Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
These have been around for a while, but they were always hidden in boxes, and I wondered if the eye movement effect was cheated with a few LEDs. When I came across some sitting loose on the shelf at a local shop I turned one on, and when I saw it was a large matrix of LEDs I bought one for us to explore.
The solar section is fairly standard, but with a bit of smoothing and a zener to cap the open circuit voltage at 5V. The eyes are each formed from a shaped array of 52 LEDs multiplexed on an 8 by 8 matrix (capable of running up to 64 LEDs).
The microcontrollers running the eyes have a simple single wire synchronisation feature that sends a sync pulse once during each pattern cycle to make sure they match up. The PCBs are identical, so any module can be the master or slave unit, and if desired you could theoretically add more eyes to the network.
The software is basic. It follows a short looping animation sequence. It would have been nice to use a randomiser to control the eye position and blinking, and then fill in intermediate frames as needed.
These modules can be run on a voltage between 3V and 5V with the higher voltage resulting in a brighter effect.
These units are branded Smart-solar in the UK, but probably go under other brands elsewhere.
Supporting the channel with a dollar or two on Patreon helps keep it independent of YouTube's quirks, avoids intrusive mid-video adverts, gives early access, bonus footage and regular quiet Patreon live streams.
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#ElectronicsCreators
These have been around for a while, but they were always hidden in boxes, and I wondered if the eye movement effect was cheated with a few LEDs. When I came across some sitting loose on the shelf at a local shop I turned one on, and when I saw it was a large matrix of LEDs I bought one for us to explore.
The solar section is fairly standard, but with a bit of smoothing and a zener to cap the open circuit voltage at 5V. The eyes are each formed from a shaped array of 52 LEDs multiplexed on an 8 by 8 matrix (capable of running up to 64 LEDs).
The microcontrollers running the eyes have a simple single wire synchronisation feature that sends a sync pulse once during each pattern cycle to make sure they match up. The PCBs are identical, so any module can be the master or slave unit, and if desired you could theoretically add more eyes to the network.
The software is basic. It follows a short looping animation sequence. It would have been nice to use a randomiser to control the eye position and blinking, and then fill in intermediate frames as needed.
These modules can be run on a voltage between 3V and 5V with the higher voltage resulting in a brighter effect.
These units are branded Smart-solar in the UK, but probably go under other brands elsewhere.
Supporting the channel with a dollar or two on Patreon helps keep it independent of YouTube's quirks, avoids intrusive mid-video adverts, gives early access, bonus footage and regular quiet Patreon live streams.
patreon.com/bigclive
Alternatively, for a single coffee contribution you can use PayPal:-
paypal.com/paypalme/bigclive
#ElectronicsCreators
