This LED Edge-Lit Acrylic Matrix Makes a Stunning 8x8 Display

LED matrices have been a popular way to display low-resolution graphics for decades now. The most common types utilize single-color LEDs arranged in a simple grid that can be controlled with inexpensive microcontrollers and shift registers. Fancier models sometimes come with RGB LEDs, but those are more difficult to control. Thankfully Debra’s LED edge-lit acrylic matrix should be a lot easier to control, and looks significantly nicer.

Debra, of Geek Mom Projects, just posted a tweet about this build and it’s already getting a lot of well-deserved attention. At first glance, it looks like a standard acrylic LED edge-lit widget, with the light refracting off of etched patterns in the transparent plastic. But, in actuality, there are 64 SK6812 individually-addressable RGB LEDs on a strip that weaves between each row of etched squares. Each LED can be lit up in any color, so the grid can act like a matrix display.

The SK6812 LEDs are very similar to the popular WS2812B LEDs we see in a lot of projects, and the only real difference is that they’re smaller. Like Adafruit NeoPixels, they can be chained and then controlled with just about any microcontroller through just three wires. They’re perfect for a project like this because they’re easier to use and require far fewer microcontroller I/O pins than a standard LED matrix. The result is gorgeous, and you can recreate Debra’s design if you have access to a laser cutter.