Published October 19, 2020 © GPL3+

DIY HexaLeaf with Attiny85

HexaLeaf Setup made from combining 6 Custom WS2812B PCB together

BeginnerFull instructions provided2 hours3,346

Things used in this project

Hardware components

JLCPCB Customized PCB

Microchip ATtiny85

ws2812B LED

Arduino Nano R3

for Attiny85 Programming

Software apps and online services

Autodesk Fusion

Arduino IDE

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Hot Plate, 800 W

Solder Paste, Silver Bearing

Story

Hey guys what's up!

so this my HEXALEAF setup which is basically a DIY Nanoleaf made by combining 6 of these PCBs together in a hexagon shape.

watch the video

The goal here was to make a Cheap yet functional Nanoleaf like Light without using a 3D printer! one option was to make the Nanoleaf structure from Plastic Cardboard but it was a long and messy process that involves craft skills so I ditched that idea and made a super simple PCB version.

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the star of this project is this Nanoleaf PCB which I made in such a way that it has VCC Din and GND pads on one end and VCC Dout and GND on another end,

when a signal starts from this PCB, the Signal gets transfer from the first PCB to the Second through these Din and Dout pads soldered together and this process goes on and on. so by this, we can prepare this setup in many shapes like triangle, square, hexagon, etc..

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you can check out my previous video about the Nanoleaf setup in which I made a triangular Hexagon setup.

https://www.hackster.io/Oniichan_is_ded/diy-nanoleaf-a98c95

Materials

so we gonna need the following things for this project, which are-

WS2812B RGB LEDs
Custom PCBs which were provided by JLCPCB (JLCPCB you guys rocks!)
Attiny85
an Arduino as ICP programmer which would be this-
solder paste
SMT Hotplate

ASSEMBLY

the assembly process is pretty simple, we just need to solder Ws2812B LEDs on PCBs and for that gonna need this, an SMT reflow hotplate, which I made from a cloth iron's element.

now the SMT soldering process is a bit different than a regular soldering process, in this process we need to add soldering paste to pads of each component first.

the soldering paste is basically a mixture of solid miniature solder balls combined with flux to make a paste-like substance.

so we need to apply it on the components pad and then place the components on it one by one...

after that, we just need to plate the PCB on a preheated hot plate. hot plate temperature gradually increases up to 250-degree Celsius which is enough to melt the solder paste...

after a few mins, we need to remove the PCB from the hotplate and cool it down.. and we need to prepare 6 of these PCBs.

FINAL SOLDERING

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now in order to solder this setup, I made this jig which holds two PCBs together at an angle of 120 degrees, after putting all PCBs together we just need to solder all of these together

we have to solder these two PCBs together by adding solder wire between two Pads of PCB and Joining them together like this-

We have to connect VCC to VCC and GND to GND of all Strips together along with Dout of First Strip to Din of Second Strip, Dout of Second Strip to Din of Third Strip, Dout of Third Strip to Din of Fourth Strip, Dout of Fourth strip to Din of Fifth, and Dout of Fifth to Din of Sixth and that's pretty much it.

Now we need to flash the code to this HEXALEAF setup, and for doing that, I'm gonna use my Arduino ISP programmer which I made especially for programming attiny85...

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we need to connect its SPI pins with SPI pins of Attiny85 which are

MISO
MOSI
SCK
RESET
VCC
GND

Code is a basic Rainbow sketch and the Din of First Pixel is connected with the Attiny's D0 pin.

if you want to learn more about programming Attiny check this out-

https://www.hackster.io/Oniichan_is_ded/multiple-attiny85-13a-programmer-84adf8

So here's the Result...

a DIY hexagon nano leaf made completely from PCBs... now we can power this setup with a USB port or use a small lipo cell.

we can hang it somewhere or just put it on a table or EVEN WEAR IT like a Crown or some kind of ornament (it worked for me though)

so the conclusion of this project is____________?

This setup is pretty easy to make only if you know how to do SMT Reflow and have basic knowledge of working with custom microcontroller-based circuits.

Also, this project is not exactly Community Friendly as most of these parts are hard to get (in India, we cannot just buy WS2812B from Amazon)

well, if you have any problem regarding this project, leave a comment, and I'll help you out!

PEACE

Schematics

Code

Rainbow

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

#define PIXEL_PIN    0  

#define PIXEL_COUNT 36 

Adafruit_NeoPixel strip = Adafruit_NeoPixel(PIXEL_COUNT, PIXEL_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);


void setup() {
  strip.begin();
  strip.show();
}

void loop() {
rainbow(20);
}



void rainbow(uint8_t wait) {
  uint16_t i, j;

  for(j=0; j<256; j++) {
    for(i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(i, Wheel((i+j) & 255));
    }
    strip.show();
    delay(wait);
  }
}
uint32_t Wheel(byte WheelPos) {
  WheelPos = 255 - WheelPos;
  if(WheelPos < 85) {
    return strip.Color(255 - WheelPos * 3, 0, WheelPos * 3);
  }
  if(WheelPos < 170) {
    WheelPos -= 85;
    return strip.Color(0, WheelPos * 3, 255 - WheelPos * 3);
  }
  WheelPos -= 170;
  return strip.Color(WheelPos * 3, 255 - WheelPos * 3, 0);
}