ベン・ギルド (Ben Guild)


The “Err” sign I built with Peggy (make yours today!)

2013/10/03 UPDATE: Here's a build of the other Mooninite “Ignignokt” with the revised “Peggy 2” board!

Evil Mad Scientist sells a programmable LED matrix kit called “Peggy” that enables you to build all sorts of things, including a “Mooninite” sign from the Aqua Teen Hunger Force film's bomb-scare in Boston, MA… if you're crafty-enough!

Blue and Pink “Err” Mooninite (Aqua Teen Hunger Force) LED sign
One of the original, blue and pink-colored “Err” Mooninite signs. (photo credit)

Things to consider

For this, you'll need basic soldering and electronics assembly skills, but it's not a difficult build. — I wouldn't recommend learning on this kit, as it's fairly expensive compared to some other, smaller kits, and if you made a mistake you might risk ruining the whole board. (… and your project!)

I actually didn't have enough blue LEDs to finish the right-arm of the character, so I had to use a few of the leftover pink ones. — Apparently if you tell Evil Mad Scientist in advance that you're building-out this design, though, they'll send you the correct amount plus a few spares, just in case. 😅

… So, I'll swap out the other LEDs later. 👍🏻

Another thing that you can ask them is to program the photosensor to correctly be able to handle indoor light versus outdoor light. Or, you can reprogram this yourself if you're interested in working with the microcontroller on the board. You can also reprogram it in other ways to control individual LEDs in the matrix. — By default, all of the LEDs are on unless you have it set to interact with the photosensor.

The build

I finished assembling and soldering everything in about 4 hours on a Friday evening, and gave it to my friend for his birthday afterward. 🎂

Some of Err's facial features (such as his eyebrows, for example) aren't on the grid of LEDs that Peggy provides, either. You have to be a bit creative on bending the leads for each LED for these areas, and this definitely requires some extra time and effort. However, this project's still a lot of fun to build! — Peggy isn't just for building Mooninite signs, either. You can make whatever you want in whatever color you want, and even program it to do more advanced things like display images as you would on an LCD, etc.

“Peggy” build, “Err”, Phase 0: Laying out the components.
Phase 0: Laying out the components.
“Peggy” build, “Err”, Phase 1: Initial soldering.
Phase 1: Initial soldering.
“Peggy” build, “Err”, Phase 2: After 1½ hours… base components mounted, first test LED mounted and soldered.
Phase 2: After 1½ hours… base components mounted, first test LED mounted and soldered.
“Peggy” build, “Err”, Phase 3: Finished the pink outline.
Phase 3: Finished the pink outline.
“Peggy” build, “Err”, Phase 4: Left foot is finished!
Phase 4: Left foot is finished!
“Peggy” build, “Err”, Phase 5: Left arm, and half of the face are done.
Phase 5: Left arm, and half of the face are done.
“Peggy” build, “Err”, Phase 6: Nearly complete! Just needs the finishing touches now.
Phase 6: Nearly complete after 2 more hours! Just needs the finishing touches now.

Because the board is mounted on the wall at my friend's house, I don't have a photo handy of the finished project after I swapped out the remaining pink LEDs for blue ones on the right arm. — But, I can assure you… it looks great!

If you're interested in hardware, check out Evil Mad Scientist and their other kits, too. 😎