Need to power 25 RGB LEDs and 25 push buttons without a breadboard.

Using Arduino LEDs and Multiplexing
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I need to create a physical game for a school project and my group has decided to make a connect four style game in which you throw a ball at the spot you want on the grid.

I prototyped one square with an uno, a red led, and a push button (I attached a video of it).

I now need to scale this up to 25 squares and use RGB LEDs instead. The problem I am having is that I have no idea what Arduino board to use and how to do this without a breadboard.

I am new to Arduino and would appreciate it if someone led me in the right direction. Thanks!

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Hardware-wise, the easy way would be a string of 25 WS2812B, and a library like Neopixel from Adafruit.com, or Fastled.h (on github). Programming wise, I've only done whole strings in one color, so you'd need some other help there,

Uno would be fine for controlling that. Worst case power would be 25 LEDs x 0.06A/LED for full-on white, so a 5V 2A supply would be plenty.

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You might want to look into multiplexing, charlieplexing, gugaplexing, and/or shift registers to get more inputs/outputs connected to IO pins.

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ShawnHagh:
I now need to scale this up to 25 squares and use RGB LEDs instead.

25 RGB LEDs ==> WS2812/ NeoPixels.

ShawnHagh:
The problem I am having is that I have no idea what Arduino board to use and how to do this without a breadboard.

A Nano is the most practical. And a soldering iron (etc.). (Also stripboard.)

ShawnHagh:
I am new to Arduino and would appreciate it if someone led me in the right direction. Thanks!

Someone LED you? Oh, the irony! :roll_eyes:

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Thanks guys, all this information helped a lot, especially the WS2812B strip :slight_smile:

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