LEDtern
A stunning 360° cylindrical LED display featuring a 32×8 pixel grid, BLE connectivity, and sound-reactive animations powered by a passionate community.
Summary
LEDtern combines a stunning cylindrical LED display with a passionate developer community. Powered by a custom ESP32S3 chip and a 32x8 pixel grid (512 RGB LEDs), it delivers wrap-around, sound-reactive visuals. The platform features a browser-based animation editor powered by Laravel, allowing creators to write custom math-driven formulas, preview them in real-time, and download them directly to the hardware.
Problem Solved
Most LED lanterns or lighting fixtures offer static or simple pulsing patterns. The goal was to build a fully customizable, wrap-around 360° cylindrical display that users could program themselves, share animations with a community, and control instantly over Bluetooth.
Key Features
- 32×8 Pixel Matrix (512 wrap-around RGB LEDs)
- Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for real-time control
- Sound-reactive and custom-authored animations
- Web-based animation editor and sharing platform
- Open-source firmware running on ESP32S3
Architecture Notes
What I Learned
- →Cylindrical diffusion is key — without proper spacing and diffusion materials, individual pixels look harsh instead of blending.
- →BLE packets need compact structuring — raw matrix coordinates are too large to stream smoothly over BLE, requiring custom delta compression.
- →Laravel + Inertia makes building a code-based canvas editor extremely fast and intuitive for users.
Future Improvements
- +Dedicated mobile app for iOS and Android
- +Local Wi-Fi syncing for multi-lantern displays
- +Physical audio line-in for lower latency sound reactivity