Entries tagged 'cat:Light'

"RGB LEDed" Shop Sign Entry created on 2020-12-04 (edited 2025-07-17) Authors: steeph (364) Categories: Arduino (3) DIY (15) Electronics (15) Lamps (1) Light (4) Projects (40) Languages used: en (251) Topics: Projects → Arduino (3) Projects → Light (2)

Found this old shop sign on ebay Kleinanzeigen. Idk, I just wanted to have it. Picket it up for 10 € since it wasn't far from me. Put some RGB LEDs and an Arduino inside, used some sample RGB LED sketch, Robert is your uncle. This was a straight forward mod, but I like the effect a lot. I nevr changed the default animation. The lamp has been to camps and other events and is now either lighting up the art area of my new home or adding colourful admosphere to it.

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New Acrylic LED Pictures Entry created on 2024-08-02 Authors: steeph (364) Categories: #100DaysToOffload (41) Art (2) Light (4) My Little Pony (10) Pictures (61) Ponies (7) Languages used: en (251)

I still make st least some of these LED pictures each year to sell at GalaCon Some of them I like better than others. But there aren't really any that stand out enough for me to want to share them here. I'm making qantity above all, not investing the necessary time and effort to realise the more elaborate ideas. A sheet, a template, outlines, possibly shadows. Like the ones of which I've attached quick snapshots below (quick and dirty, including greasy fingerptints, sorry). No multiple colours, no 3D effect, no several seconds, no customised software for the LED driver. There are so man things that could be done. I'm producing what I think that people want to see at my vendow table. That's still fun. I'm just not approaching the limits of my potential, which could potentially be much more fun. I've always approached this LED picture thing like cooking for a popular restaurant. I make what I knwo people will like, plus some variety. But I'm neither a cook nor am I trying to make money with this venture. Maybe I'll explore making what I want to make more from now on. Just one more interesting picture a year, or something.

I've always had ideas for more complex LED pictures and night lights. At making some of them I've made attempts before. But Nothing that I'm proud of enough to post here. The idea to spend more time on a single picture and possibly make multiple iterations until I'm satisfied has been rekindled though by one specific conversation that I had last year with themisto97. He has made some very elaborate multi-colour LED pictures. There's Jungle Sunset, Sunset Magic, Daring Do and he told me last week that he might try and get around to adding more to his Gallery soon.

And while I'm at it, here are three more LED pictures that I like that are not just outlines: A hand-engraved Princess Luna with different area-filling styles by Ksander-Zen (more night lights from them), hand-engraved, multi-coloured Colonia by Malte279 and laser-etched, monochrome ditcher of Moon Dancer with Party Favor by VasGoTec.

Oh, look, there's an extra paragraph where a description of my ideas for multi-coloured LED pictures could be that could make somebody hold me to making them because I said I wanted to.

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Tardie Clock Entry Permalink (edited 2021-04-02) Authors: steeph (364) Categories: Clocks (2) DIY (15) Light (4) Projects (40) Languages used: en (251) Topics: Projects → Light (2)

There are more than two ways to display the time. There are a few project ideas in my head to create clocks that don't use digits or hands but tell you the time in non-conventional ways. At some point I wanted to make a clock that uses a method that I've never seen or heard of before. I came up with one that uses colour scales for hours, minutes and seconds. This is the one i have actually built.

I chose a picture from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic that's related to time. Fans of the show know why I called it Tardie. Three parts of the picture are laser etched in three sheets of acrylic. Each sheet has RGB LEDs on its side so each sheet can be individually lit in a different colour. An Arduino Pro Mini and a realtime clock module control the colours of the three LED strips.

So you can tell the hours by looking at the colour of the pony (hours - horse), the minutes from the colour of the mane (minutes - mane) and the seconds from the eye colour (seconds - seducing eyes). The idea was that by looking at it multiple times a day, then looking at an actual clock, you could learn to tell the time almost instantly by looking at the colours. But I didn't get around to print the colour scale for reference, yet. And I don't hape room for the thing on my desk anyway. There is a clock on my screen that doesn't take up so much space. So I can only say that it works in theory.

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LED Pictures Entry Permalink (edited 2020-09-19) Authors: steeph (364) Categories: DIY (15) Light (4) Pinkie Pie (3) Projects (40) Languages used: en (251) Topics: Projects (58)

An unremembered number of years ago I started wanting to make at least one picture like this. A picture engraved into a transparent polymer sheet, lit by LEDs from the side. The light gets scattered in the rough places of the sheet. If the LEDs are hidden, e.g. in a frame, this makes it look like the transparent picture itself is glowing. I liked the idea - probably seen it somewhere. And I knew I'm not good at making pictures - be it with paint or an engraving cutter. So I didn't do it. Usually this is the end with ideas like this of mine.

I couldn't get rid of the idea for years though. And some day I made one. It didn't look good but I liked it. I made a few more and applied more efford this time.

I saw a potential to become better at this (and still do) so I made more and more. And about 7 years later I have made hundrets of them. (Sold most of them.) Attached are a few I like best.

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