[Laurence] was racking his brain coming up with potential birthday gifts for his friend when the idea of a Super Mario Bros. coin block lamp popped into his head. The block is constructed from drain pipe, a few pieces of plywood, some perspex, and a whole lot of awesome.
He wanted the lamp to make sounds when it was turned on and off, so he put together an audio circuit based on [LadyAda’s] WaveShield. His design is similar, though he swapped out the DIP packages for SOIC versions, adding a DAC, Op amp, and an audio buffer to fit his needs.
Once he had his electronics in order, he started construction of the lamp, painting the drain pipe green and mounting it under his light’s base. He built a large perspex box to serve as the coin block itself, printing the familiar graphics on tracing paper which he then glued into place. An arcade button adorns the top of the box, making for a very appropriate and fun light switch.
Be sure to check out the video below to see the lamp in action. We’re just a bit jealous of [Laurence’s] friend, and we sure wouldn’t mind having one of these in our office to sit alongside this mechanical coin block we featured a while back.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/25572713 w=470]
Sweet as!
The sound FX make it.
I need this. Gonna have to make one for myself.
Great idea and nicely finished. IMHO the light could be just slightly more diffused but that’s just a minor issue.
GAH! the red button should have been on the button, and the lamp to be hung just out of reach above the head. This way the user has to “Mario” the light on or off…
Great build regardless of my comments!
He might have had an easier time using a sound drop key chain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBnyia-jCNs&NR=1
lovin the old school arcade button.
How about making the perspex cube itself the button? Have it free-floating on the base, so pushing down the top hits a microswitch in the base.
can I buy one of these lamps or are they not for sale….if they are for sale…how much??? Thanks, Stephanie
sstahlmorgan@yahoo.com
There should be no button. There should be an accelerometer that detects when you hit the bottom of it.