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Snowflake Decoration

This the main project documentation page for the snowflake project.

  • Description
  • Guides and Articles
  • Manual Build and Assembly
  • Pre-Assembled Kits
  • Hardware and Software Files
  • Simulator
  • Videos
  • Photo Gallery
  • More Snowflake Posts

Description

The snowflake project is a winter decoration consisting of a number of snowflake boards connected to one single string of wire. Each snowflake contains its own microcontroller and 19 bright and beautiful white LEDs.

Using very small and bright LEDs creates a unique and beautiful effect, like the sunlight sparkling in snow crystals.

At the start, the individual snowflakes will communicate with each other and determine their own location in the strand. Next, they display light patterns, which are synchronized between all boards.

Technically, the design is dead simple. The MCU is driving each LED individually with one GPIO. Each board has an input and output line for the bidirectional communication between the boards.

Guides and Articles

You find a large number of articles and guides covering various topics about the snowflake decoration:

  • How to Write Custom Snowflake Patterns (1)
  • Programming the Snowflake Decoration
  • How to Wire the Snowflake Decoration
  • Snowflake Configuration
  • Recreating the Human Perception of the Snowflake Sparkling Effect
  • Snowflake Project Videos
  • Snowflake Decoration Available on the Pimoroni Store

Manual Build and Assembly

Soldering the snowflakes is quite difficult, because of the small size of the LEDs on the front side. Besides this difficulty, everything else is very simple. Just add the LEDs, the MCU, and resistors to the board – done.

There is a header on each board you can use to program the Atmel SAM D20 E15 microcontroller. You will need a programmer, like the Segger J-Link to do this. 

If you order the boards, make sure to use a high-quality board manufacturer (e.g. Eurocircuits or PCBWay). The fine lines and pads on the front only look nice if they are produced in a very precise way. 

Pre-Assembled Kits

Buy the Snowflake Decoration from Pimoroni

Hardware and Software Files

You can find all the files in the following GitHub repository:

https://github.com/LuckyResistor/SnowFlakeProject

The repository includes the following files:

  • Component List (BOM)
  • Board Design
    • Eagle files
    • Gerber files
  • Documentation of how to build/connect the flakes.
  • Firmware binaries
  • Firmware source code.

Simulator

There is a simple simulator, to develop new patterns locally without an actual snowflake decoration:

https://github.com/LuckyResistor/SnowFlakeSceneSimulator

Videos

Photo Gallery

More Snowflake Posts

How to Wire the Snowflake Decoration

How to Wire the Snowflake Decoration

If you own an original snowflake kit or produced boards from the sources, you have to wire them by yourself. The pre-assembled kit from Pimoroni comes with some nice flex-cables, but you may want to ...
Read More
Snowflake Power Converter

Snowflake Power Converter

I designed a very simple power converter for the snow flake decoration. The snow flake boards require 3.3V, a voltage which is not commonly available in a household. Therefore the power converter takes 5V USB ...
Read More
Recreating the Human Perception of the Snowflake Sparkling Effect

Recreating the Human Perception of the Snowflake Sparkling Effect

The sparkling lights on the real snowflake decoration are stunning and beautiful. Yet, it seems to be impossible to capture the effect with a video. After some experiments, I created a new video with a ...
Read More
Snowflake Component Side

Snowflake Component Side

Today I show you a little bit longer video about the assembly of the component side of the snowflake panel. Compared with the very small 0402 LEDs (1mm x 0.5mm) on the front side, the ...
Read More
Programming the Snowflake Decoration

Programming the Snowflake Decoration

In this brief article, I will discuss the requirements to flash a custom firmware to your Pimoroni snowflake decoration. I assume you have some programming knowledge and have previously worked with an Arduino Uno or ...
Read More
Perfect Prototype Boards from Eurocircuits

Perfect Prototype Boards from Eurocircuits

Today prototype boards from Eurocircuits arrived. The quality of this boards is outstanding. I do not know any other board house which delivers this incredible quality of boards. They really thrive for perfection ...
Read More

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