[HH] Controlling lots of LEDs with a microcontroller

[Tom Metro]

Nuno Sucena Almeida wrote:
> ...if you want to avoid too much soldering, consider using a led
> matrix, instead of individual LEDs.

That was my first thought as well. It'll give you a perfectly consistent
LED spacing. But in addition to it not conforming to the curve, and that
these types of matrix modules are a tad bulky, you would still have some
soldering challenges. You'll still have a bunch of pins (12 for example)
on each module and you'll have to mount it to perf board or sections of
rigid PCB. You could, for example, put each display on its own PCB
segment, and join the segments with some solid wire jumpers, which would
act as a hinge.

Another possibility is to use flexible LED strips, like these:
http://www.google.com/products?as_q=flexible+led+strips&num=100&scoring=p&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&price1=&price2=&as_occt=any&show=dd&safe=active

You'd presumably use as many strips as you want rows in your display.

But they have two problems. One is that they typically don't have a
dense enough spacing to make an effective display. The other is that
they are typically wired in series, so you'd have to hack it by cutting
traces and tacking on wires, which would be a mess.

The ideal solution would be to create a custom display board using the
same flexible PCB substrate used for the flexible strips. Incorporate
the matrix driver onto the board. Use SMD LEDs and attach them with
solder paste and baking in the oven, rather than individual soldering.

Though not a quickie project.

Also, consider using RGB LEDs so you can create even more effects.

 -Tom