Before putting it into volume production I have to choose which color PCB to use and possibly change the LED from WS2812 to SK6812. They are not footprint compatible but I’ve since learned from several Chinese manufacturers that the WS2812 3535 is harder to produce compared to the SK6812 3535. Some told me that they were discontinuing the WS2812 version – not a good sign. Or, they could be trying to convince me to switch because that is what they manufacture. I still have some homework to do here.

I had the first prototype (black PCBs) ready to show at the 2018 World Maker Faire in New York. One person stopped by and liked the idea, but the large thru-hole area at the bottom for the controller board was off-putting. He suggested that the area for the controller board was too tall and would result in a clunky appearing enclosure that was at odds with the streamlined cube.

He was right. (Thank you, whoever you are!)

For the sake of appearance it made sense to let the builder mount the controller board inside the enclosure along with the power supply.

Much. Nicer. Looking.

You’d think it should have been obvious, but I didn’t see it... This minimalist shape has an added benefit: it is smaller and therefore less expensive.

Win!

I fabbed some and here is what it looks like next to Mjonir:

For the final product I may round some of the PCB corners for an even sleeker look. I may also modify the baseboard such that each LED level can be daisy-chained to other levels. Some builders may want one, large chain of 512 LEDs. Or perhaps two chains of 256 LEDs – who knows? This is a no-cost option and worth considering.