I built myself a similar project recently, on a single shield. Features (software, supported by hardware) include:
- dual colour (red, green (orange by subtraction)) 8x8 LED matrix;
- user menu, through either push button or infrared (Sony remote), which allows one of the following options:
- scrolling text message (hardcoded for now);
- scrolling time (from DS1307 clock);
- Conway's game;
- set scrolling speed;
I am thinking of adding a few more features, but they will be on a separate shield.
The circuit was built on a protoshield, with soldered wires connecting the parts, a pretty messy job, but fast enough for a prototype.
The schematics is based on the one posted here:
[I am not allowed to post the link, but google for "led-matrix-projector"]
(it uses 2 shift registers 74HC595 and ULN2803 sink driver).
I am wondering if there is interest in building a shield for a LED matrix display. (The only problem I see at the moment is the multitude of 8x8 LED matrix types out there. This means that the matrix I used won't be necessarily available to everyone.)
I already designed the board (Eagle) and I can share it.