today, save 42% and get web access to MAKE free. MAKE Digital Edition is available only to subscribers.

$34.95 / 1 year
(4 Quarterly Issues)

Subscribe now

Void your warranty, violate a user agreement, fry a circuit, blow a fuse, poke an eye out... Welcome to the Make Blog!

Features and more @ MAKE!

Add MAKE to iGoogle - GoogleGoogle.
Add MAKE to your RSS reader - Real simple.

Why advertise on MAKE?
Read what folks are saying about us!

Click here to advertise on MAKE!

Phillip Torrone
Senior Editor
Tel: 707-827-7311

Gareth Branwyn
Robot Maker

Kip Kay
Video Maker

Jonah Brucker-Cohen
Researcher

Suggest a Site!

Natalie Zee Drieu
Senior Editor
CRAFT

Becky Stern
Culture jammer

Collin Cunningham
Sound Maker

Marc de Vinck
CNC Maker

Current Podcast

Weekend Project: Mousetrap Powered Vehicle Vroom! Power a balsa wood vehicle from the energy of a mousetrap! Fun and easy project! No mice were harmed during the filming of this video. To download Mousetrap Powered Vehicle MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes.... More...

Get the Make blog sent via email

Enter your email to receive the Make blog each day:

WOW! Thanks to everyone involved with Maker Faire Austin: attendees, makers, exhibitors, sponsors, volunteers, and crew...it was AMAZING! Over 350 Makers and 20,000 attendees! Be sure to check out the photos @ Flickr, and our Maker Faire posts for all the action! Next year, scheduled Maker Faire's are: Bay Area: May 3rd & 4th, 2008 - San Mateo County Fairgrounds and Austin: Oct. 18th & 19th, 2008 - Travis County Expo Center!