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Pixels

A set of smart dice, the same size as traditional ones, full of LEDs and Bluetooth-enabled.

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Pixels are a set of 'electronically augmented' dice. Completely customizable, they can be used as a drop-in replacement for regular dice, and are configured via bluetooth. They can also be used to keep track of all your rolls, direct your phone to play sound effects, or even used to play DnD online.

I am creating a set of electronically augmented dice. They light up all different colors, know which way they roll and are configurable with an app on your phone. The electronic dice are the same size as regular polyhedral playing dice and are meant to be used as a drop in replacement in your favorite board or role-playing games.

They feel just like regular dice, thanks to their unique construction and features, are incredibly strong and in fact waterproof.

Although I currently only have a D6 and D20 prototyped, I plan on offering a full DnD set when the project is ready for crowdfunding.

The dice use a bluetooth microcontroller, an accelerometer and RGB leds soldered onto a flexible PCB that is then folded into the the polyhedral shape of each die. On top of that, they include a rechargeable battery and small coil for wireless inductive charging.

Although the primary purpose of the dice is to add fun visuals to your existing games, you will have the opportunity to take full advantage of all the integrated tech, should you want to. From keeping track of your stats to accessibility or online roll playing integrations, there is a wealth of possibilities associated with these little devices once you connect them to your phone or computer.

The dice have already been presented at both the Maker Faire and Gen Con to incredible receptions, and so I am now working on trying to bring them to life!

D20 Layout Bottom.pdf

D20 PCB Layout, bottom

Adobe Portable Document Format - 76.30 kB - 09/30/2019 at 14:02

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D20 Layout Top.pdf

D20 PCB Layout, top

Adobe Portable Document Format - 129.79 kB - 09/30/2019 at 14:02

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D20v4.pdf

D20 prototype using new nrf52810 microcontroller.

Adobe Portable Document Format - 261.63 kB - 09/28/2019 at 17:34

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Dice V3RevC PCB Bot.pdf

Next revision of the Dice. Bottom of Flexible PCB

Adobe Portable Document Format - 73.77 kB - 03/01/2018 at 17:17

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Dice V3RevC Schematic.pdf

Next revision of the Dice. Schematics

Adobe Portable Document Format - 270.04 kB - 03/01/2018 at 17:17

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View all 9 files

  • 1 × MCP73831T-2ATI/OT Linear Battery Charger Controller Li-Ion/Li-Pol 15mA to 500mA 4.2V
  • 1 × MIC2095-1YMT-TR Power Distribution Switch
  • 1 × AS-10100-60-113 Lipo Battery, 60mAh
  • 1 × TDXKTL8 10mm 7uH wireless charging coil
  • 1 × BU52272NUZ-ZE2 Omnipolar Hall Effect Sensor,

View all 12 components

  • Pixels

    Jean Simonet03/18/2020 at 16:58 5 comments

    Hi there friends,

    The electronic dice know have a new name: Pixels. I always knew "the electronic dice" wasn't a great product name, but also didn't want to rush into finding a new name for them. I'm happy with Pixels, it hits a bunch of notes I really like: It sounds like Pixies and evokes video games. Pixels have a new website and twitter account; feel free to check them out ;)

    https://pixels-dice.com/
    https://twitter.com/pixels_dice/

    I posted a few videos already, and the dice have really picked up a lot of attention, it's been amazing! Of course it also means that the pressure is on to get this darn things manufactured!
    So were are things? In short: more revisions, more updates and more research.

    New boards

    I think I've lost track of the number of board revisions, but new D20 boards just arrived as I write this. I ordered them in all the colors that PCBWay offered, as I want to see how the color of the board affects the final look of transparent dice.

    Read more »

  • Dice Assembly

    Jean Simonet11/05/2019 at 01:02 6 comments

    I put together a short video of how I assemble a die, for anyone who's interested!

    Here are the steps shown in the video, and some notes to go along:

    Read more »

  • Light and Dark Mode...

    Jean Simonet09/30/2019 at 14:41 5 comments

    Hey there!

    A quick update with pictures of the updated D20. I am testing different combinations of materials and silkscreen colors for the dice.

    The challenge here is to find a combination that diffuses the light nicely, without blocking most of it out and still looking interesting when off.

    Read more »

  • Prototype 4

    Jean Simonet08/25/2019 at 00:19 0 comments

    Hello again friends! It's finally time for an update on the Electronic dice. I just returned from showing the latest version at Gen Con, and it was fantastic! So, what's new?

    Well, first and foremost, the new prototype is of a D20! Still regular size, still full of LEDs, still inductively charged, and still awesome. In fact, I think the D20 is by far the most fun light up die. There are, however, several other differences with previous prototypes.

    Read more »

  • Prototype 3

    Jean Simonet07/02/2018 at 17:03 6 comments

    This is the next revision of the Electronic Dice. I've spent a lot of time putting it together, and it is really coming along!

