Electric Matchstick

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-HY8a9cCvI]

Here is a cool little toy, an LED matchstick. We don’t really know what purpose it serves, but [dhananjaygadre] did a pretty good job of reproducing the effect. The light is controlled by a microprocessor to emulate the flickering of a flame. It holds a charge for a short while, staying lit for an amount of time comparable to a match. To turn it on, you even “strike” it on a match box filled with magnets.

34 thoughts on “Electric Matchstick

  1. <>

    I remember an electronics kit that did this with a photo transistor in a black box. Blowing would temporarily close an attached shutter over the box’ pinhole thereby removing the incident light of the LED. Use that as a signal input to the CPU and there’s your blow out match.

  2. cool for theatre.

    useless for anything else.

    the “simulation” is not close to a real match. less flickering towards off and more random. I already see the pattern. it needs the same algo that you use for a racer game or tunnel game.

    random +1 and -1 to wiggle between two extremes and then have a button to que it to slowly die out.

  3. having been a stage tech for a lot of high school plays i think this is pretty cool. especially when the lead actress is just to sorry to light a match, then when she finally does, she catches her $400 costume on fire. It could be used in fake candles too. Maybe sell the candles and match as a set. the match could use a magnetic tip to “light” the candle.

    a circuit diagram would be nice though.

  4. In India, every year on Ganesh Chaturthi, people setup temporary structures with temporary idols. The entire setup stays up for 15-20 days after which the idols are immersed in water. These diases aren’t fire-proof. So, they don’t decorate the dias with lamps. They use electric lights instead. The problem is that some of the prayers require the priest lighting a lamp. There are LED lamps available that from a distance look like a regular oil lamp. I guess this is a good LED matchstick for the LED lamp :)

  5. Hear hear on the ‘is this show-and-tell-aday’ remark.
    The same thing is actually happening on instructables.com too though, people describing what they have rather than how to do/make it :[

  6. Well, to be fair, this is good for theatre, and I’m a theatre tech. student, so I like it. That being said, not entirely the single most useful thing I’ve ever tried to make, but it’s an interesting prop.

    C’mon guys, step up the awesome! Or get a new gadget to come out so people can have something to hack. Either way.

  7. I agree that this needs a mic that you blow into to turn it out. It also needs a gryometer to sense when you shake it out though the mic could do that as well. The gryometer would also determine its position so if you tip it upside down it would get brighter just like you would do with a real match.

  8. Seems like some people can’t enjoy the fine art of a flickering led. Not everything has to be about solving the world energy crisis and other important stuff.

    If you’re feeling down, just make a blinking led. The answer to everything isn’t 42, it’s a blinking led

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