Too Thin for Wood Screws

After deciding on a wooden frame, there had to be a good alternative to welding which was a key component of the original design. This 3/16" thick masonite is too thin for wood screws and tape wouldn't give the look I want. The final viable option was glue.

Thanks to an all-purpose sealing and bonding adhesive, The frame is now glued and ready for painting.

Look! A Frame!

Thanks to the help of my dad and Metal Specialties (Monterey, CA), I now have a wooden frame cut out. The waterjet over at Metal Specialties was able to cut out the entire frame with amazing accuracy. The pieces just snap together to form the two hemispheres my 4 foot diameter globe. The frames panels line up perfectly with every other longitudinal and latitudinal line.

Each City is a Pixel

Image Credit: Adafruit.com

Today, I decided on the type of LEDs my globe will use for the individual cities. I wanted the LEDs to be individually addressable with RGB control. They would have to be Arduino friendly and chainable because an arduino doesn't have 1,500 PWM pins. I'd also like it to run at 5 volts.

After reviewing these specifications, I decided on using the WS2812B, chainable RGB LED chip. The photo above shows Adafruit Industries NeoPixel Mini PCBs, WS2812B breakouts with resistors, diodes, and, most importantly, larger soldering pads. This seems like the best option for their price. I'll use Adafruits NeoPixel library for Arduino to easily control the 500 pixels I need.

3,000 solder joints here I come!