    Looks pretty nice, doesn't it?

    So first things first, this version is exactly 16mm, the same size as a regular dice. And as you can see here next to the previous prototype, it is also more rounded. It's amazing how much difference 1mm can make, both in how the dice feels in your hand, and how much harder it is to put together!

    Read more »

  • RGB Dice prototype

    Jean Simonet02/04/2018 at 22:47 1 comment

    Hey all,

    I finally finished the second board for the Dice, the full RGB one this time! It's pretty awesome already! I don't have a flexible PCB version yet, but this here is a prototype board.

    Those APA102 2x2mm look really awesome!

    Read more »

  • Tiny Lipo Batteries

    Jean Simonet12/29/2017 at 19:52 0 comments

    Following a suggestion from a commenter on youtube, I was able to find a lipo battery small enough to fit in the dice! I received samples early this week, very exciting!

    Lipo next to current battery (non-rechargeable lithium)

    I got so excited to start seeing if I could make the next version only 16mm wide that I started working on the schematics and now 3D CAD. That's just as well, since now I can get prototype boards made while I continue to work on the firmware.

    Read more »

  • Twitch streaming

    Jean Simonet12/20/2017 at 22:07 0 comments

    Going to do some streaming in just a bit, stop on by if you like! http://twitch.tv/jean_simonet

  • A shorter presentation video!

    Jean Simonet12/01/2017 at 00:25 0 comments

    I put together a shorter video, less technical and more like a sizzle-reel.

    Hopefully I can get back to work soon! Taking pictures and editing stuff together, let alone re-recording stuff a gazillion times, ends up sucking up soooo much time...

    Anyhow, hope you all like it,

    Cheers!

View all 9 project logs

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Discussions

Nicolas Tremblay wrote 03/11/2021 at 19:30 point

The kickstarter is finally on

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Roman V wrote 03/10/2021 at 03:54 point

This is pretty awesome, though the design files are a few years out of date. will they be updated?

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Nicolas Tremblay wrote 03/11/2021 at 19:31 point

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pixels-dice/pixels-the-electronic-dice

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Ruban wrote 03/06/2021 at 14:54 point

Will the app have some way to automatically log rolls as well? Would love to be able to automatically log the rolls/show the distribution of rolls in a specific session for kicks!

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Nicolas Tremblay wrote 03/11/2021 at 19:31 point

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pixels-dice/pixels-the-electronic-dice

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kyledeuser wrote 02/27/2021 at 00:21 point

TAKE MY MONEY! Please Notify as soon as these are available for purchase!

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Nicolas Tremblay wrote 03/11/2021 at 19:31 point

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pixels-dice/pixels-the-electronic-dice

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Romulus350 wrote 09/01/2020 at 22:18 point

Hi, some news about this awesome project?? =)

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Jesse wrote 08/03/2020 at 00:02 point

Do you have a part number for the antenna? AE1

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Daniel wrote 05/10/2020 at 04:07 point

This is one of the coolest projects on HaD, not just because dice are awesome. It's one of the very few projects, that are so interdisciplinary. This includes everything, from the first basic electrical prototypes to polished functional prototypes with all the epoxy modeling. And then the whole "How can I make it so it can be mass-produced?" thing. Extremely fascinating to follow ;)

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James wrote 04/02/2020 at 14:43 point

This is amazing.

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bobgreenwade wrote 03/24/2020 at 23:42 point

This is fascinating, and awesome!

I have a request regarding the D6 version, on behalf of HERO System players. In HERO, damage is typically rolled as STUN and BODY -- STUN knocks out, while BODY wounds and/or kills. STUN is read as the normal number of pips, while each die does 0 BODY for 1 STUN, 1 BODY for 2-5 STUN, or 2 BODY for 6 STUN.

I think my fellow HERO players would be quite impressed if, in the end, there was some way to indicate BODY with the LEDs; or, failing that, they'd at least be pleased if BODY showed up on the app.

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mpinner wrote 03/24/2020 at 22:45 point

this is so unbelievably cool

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Frederik wrote 03/03/2020 at 08:30 point

Hi I was wondering is you are going to upload the PCB and schematic files, or the Gerber files? As an engineering student and a DnD nerd would love to make myself a pair of these dice. Keep up the good work!

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Alex G wrote 02/25/2020 at 08:12 point

Hi there! First of all excellent work on the development of these, looking forward to the kick-starter. 

