LED Blinkenlights IC in toys - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: katzohki
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 03, 2017, 04:20:44 pm
content: You see a lot of cheap blinky LED toys out there and many seem to share a common circuit. Especially the type where you would push a single button to turn on and scroll through modes like ON / BLINK / BLINK FASTER etc. I'm just wondering, since it seems to be quite ubiquitous, what is the common factor in these? I don't see an obvious controller that is specifically for this, but I might be missing something. Are all the cheap Chinese toys just sharing similar code or is there a common IC in use?I guess I should mention that I understand how Icouldblink some LEDs, but what I'm asking is what's the common method you see in blinky toys?

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 03, 2017, 06:22:07 pm
content: It could be a microcontroller or a custom made IC. There's no way of telling, other than removing the epoxy coating and looking at it through a microscope.

author: katzohki
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 03, 2017, 07:35:54 pm
content: Quote from: Hero999 on October 03, 2017, 06:22:07 pmAh yes, I forgot to mention, but it does seem like some of the ones I've seen have been epoxied flip-chips. That's not an option for me.

author: bjcuizon
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 03, 2017, 09:54:33 pm
content: Yeah, its really difficult to tell unless you ask the Chinese manufacturers...And I think it's wire-bonded directly to the board to save cost. The small board/module I have was from a Santa hat with chasing leds and I reused it to blink 4-5 leds IIRC.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2017, 08:47:36 am
content: Quote from: katzohki on October 03, 2017, 07:35:54 pmAll of the ones I've seen have the IC, encapsulated in epoxy. It's known as chip on board and is nothing new.https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-chip-on-boards-are-made

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2017, 07:30:44 pm
content: 99% likely it is a small OTP microcontroller, which has on board oscillator and probably bonding pads for 6 IO pins, and probably 1k or so of ROM on board. Programmed when still a wafer during test for the customer, and then sliced up and delivered ready to bond to the cheap SRBP and then blobbed. That probably is cheaper in bulk than any other method, and is easy for the OEM to customise for all applications simply by putting the right program on the chips before cutting the wafer.Others use rejected parts from the manufacturer, sorting them for example if they do not need all pins working, and if they do not need certain functionality as well on the die, to get a really cheap part, though there is extra overhead to test each one, or just toss those that do not work at an early stage after bonding.

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2017, 07:56:07 pm
content: There are these "PX203B" modules on eBay, but I can't find any information on what they dohttp://www.ebay.com/itm/10pcs-LED-Driver-Cycle-Flash-Controller-3V-For-6pcs-LEDs/332168927789