70+ LED Projects and Circuits for Engineering Students

LED (Light Emitting Diode) is a two terminal semiconductor device. The functionality of LED is as same as normal diode but it emits light when current passes through it. It is used in most of the electronic circuits as a sign or visual representation to the normal human to know that circuit is working properly. We have lot of applications using LEDs. They are used in advertisement hoarding, Electronic devices, displays, night lamps, etc.

Electronics hub is now listing out below some of the best LED based projects and circuits which we can do at home. All these circuits have been tested theoretically and published along with Schematics, Circuit Diagrams, Applications, Advantages, Limitations and the detailed explanation about circuit for each of them. We think these are very useful for many electronics engineering students in selecting the LED based projects and circuits very easily.

Last Updated on Oct 11, 2016

LED Projects and Circuits:

• Arduino LED Matrix:  Interfacing of Led dot matrix to arduino UNo is explained here. A scrolling message is displayed in this project.
• LED Chandelier: This project shows the designing of an chandlier (decorative light) which has Leds controlled by an arduino. The tri colour Leds were controlled inside the chandlier.
• Arduino Powered Led Clock: This project describes about arduino powered led clock.It uses 60 RGB LED lights and arduino is used to controll them.
• Motorcycle Digital Speedo with Arduino: This sproject shows the arduino speedo meter using Leds.Speed is dispalyed using the leds.
• RGB LED Bulb:  An Led light bulb using RGb leds is explained here.
• Shake Led Torch:  As the name indicates the proposed led torch will switch on for some time if it is shaked. No need of using external power source for this torch.
• Solar LED Outdoor Lighting:  This project uses solar panel as a power source for outdoor led lighting. A battery is used to store the power from solar panel.
• Spoke POV on Bicycle Wheels:  A step by step procedure of bicycle spikes POV is explained.
• Colour Changing Digital PC Fan Controller:  PC fans with different colours of glowing leds looks cool. Here is the project showing colour changing digital PC fan controller.
• How to Make an Illuminated LED Eye Loupe:  EYE loupe is used for viewing small electronic components. Sometime some amount of light is required for viewing small components. This article shows the construction of such illuminated Led eye loupe.
• Animated Christmas LED Snowflake Window Decoration: A DIY of Christmas lighting decoration using pic microcontroller and LEDs was designed here.
• A simple persistence of vision approach to Lissajous figures:  The present paper discuses about drawing of lissajeous figures using led. Using leds one can draw different patterns by moving them in more than one direction.
• Colour Detection Using RGB LED: An automated colour detector is built here. Colour of any object is detected using colour LEDS here.
• The Bulb dial Clock Kit: The clock kit presented here uses leds to show the time. Light from the leds indicates the time.
• Back light Sequences Played on Programmable LED:  A led sequence which can be reprogrammed is explained here.
• Microdot – wrist watch LED pattern timepiece:  Micro dot is a Led clock in the size of a wrist watch. Time is displayed by the multi coloured LEDs.
• Electric Umbrella: This DIY shows how to turn your umbrella into a beautiful electric umbrella.
• Table for Electronic Dreams: The project designed here can detect the electronic gadgets place on it. The Leds placed on it starts glowing when any elctronic gadget placed on it is activated.
• Tiniest 4x4x4 RGB LED Cube:  wolrds smallest LED Cube of size 4X4X4X4.This uses 2.7mm x 3.4mm SMD RGB LEDs.
• Make an RGB Combination Door Lock: Here a RGB led door lock is designed.The password is a pattern of colours in a sequence.
• LED Floaties:  That float away LED is floaties is the flowing objects with leds. Here balloons are illuminated with LEDs to make them look more beautiful. A DIY Project is explained here.
• Rechargeable LED Lantern Circuit Using Dynamo: This project explains about charging of an LED lantern through dynamo as well as with the mains supply of 230 v.
• LED Bargraph Optical Tachometer: Here an LED tachometer was built. The value measured for tachometer was shown on the LED bar graph.
• Dancing leds following the rhythm: This project presents a DIY using LEDs. The dancing leds presented here will follow the ryhtm of music.
