I hardcoded this pattern to load into SRAM on bootup:

Ok, now I’ve written the code to display patterns from RAM, but I haven’t written the code to actually update those patterns. So I’m not sure exactly where this pattern is coming from. But it’s slightly more interesting looking now:

Still the same problem with the ‘off’ leds lighting up slightly, but I think it’s not too bad for now. Next up, I think I’ll animate a simple 1-pixel ‘ball’ bouncing around or something.

March 13th:
Here it is you can see the different colors possible:

One problem, is I am using shift registers without a latch. So as the data is shifted into place, it appears on the incorrect LEDs for a very short amount of time. Which causes them to light up a short amount of time. I’m not sure there is anything I can do about this, besides shifting the data into place faster: currently my AVR is clocked at 8mhz, but it supports up to 16mhz (I just need to put in a different crystal). I think best solution is to use a latch though.

March 12th:

Finally finished wiring it! (Man that was a lot of work):

Here is a short movie of a quick test of making some random LEDs light up:

blink2.avi (300KB)
MPG1 format - 1.8MB
It’s hard to see in the video, but they are red, green, and orange.

Unfortunately, my programming cable is about 3 inches long (parallel port). I have an extra 6′ parallel cable, but it’s the wrong gender. So currently, I have to crawl behind my PC everytime I want to reprogram the AVR
I’m building a correct gender parallel cable now, so I don’t have to keep doing that. (Yeah…I know you can get them for $4…but I’m cheap)

Everyone keeps telling me I need to put resistors in series with the LEDs to limit current, but it seems to work ok without them, and thats 16*2 fewer solder joints I need to make. We’ll see if anything burns out hah.

March 11th:

Here is it about 50% wired: