[mike6789k] wanted to spice up his dorm room, so he built a cool music synchronized light show that struck us as being very well thought out. We have seen similar music-based visualizations before, but they tend to be pretty basic, relying on volume more than actual audio frequencies to trigger the lighting.
[mike6789k] didn’t want to build “just another” synchronized light show, and his all-analog approach gives a true representation of the music being played instead of just flashing lights along with the beat. Using a trio of simple filters, he broke the audio signals down into three distinct frequency bands before being driven through a high gain transistor to power a set of LEDs.
We were pretty impressed at how bright the display was given that he is using UV LEDs, but the 1W diodes seem to have no problem lighting up the place when aimed through the UV-reactive water, as you can see in the video below.
If you’re looking to make something similar for your next party, the folks over at Buildlounge were able to wrangle a schematic out of [mike6789k], which you can find here.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd3hzYAJzOo&w&w=470]
Embedding disable by request, yay.
Indeed. :-\
What’s the purpose of that, anyway?
You need to have something to look at while you are experimenting with mind altering substances.
@Rob
I think he meant the purpose of disabling video embedding, not the project itself.
Hey dude good job!
can i have the resisors values? and what op amp do you used in that circuite ?
I would minimize or mask off the air space above the water since I would be concerned about the UV light that escapes directly and doesn’t get converted into colored light by the UV-reactive water. I’ve read that UV light could be one reason for developing cataracts in your eyes. As someone who is currently getting cataract surgery (because of my age, 62, not because of any specific UV light exposure), I wonder whether cataracts will become more common in the population with the increase in use of CFL and LED based lighting.
UV rays are blocked by glass.
*Most* UV rays are blocked by glass is what I meant to type. The rays that are allowed to pass through are much less harmful and powerful than the ones that are blocked.
UV is a wide range of wavelengths.
UVA (400-315nm) is the band nearest to visible light and is what is produced by these LEDs. UVA is purpleish to the eye and passes through glass and acrylic (PMMA) just like visible light, however is blocked by polycarbonate.
UVB (315-280nm) is the next band further away from visible light. It is responsible for the tanning of skin, the development of skin cancer, and stimulating the production of Vitamin D in the skin. UVB is blocked by glass, acrylic (PMMA), and polycarbonate
UVC (280-100nm) is the shortest common UV range. It is used in UV sterilizers to kill bacteria and break down organic chemicals. Often found in hospitals and water sterilizers. Even the Earth’s atmosphere blocks UVC (which is why microorganisms haven’t evolved to be immune to it)
Very useful information. Thanks for sharing your knowledge :)
Also, most light sources produce UV light. Everywhere.
#Correction, the video says 200mw LEDs, not 1w. The leds are also being powered at 9v according to the schematic.
True, though the details pane under the video says 1W LEDs. We went with that figure since the description would have likely been finished after the video.
Awesome! simple in concept and sweet. It might be cool to have some bubbles rising in the water or uv reactive fish. thanks for sharing the schematic too.
Hey, your fridge looks like mine! But my milk glows brighter….
along with the schematic, there should have been a tutorial for us newbies… doesn’t even which resistors to get or anything.. i mean really now!
@mike6789k, thanks for the video, but you should have done a full tutorial of parts and the assembly!
yeah thanks for those component values. kinda makes me think you just robbed a board out of something and hooked some leds up to it.
Disregart that. I looked at the schematic before reading the post. I like that you left enough out so we can think for ourselves. I will be building this circuit just gotta figure out what to put the diodes in. Again sorry
Hi, I’m not experienced in that kinda stuff, I’m only 16 and I will eventually study in that branch but for now can I have the values of the components so I can build that cool thing for now ? You can send them to me at dr.phil_beatbox@hotmail.com using the same names of the schematic.
Thanks :D
Phil