component

Paul's LED Nameplate

Unreviewed

by Kyle Bergstedt

USB-C powered desk nameplate PCB spelling PAUL in 36 white 0402 LEDs. Plug in an iPhone charger and the name lights up.

Overview Files Versions Dependencies Discussions Activity

3D Model

Symbol & Footprint

Schematic

Schematic

PCB Footprint

Footprint

Overview

A desk nameplate PCB that spells PAUL in 36 white 0402 LEDs, powered by a USB-C connector. Plug in any iPhone charger and the name lights up.

Design

  • Font: 3x5 pixel dot-matrix, 3 mm pitch, 4 mm letter gap
  • LEDs: 36 white 0402 (P=8, A=10, U=11, L=7)
  • Current limiting: 36x 220 ohm 0402 resistors (~14 mA per LED)
  • Power: USB-C (TYPE-C-31-M-12) with 5.1k CC pulldowns for default 5V
  • Board: 64x24 mm, 2-layer, rounded edges
  • Total draw: ~504 mA (within USB-C default 900 mA budget)

Circuit

All LEDs wired in parallel: VBUS -> 220 ohm resistor -> LED anode, cathode -> GND. A 100 nF bypass cap smooths the VBUS rail. Two 5.1k resistors on CC1/CC2 tell the USB-C host to supply 5V.

Built with tscircuit + adom-tsci.

Files

📦 3d.glb 3D Model (GLB) 🖼 2026-05-20T19-00-47.png Image 🖼 3d.png Image 🌐 index.html Web Page 📦 paul-led-nameplate-source.tar.gz Archive 🖼 pcb.svg Vector Image 📝 plan.md Documentation 🖼 schematic.svg Vector Image