Objectives
I wanted to give my family a unique gift for Christmas and decided on making a PCB Christmas tree.
I wanted it to be usable and also storable. And be easily manufacturable.
Working Principles
The LEDs are laid out in 5 columns. Thus each column can be sourced through the 5 P-Channel mosfet high side switches. Then there are 2 rows for each colour controlled by a N-Channel low side switch for R, G and B, they can each be addressed separately giving you 30 zones of LEDs that can each be individually addressed. The LEDs are also paired, one for each side of the board. The boards are also arranged in such a way that only one board needs a microcontroller and mosfets. All the other boards only need LEDs. Unfortunately the source code for this project has been lost. But I didn't write the most comprehensive code for it. Only cycling through the colours at different times.
Key Components
💡
LED
📟
MCU
- AVR128DA32 - Microcontrooler
- P-Channel Mosfet - High side switch
- N-Channel Mosfet - Low side switch
- Red Green and Blue LEDs - Lights
- Resistors, capacitors, connectors (standard passives)
Results & Insights
My family loved this project and so do I. One day I may come back and add an ESP to it to make it WIFI Controllable. But for now it's marked as complete
I learned about DFM(Designed for Manufacture) and PCB assembly techniques on this project.