Sky ceiling PCB tiles
Custom LED circuit-board tiles that link together into a night-sky ceiling. Also the excuse to learn board design properly.
Sketch of the plan, not a photo. Not built yet.
What it is
A tile is one circuit board with a scatter of small LEDs and connectors on its edges. Tiles join into a grid. Together they draw a sky.
This is where the running gag gets real: very big hands, very small SMD parts.
Why build it
It is a board-design project with a reason to exist. One tile is easy to get wrong cheaply. Many tiles force good decisions about power, data and assembly.
A ceiling is also a patient test. It has to be safe, cool and repairable, because nobody wants to take it down twice.
The plan, step by step
This is the plan as it stands. Steps get rewritten as the build teaches us things.
- 01
Prototype one tile on the bench
Off-the-shelf LEDs on a breadboard or a strip, to settle spacing and brightness by eye.
- 02
Design the first board
Schematic, layout, edge connectors. Keep the first revision small.
- 03
Order a small batch and assemble
Expect revision one to be wrong somewhere. Write down exactly where.
- 04
Solve power and data across tiles
How power is injected, how data passes tile to tile, and what happens when one tile fails.
- 05
Plan mounting and service
A way to hang tiles and take a single one down without disturbing its neighbours.