Kraken64

Posted September 14, 2021


Table of Contents

Details

Kraken64 lurks in the depths, waiting to mesmerize you with its color-changing chromatophores.

It consists of three different printed circuit boards (PCBs), stacked up and mounted to each other with M2 standoffs and screws.

The top PCB has the Kraken design in exposed FR4 (fiberglass) on both sides that allows the light from the middle PCB to shine through. A matte black finish (soldermask) provides all of the details of the design on both sides. Holes for M2 bolts/screws are included on all three PCBs.

The middle PCB has 64 WS2812C-2020 2mm square addressable RGB LEDs and eight decoupling capacitors already surface-mounted in the shape of the Kraken design. They’re arranged so that the head and each tentacle can easily be lit completely individually. The top and bottom of the PCB are large 5V and GND planes, although the LEDs need only 5mA per color channel each, 960mA total max for solid white, full brightness. Two separate three-pin headers are provided. One for 5V, Data In, and GND, and the other for 5V, Data Out, and GND. The Data Out pin can be used to connect to even more LEDs.

The bottom PCB has the Kraken design in white silkscreen on both sides.

Options

Kraken64 can be purchased as a kit with the three PCBs and M2 hardware for you to use your own controller, such as one of my LED controllers, a Pixelblaze by ElectroMage, etc.

The Fully Assembled option includes all three PCBs, already assembled with M2 hardware and pre-programmed Adafruit QT Py SAMD21.

Specifications

  • PCB Size: 3.39 x 3.39 x .063 inch (86 x 86 x 1.6 mm) each
  • Three 2 layer printed circuit boards
  • FR4 substrate
  • Black SMOBC (solder mask over bare copper)
  • Lead-Free HASL (Hot Air Solder Leveling) Finish
  • Designed and assembled in the US by Evil Genius Labs

Code

Open source touch demo: https://github.com/jasoncoon/kraken64-qt-py

Assembly Instructions

  1. Carefully align and solder the Adafruit QT Py SAMD21 on the pads on the bottom of the LED PCB.
  2. Make sure the USB port is pointing down, and that the pins line up, as labeled.
  3. Double-check the pads, then solder one pad.
  4. Triple-check the pads, making sure they are properly lined up. Once a second pad is soldered, it it much more difficult to remove or adjust the alignment.
  5. Solder the rest of the pads.
  6. Optional: align and solder an Adafruit LiPo Charger BFF, which allows the Kraken to run off of LiPo batteries.
  7. Arrange the three PCBs, making sure the graphics line up with the LEDs.
  8. Insert M2x4mm Button Head Hex Screws into the holes in the top PCB (the one with the yellowish exposed FR4).
  9. Hand-tighten M2x5+6 Standoffs onto the screws, on the back side of the top PCB.
  10. Carefully center and place the LED PCB onto the standoffs, with the LED side facing the top PCB.
  11. Hand-tighten M2 Nylon Hex Standoffs onto the back side of the LED PCB.
  12. Center and place the bottom PCB onto the standoffs.
  13. Hand-tighten M2x4mm Button Head Hex Screws through the bottom PCB, into the standoffs.