• High Power 3-LED Bicycle Light: A high power bicycle light is designed here. This light can work in thunderstrom, snowstroms and in temperatures below -30 c.
• LED-Zeppelin: This project shows the designing of a game using leds. The game Zeppeline is named after its inverter.
• Led Projector Box: Here is project showing DIY LED projector.
• LEDactus: LEDactu s is simple DIY project that is similar to an cactus plant.It provides plaesent display while remaining immobile.
• Scrolling text display on Dot matrix: This project shows the scrolling DOT matrix display.
• LED Name Tag: This project shows the designing of a Led name tag.
• Boolean Algebra Calculator:  This Boolean algebra calculator is an interesting project which is more useful in our real life by working as a portable calculator to simplify the Boolean expression on the fly. In our circuit, we use Boolean algebra simplification methods like the Quine-McCluskey algorithm to simplify the Boolean expression and display the output on the display.
• Unbiased Digital Dice with LEDs:  This is a circuit diagram of digital dice which is nearly unbiased. By using this circuit, there is no chance to cheat as the circuit operates at such a high speed that the circuit is almost imperceptible to the human eye.
• Automatic Washroom Light Switch:  This is a simple but very useful circuit in our real life which helps to automatically turn On the lights when a person enters the washroom and it automatically turns Off the lights when he leaves it.
• Intelligent Unambiguous Night Lamp Switcher:  This is the circuit diagram of unambiguous night lamp switch, which turns ON our domestic lights automatically when it is dark, without human interference. It also avoids repeated frequent switching of the devices which is usually ignored in most similar circuits but may have a detrimental effect on our operating devices.
• Auto Night Lamp using High Power LED: This Auto Night Lamp is an interesting circuit which helps to turn ON the LED lights interfaced to it at night time and it turns OFF the lights automatically when it is day.
• Battery Powered Portable Light:  This circuit is more helpful in handling unexpected and undesired darkness in our homes or offices. It provides considerable amount of brightness required to do our daily tasks.
• PWM LED Dimmer Using NE555:  The Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) plays an important role in controlling the circuits. We use this PWM to dim the intensity of light of the LED.
• Lead Acid Battery Charger Circuit:  Lead Battery is a rechargeable battery and is more useful in our real life as it will dissipate very little energy, it has very low energy to weight ratio, it can deliver high current, can work for long time with high efficiency and is very low cost.
• Metal Detector Circuit:  This is a simple metal detector circuit which is very useful for checking the person in shopping malls, hotels, cinema halls to ensure that person is not carrying any explosive metals or illegal things like guns, bombs etc.
• LED Flasher Circuit:  LED Flasher is a simple circuit which will blink the LEDs in regular time period. This circuit can be used for decoration purpose or can be used for a signaling purpose and many more.
• JK Flip Flop using CD4027:  CD4027 is a JK flip flop that is generally used for data storing. Get an idea about how to build JK Flip Flop with CD4027.
• Mains Operated LED Light Circuit:  This is a simple circuit which is more useful to save our resources, energy and money by installing in your homes.
• LED Lamp Dimmer Circuit:  In this circuit, at the starting LED glows slowly, then grown brighter and once again slowly it became dim. The basis of the whole circuit is an operational amplifier IC named LM358.
• Variable Power Supply and Charger:  This is a circuit which helps to check or test your electronic projects and also to charge the Mobile phone batteries. This circuit can also work as an emergency light.
• LED Christmas Lights Circuit:  This is a simple circuit used to decorate your house by building christmas lights using LEDs. The lights will get ON at night and OFF in morning time.
• LED Running Lights Circuit: This is a simple circuit consists of 9 LED lights in knight rider scanner mode. It will present an eye catching look as the LED initially travel in the one way and then travel reverse in the similar direction.
• Construction of Basic Logic Gates using NOR Gate: Here, we have shown how to construct the basic logic gates – NOT, AND, OR gates using NOR Gate which is one of the universal gates.
