DIY 8x8x8 LED Cube Build - Part 1 - Assembling the PCB

This is a 3 part set of videos in which I show the construction and operation of a DIY 8x8x8 3D LED cube kit I bought from Banggood. This DIY kit comes as a bare PCB and components which you need to solder and construct yourself. This 3D LED cube look really neat, however the kit does not come with any build instructions. There are some other videos online but they either document other cube designs or skip over some of the build steps, hence I've tried to document the entire build and any hints and tips I found as I went along. As a result some parts are quite long, even with editing down and speeding some sections up, so feel free to skip forward.

This first video shows the unpacking and construction of the main PCB. This process involves soldering a number of surface mount ICs, capacitors, resistors and diodes. The pitch of these surface mount components is not too small, however some skill in soldering is required. If you don't fancy soldering surface mount components and would much rather just solder the 8x8x8 array of LEDs then you can get some kits which have the main PCB pre-soldered.

This particular cube features 512 (8x8x8) blue 5mm round LEDs, although a lot of kits currently listed use the rectangular ones. The cube runs off a 5V USB supply, has a power switch, a mode switch and two 3.5mm jacks (line in and out) which allow you to feed in audio and have the cube react to. Some cubes come with a speaker and MP3 playback module but not this one.

The kit comes pre-programmed with 45 offline animations and 15 dynamic audio effects. The kit also includes a WiFi module which you can use to control the cube through an Android app and an infrared remote control. A USB-Serial debug adapter is also included and allows you to control the cube from a Windows PC using some custom software. If you are feeling adventurous you can also use the debug adapter, and some additional software, to change the pre-programmed software to add additional effects or completely change its operation. For a full list of features see the listing description.

Chapters:
00:00 Start
00:13 Unpacking the kit
05:38 Identifying the bits
08:35 Solder the main PCB
19:26 Testing the main PCB

Music by Scott Holmes, tracks used include Epic Cinematic 1, Humanity 3 and Ambient Meditation 2.

[MarcusSentry]

You're a life saver! I got this Cube as a gift from my wife years ago, but the link to the instructions she gave me was for the preassembled board. Thanks to your video I was able to actually assemble it myself. Next step: LEDs ;)

[wernerpeters]

I miss the blueprint! what goes where? Especially with Condensatiors and Widerstände. Wo finde ich den Bauplan?