Beating Heart

Materials You'll Need:

Arduino Uno: The central brain of our display.
LED Matrix: A grid of LEDs (8×8) to show our hearts.
Resistors: To limit current through the LEDs and protect them, 8 x 220ohm.
Jumper Wires: To connect everything together.
Breadboard: For easily prototyping the circuit without soldering.

Step 1: Connect the Hardware

Let’s start with our electronic connections—precision is key!

Set Up the LED Matrix:
- Connect the rows (R[]) of the matrix to Arduino Digital Pins 2 through 9.
- Connect the columns (C[]) of the matrix to Arduino Digital Pins 10 through 17.
Resistor Placement:
- Place a resistor on each column connection to limit the current and prevent burning out your LEDs.

Note: Double-check each connection to ensure everything is correctly placed and secure.

Step 2: Code Time!

It’s time to give life to our LED hearts.

Fire Up Your Arduino IDE:
- Open the Arduino IDE on your computer.
Sketch the Code:
- Start by defining your pin setups and initializing the pins in the setup() function.
- Create functions Display() for lighting up the matrix and Clear() for turning off all LEDs, ensuring smooth transitions between animations.
- Use arrays bigHeart and smallHeart to define the heart shapes in binary, where 1 turns on an LED, and 0 turns it off.
Upload the Code:
- Connect your Arduino to your computer using the USB cable.
- Select the correct board and port from the Tools menu.
- Click the Upload button.

Step 3: Test Your Heart Display!

Now, let’s see the heart beat!

Power Up Your Arduino:
- Connect your Arduino to a power source (via USB cable or external battery).
Watch the Magic:
- The LED matrix should start displaying big and small hearts alternately, creating a pulsating effect.
- Adjust the delays in the Display() function if the animation is too fast or too slow.

🌟 Voilà! Your Heartbeat LED Matrix Display is Alive! 🌟

Troubleshooting Tips:

- No Lights on the Matrix? Check your wiring, especially the connections to Arduino.
- Random LEDs Lighting Up? Ensure there are no short circuits in your breadboard setup.
- Animation Issues? Double-check the logic in your loop and display functions to ensure they cycle through the patterns correctly.

Congratulations, you’ve just made a beating heart display! This project not only lights up LEDs but also brightens anyone’s day with its charming patterns. As David Suzuki reminds us, ‘We’re all interconnected. For example, every breath we take contains billions of atoms that we share with all other living beings.’ In the world of electronics and coding, remember that the possibilities are endless—keep experimenting, keep learning, and most importantly, keep enjoying the wonderful interconnectedness of science!

Beating Heart: Arduino Uno R3, 8x8 Dot Matrix