• Electronic Letter Box:  This is a simple circuit which helps in finding out any letter dropped in our box by stopping the LED lights attached in this circuit.
• Bipolar LED Driver Circuit:  This bipolar LED driver circuit is very useful at the places where flashing of light is required, as in beacon flashing. This circuit can be mainly used for indication purposes.
• 230V LED Driver:  Here we design a simple circuit driving a series of LED from 230V AC. This is accomplished using a capacitor based power supply. This is a low cost and efficient circuit and can be used at homes.
• 3X3X3 LED Cube:  This is a simple a simple LED cube circuit designed without using microcontroller. It is based on the principle of driving LEDs using the clock pulses.
• Bike Turning Signal Circuit:  The objective of this circuit is to indicate left or right turn for bike/vehicle. Two identical circuits are needed, one is for left and the other is for right. The main heart of this circuit is 555 timer.
• Automatic Changeover Switch:  This is a simple automatic changeover circuit in which DC load like a series of LEDs are driven either by a battery or an AC-DC power supply.
• UP/DOWN Fading LED Lights: This is a simple up/down fading LED lights circuit which can be used in shopping malls, home and security applications.
• Police Lights using 555 Timer:  This circuit simulates the police car lights by alternate flashing. This circuit flashes red LEDs for three times and blue LED’s for three times. This flashing action performs continuously. This circuit uses 555 timer and a decade counter.
• High and Low Voltage Cutoff with Delay and Alarm: This high and low voltage cutoff with delay alarm circuit is an advanced automatic voltage stabilizer circuit and is used to protect our home appliances. It’s cost is less as compared to voltage stabilizers.
• Car Battery Charger Circuit:  This article aims to describe the principle of operation, design and working of a simple car battery charger from AC mains supply and a feedback control section to control the battery charging.
• Dummy Alarm Circuit:  The main principle of the circuit is to flash an LED for every 5 seconds. The circuit consists of 7555 timer IC as main component.
• Automatic Battery Charger:  This charger automatically shut off the charging process when battery attains full charge. This prevents the deep charge of the battery. If the battery voltage is below the 12V, then circuit automatically charges the battery.
• Reverse Parking Sensor Circuit:  If you are a new driver then it is very difficult to judge the distance while parking the car. Reverse parking sensor circuit solves this problem by indicating the distance with the help of three LED’s. We can easily arrange this system at the back side of the car.
• Light Activated Switch Circuit:  The main principle of this circuit is to switch ON the light when the LDR is illuminated. This circuit can be used in security applications like when there is darkness on the LDR, it stops lighting.
• Delay using 8051 Timers:  Generation of time delay is most important concept in embedded systems. Most of the times, we need to generate precise time delay between two actions in controller applications.
• LED Interfacing with 8051:  The main principle of this circuit is to interface LEDs to the 8051 family micro controller. Commonly, used LEDs will have voltage drop of 1.7v and current of 10mA to glow at full intensity. This is applied through the output pin of the microcontroller.
• Battery Level Indicator: This article explains you how design battery level indicator. You can use this circuit to check car battery or inverter. So by using this circuit, we can increase the lifetime of battery.
• LED Lamp Circuit using USB Port:  This is a simple USB LED Light circuit which produces an output of 5v. It may be used as emergency light and also as a reading lamp.
• Cell Phone Controlled Home Appliances:  Here is the simple DTMF Mobile controlled home automation system circuit designed without using microcontroller. It also helps to control water tank motor.
• 0-28V, 6-8A Power Supply Circuit: This article describes you how to design a variable power supply circuit which will provide 0 to 28V at 6 to 8 amps. It is designed using LM317 and 2N3055.
• Puff to OFF LED Circuit:  This is a simple circuit which turns off the LEDs just by a puff. The circuit can be used as decorative item in church and during special occasions.