Cube Clock
Cube Clock
This is a 5 sided RGB LED cube.
The sides of the cube can show various displays such as the time, dice, Conway's game of life, audio spectrum analyzer, plasma, etc.
A knob on the side selects what combination of displays are shown on the cube faces.
It's also sound reactive, with an audio spectrum analyzer and dice that are triggered by sound.
Operating Modes
- Current Time
- Roll the Dice
- Conway's Game of Life
- Icon Slide Show
- Spectrum Analyzer
- Plasma
- Sparkle
- Lamp
- Panel Test
Features
- 160mm Cube
- 1280 Total WS2812 LEDs
- Sound Responsive
- GPS Disciplined Timebase
- Raspberry Pi Pico RP2040 Microprocessor
- 5V 2A Power
Design Documents
| Schematic Diagram - Main Controller | cube_clock_schematic.pdf |
| Schematic Diagram - MSGEQ7 Input | MSGEQ7_board_schematic.pdf |
| PCB Gerbers - Main Controller | cube_clock_gerbers.zip |
| PCB Gerbers - MSGEQ7 Input | MSGEQ7_board_gerbers.zip |
| 3D Print Files | super_cube_mechanical.zip |
| Source Code | View Main Download All Files |
Design Update
The MSGEQ7 audio analyzer board turned out to be sensitive to the electrical noise from the LED panels.
To improve the performance the following modifications to the audio board are recommended.
The software filtering has also been improved.
These changes sacrifice some sensitivity in exchange for a clean and accurate display.
- Replace R5 (1M) with 100K, and bypass (short) RV1.
- Add a 100nF capacitor on top of R1.
Now that the audio analyzer is working better, the dice has been tuned to respond to high frequency only, such as the sound of a clap.
A new "Dark at Night" feature has been added too. The cube is so bright it was keeping me up at night, so the cube now automatically goes dark from 11:00pm to 6:00am. This can be overridden with a long button (more than 2 seconds), so the cube is always on. The override remains in effect until the next power cycle.
Build Pictures
3D Printed Plastic Parts
160mm LED Panels from AliExpress
Electrical Assemblies
Main Controller Board
Interior Views
