光立方制作全过程（一）
0赞北京奥运场馆之一 ——水立方相信让很多人留恋忘怀。最近的LED光立方亦是让人叹为观止。先上一段视频：
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjM0Njc0NTI0.html。
本博客将转载一个老外网站上的制作LED Cube 8x8x8的光立方。既然是老外网站，那肯定是英文的，限于水平，不敢贸然翻译成中文以免误导读者。希望有能力的可以试着翻译下。
原文：
先上一张最终的效果图，相当漂亮。
Create your own 8x8x8 LED Cube 3-dimensional display!
We believe this Instructable is the most comprehensive step-by-step guide to build an 8x8x8 LED Cube ever published on the intertubes. It will teach you everything from theory of operation, how to build the cube, to the inner workings of the software. We will take you through the software step by step, both the low level drivers/routines and how to create awesome animations. The software aspect of LED cubes is often overlooked, but a LED cube is only as awesome as the software it runs
About halfway through the Instructable, you will actually have a fully functional LED cube. The remaining steps will show you how to create the software.
I made this LED cube together with my friend chiller. The build took about 4 days from small scale prototyping to completed cube. Then another couple of hours to debug some faulty transistors.
The software is probably another 4-5 days of work combined
Step 1Skills required
At first glance this project might seem like an overly complex and daunting task. However, we are dealing with digital electronics here, so everything is either on or off!
I've been doing electronics for a long time, and for years i struggled with analog circuits. The analog circuits failed over half the time even if i followed instructions. One resistor or capacitor with a slightly wrong value, and the circuit doesn't work.
About 4 years ago, I decided to give microcontrollers a try. This completely changed my relationship with electronics. I went from only being able to build simple analog circuits, to being able to build almost anything!
A digital circuit doesn't care if a resistor is 1k ohm or 2k ohm, as long as it can distinguish high from low. And believe me, this makes it A LOT easier to do electronics!
With that said, there are still some things you should know before venturing out and building this rather large project.
You should have an understanding of:
- Basic electronics. (We would recommend against building this as your very first electronics project. But please read the Instructable. You'll still learn a lot!)
- How to solder.
- How to use a multimeter etc.
- Writing code in C (optional. We provide a fully functional program, ready to go) You should also have patience and a generous amount of free time.
