SEP16

How to control 8x8 LED matrix with Arduino

LEDs are a lot of fun, but when it comes to controlling large number of LEDs things get a bit confusing for beginners. One of problems is how to physically connect all those LEDs to microcontroller that does not have enough IO pins and second one is how to control it in software/firmware.

Besides multiplexing methods that we implement in code, digital chip manufacturers made our job much easier by developing chips that multiplex LEDs on their own. One of those chips is MAX7219 that we have seen in use for Word Clock is also used in this tutorial. Code for this tutorial is written for Arduino and is tested on Intel Edison Kit. Of course, you could use your own Arduino or any other microcontroller - the principle is the same.

by push_reset