Tag: LED matrix

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Tilty ball: Controlling 64 LEDs and a 2-axis accelerometer

This example shows how to control 64 LEDs and read the input from two axes of an accelerometer on an Arduino.  The Arduino used here is a Duemilanove, but it will work on any of the models out there prior to the Duemilanove as well.  This example uses row-column scanning as a way to control more LEDs than you have output pins.  It also uses some of the analog pins as digital I/O pins.

Parts you’ll need

  • Arduino Duemilanove or equivalent
  • 2-axis accelerometer. I used the ADXL335 breakout board from adafruit.com, and only used two axes.
  • 8×8 LED matrix.  I used one I bought surplus.  See this post for details on figuring out your matrix’s pins if you don’t have the data sheet.
  • Breadboard or prototyping shield.  I used the proto shield and tiny breadboard from adafruit.com.

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8×8 LED matrix control on an Arduino Mega

Created 31 March 2009, edited 1 Nov 2020

Once you’ve mastered microcontroller programming, you might be tempted to control a lot of LEDs.  Lots of people have this desire once they master the basics. Many microcontrollers have a limited number of output pins, however, so you might think that limits how many LEDs you can control.  I’ve written about a few different methods around this before in chapter 14 of Physical Computing and in this blog.

By matrixing your LEDs, you can control many more than the number of pins you have.  For example, with the Arduino Uno and earlier models, you had up to 20 digital outputs (13 labeled digital I/O 0 through 13, plus the six analog outputs, which double as digital I/O 14 through 19).  With 16 of those, you can control an 8×8 matrix of LEDs.  That’s 64 LEDs.  With the Arduino Mega, you have 54 digital I/O pins, so you can control a lot more.  This example uses 32 of them to control 2 8×8 matrices, for a total of 128 LEDs from one controller.

To make this example, you’ll need:

  • Arduino Mega
  • Breadboard or prototyping shield. 
  • 8×8 LED matrix.  I got mine in a surplus shop in China, but you can also get them from most electronics retailers
  • male pin headers
  • female pin headers
  • Wires

Step 1: Figure out the LED Matrix pins

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