LED Dice

thingiverse

This LED Dice is engineered to hold 5mm LEDs inside its points that light up when the side they are on faces upwards. Inside the dice is a chamber that houses a 10mm steel ball which acts as a contact for blank wires on the chamber's side. When wired correctly, it functions as an orientation sensor. The inner chamber is built from two identical parts, requiring two prints of that part. A steel ball should be placed inside and blank wires run through the holes so that the steel ball makes an electric connection between two wires when resting in one of the corners. The steel ball chamber is supported by four clamps, necessitating four prints of that part. The steel ball chamber has been updated; old photos still show an earlier version, which was difficult to align with the dice. A groove for the clamps was designed to hold them in place. Ensure that the contacts in each corner function before gluing the chamber together and placing it inside the dice! There are three versions of the dice points, depending on how bright your LEDs are or how bright you want the points to glow. Printing one of each design is suggested to try out each version. The side panels must be printed with supports; it depends on the surface quality over supports as to which side should face downwards. The outside of the dice was placed on the bottom for a very smooth surface. The dice points should push fit into the side panels, and if they are too loose, glue them in place. The side panels need to be glued inside the frame, with the frame being glued together from its two parts. Before gluing the side panels to the frame, the wires must be soldered. Dice panel 6 holds the batteries and a switch to turn the dice on/off. Regular battery contacts should be used for the battery box since it holds two AAA batteries, resulting in only 3V of voltage. The LEDs can be wired in parallel. If higher voltage is needed, a boost converter might also fit inside the dice. Use the contacts on the steel ball chamber opposite each dice panel to switch the LEDs on/off, ensuring that the top side of the dice's LEDs are lit. Wiring can become chaotic, so no photo was included showing it. Hopefully, this description is clear; feel free to ask any questions!