Lamps used to be things built to provide light with specific purpose, whether as reading lamps, desk lamps, or bedside table lamps. Now we just build them for the vibes, as with this minimalist LED lamp from [andrei.erdei].
The build uses a 3D-printed frame printed in opaque grey, with a diffuser element printed in a more translucent white. This is key to allowing the LED to nicely glow through the lamp without ugly distracting hotspots spoiling the effect. The lamp mounts 36 WS2812B LEDs in strip form. These are controlled from an Arduino Nano running the FastLED library for lightweight and easy control of the addressable LEDs. Smooth rainbow animations are made easy by the use of the HSV color space, which is more suitable for this job than the RGB color space you may otherwise be more familiar with.
[andrei.erdei] does a great job of explaining the build, including the assembly, electronics, and code aspects. The latter could serve as a particularly good resource if you’re just starting out on your own builds in the blinky, glowable space. Video after the break.
Cool project, it looks like a nice intro to combining 3D printing and electronics and it’s very well documented.
I have one question though, I personally think it would have looked a lot better with a smoother circular shape, I wonder if the segmented look is a personal preference choice or if it has some technical implication.
I’m using Tinkercad and I have to specifically put the segments to maximum every time I create a cylinder. And it doesn’t have that many segments as maximum.
Sadly many CAD programs automatically smooth in the viewport so users have no idea what they are designing.
Maybe it is a design choice 🤷♂️
That’s why I LOVE Prusa Slicers .STP import
i haven’t toyed with a CAD program for a long while, do they really still have issues with segments count on a cilinder? :)
The segmented look comes out of his goal of making a clock with this lamp. The segments allow for separation of the light from each LED.
that would make sense!
I’d be quite tempted to use this as a clock.
rainbows kinda suck. Sometimes i wish it hadn’t become a symbol for lgbtq+ pride because its hard to use decoratively, sometimes. Rainbows are best in small doses as contrast with very muted colors.
Another case where my personal beliefs dont line up with my fashion sense. I dress normal and people think im a nazi :(