Children's toy - Led Matrix drawing + Game of Life

thingiverse

# LED MATRIX DRAWING + GAME OF LIFE I have created this toy for my little son. It is inspired with retro toy [Grafo](https://www.designprodeti.cz/p/2057/grafo-magicka-tabulka) I had as a kid myself. ## Functions The toy supports two different modes of operations: * Drawing of pictures * Game of Life ### Drawing of pictures This is the default mode, that starts after power up. In this mode you control position and color of a cursor and by pressing the center button you assing selected color to actual position. Slowly a picture is born. #### Features * position of the cursor is controlled via left and right knobs * rotating center knob changes the color of the cursor * pressing the center knob, you draw or erase at the actual location * double pressing center knob copies the color under cursor * holding and releasing the center knob erases whole picture * every 30s is the picture saved to the memory * after power up the saved picture is restored ### Game of Life [Conway's Game of Life](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_Game_of_Life) is beautiful simulation of living cells. This mode is activated, when during power up the center knob is pressed. #### Features * left knob changes the brightness * right knob changes the speed of game * pressing the center knob resets the actual game * when the game ends in a loop, it is automatically restarted ## Hardware You need folowing parts: * [WS2812B LED matrix 16x16](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000746284302.html) * [Aruino Nano clone](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000391983809.html) * [2x 50k Potentiometer](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32846573934.html) * [Rotary encoder](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1000001872933.html) * [SPDT switch](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32813324272.html) * [1000uF capacitor](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32811100036.html) * [470ohm resistor](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32785425406.html) * [Lipo charger + 5V boost](https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-2-5pcs-5V-Lithium-Battery-Charger-Protection-Boost-Boards-USB-Li-Po-18650/383749447725) * Lipo/lion battery Connect the components according to the scheme (one of the pictures). The program is written for Arduino Nano (but other Arduionos with AtMega328 should also work) and the source code is in the file WS2812B_Toy.zip. I have used Arduino IDE for programming. ## Printing Print all parts once, only WS2812B_Toy_grid_plate_holder.stl is needed 4x. Only the grid should be printed with supports. Assembly using M3 screws or glue the parts together. ## Acknowledgement The knobs were generated by [Customizable Knob!](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:54024). The grid is taken from [PIXELART LED animation matrix](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3349738) https://youtu.be/flcDw2vIVos