I have a small suggestion however, I see you are using a voltage divider for the battery voltage so you can sample it without blowing up your ADC. As you know you introduce a bit of a leakage current from the battery through the resistor, the leakage is extremely small and seems negligible BUT I would still suggest to add a MOSFET between the battery and the divider to switch the readings on and off. This would also allow you to use smaller values for the divider resistors which, in my experience, causes less issues in the long run (such as inaccurate readings etc.). I think this could increase the shelf life by a bit, also preserving the limited charge cycles of the LiPo battery. Again, this may seem as overkill or unnecessary but if you are considering making a revision for the PCB and have them room I would highly recommend it! For the MOSFET I would recommend the SSM3K56ACT,L3F (N-Channel mosfet, the P-Channel variant is SSM3J56ACT,L3F), these MOSFET's are almost as small as a 0402 package and I have had great experience with them! You could use P0.06 for switching the MOSFET.

Anyway keep up the amazing work! Both the engineer and tabletop-player part of me are extremely happy seeing this :)

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mlyons1340 wrote 03/13/2020 at 15:08 point

You can also route the negative end to a gpio of the microcontroller and leave it high impedance until you need to sample when you drive it low.  This wouldn't require additional parts.

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Jean Simonet wrote 04/03/2020 at 19:05 point

Oh man, I don't know how I missed your comment Alex. Thank you very much, and I think you are absolutely right about the voltage dividers. There will be at least one more revision before the dice are mass manufactured (possibly two) and I will definitely be looking into leakage current again, especially since I've added a couple more voltage dividers since this project log!

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cull3n1901 wrote 02/23/2020 at 23:11 point

omg I can't wait to buy these!

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Dmitry Kabak wrote 01/28/2020 at 12:19 point

Excellent work, and a nice landing! I love your project so much, and will definitely buy some! (and re-program them, muhaha). I've made some of my own, with nrf52 and leds, but they are HUGE and not too much throwable. So I just enjoy your engineering skills, and desire to make this project a finished product!

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Maximilian Laurenz wrote 12/10/2019 at 16:58 point

Have you seen this project?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1928372437/godice-your-favorite-dice-games-reimagined 

It's a simpler design without the LEDs, but I like the idea with the shells to convert the D6 into another die.

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Hexastorm wrote 12/12/2019 at 08:41 point

Very good pick... Looked at their timeline.. they started in june 2019 which seems incredibly fast. If I look at the videos.. i am not sure if they really have a working dice, let alone a balanced one. They did produce the gocube so I assume they r up to the task or might have a working one.

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Michał wrote 10/13/2019 at 12:04 point

Pro level. Congrats!

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Peter Smith wrote 10/03/2019 at 05:03 point

Any chance you can publish the Bluetooth specs? (I write Bluetooth-control apps for the Windows store, and I'd love to support these)!

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Jean Simonet wrote 10/03/2019 at 13:35 point

I most definitely will! You could technically infer the specs right now from the code on github, but that'll be a bit painful. At some point I'll extract it out into a nice document.

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crjeder wrote 01/12/2018 at 14:33 point

They look amazing!

Are those dice stil fair? Or do the most of the time show e. g. the face on the top of the battery?

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Jean Simonet wrote 02/04/2018 at 22:59 point

Sorry for not replying sooner. The current version is pretty poorly balanced, and I can tell you that with perfect certainty, as I can record every single throw. :) The 4 face comes up about 15% more than any other...

I have several plans of attack to make the next version fair. For starter, I am getting rid of the screws, and making sure the battery is centered. But I also will be able to cut little strips of sticky lead tape (used for golf clubs I think) and stick them on the board or case where they need to go. It'll be hard to know where that is until I have the first *new* die assembled, but I think it'll work!

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Juan Rial wrote 09/12/2019 at 09:44 point

I wonder how difficult it would be to build a miniature version of those machines they use at tyre shops to balance your wheels? That would drastically cut down on the time required to balance them.

How do they balance commercial dice anyway? I can hardly believe those are balanced by tossing them a couple thousand times and recording the results each time. ;)

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Bastiaan wrote 12/06/2017 at 18:45 point

This is a really awesome project and I enjoyed your video. You talked about looking for rechargeable batteries that fit the requirements, have you looked at super capacitors? There should be ones with a decent capacity at the size of the battery you are using and will keep components to charge it to a minimum. Maybe it won't fit the energy requirements you have, especially with Bluetooth and RGB LEDs but they store some decent amount of energy. Also, wireless charging would be really great, but that's even more parts in there ...

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Jean Simonet wrote 02/04/2018 at 23:00 point

I was eventually able to source some properly sized LiPo batteries (See project log). Thanks for the suggestion though!

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Bastiaan wrote 02/04/2018 at 23:20 point

Just read your new log on the RGB version, I'm really impressed. The original ones already cramped in a lot of stuff, and this just takes that a step further. Great to see them coming along! :) I'm going to look at those APA102 LEDs, they seem interesting. 

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Guy Carver wrote 11/29/2017 at 17:38 point

Pretty damn cool Jean.

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Jean Simonet wrote 11/30/2017 at 05:38 point

Ah! Thanks boss! ;)

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