Collaborate Disseminate
We all want a nice and shiny LED strip that doesn’t actually look like it consists of individual LEDs – a bar of uniform light is just that much more …read more Continue reading LED Diffusers Confusing? Organize A Practical Contest
If there’s no circuitry on a printed circuit board, does it cease being a “PCB” and perhaps instead become just a “PB”? Call them what you will, the fact that …read more Continue reading Circuit-less PCB Featured as Faceplate for a Digital Clock
It’s an age-old riddle: if you have a perfect sphere with a perfectly reflective inner surface, will light bounce around inside it forever? The answer is pretty obvious when you …read more Continue reading Cannonball Mold Makes a Dandy Integrating Sphere for Laser Measurements
Last year, [Mangy_Dog] was asked by a few friends to consult on a project they were working on. The goal was to build an authentic replica of an F-18 cockpit, apparently for the purposes of creating a film. The project never materialized, but it did inspire him to take a …read more
Continue reading Unique LED Display Inspired by Fighter Jet Dashboard
It all started when [Damien Walsh] got his hands on some surplus LED boards. Each panel contained 100 mini-PCBs hosting a single bright LED that were meant to be to be snapped apart as need. [Damien] had a much better idea: leave them in their 20×5 array and design a …read more
Continue reading Rolling Your Own LED Matrix Driver, With Copper Foil Tape to the Rescue
A staple of consumer devices for decades, seven segment displays are arguably one of the most recognizable electronic components out there. So it’s probably no surprise they’re cheap and easy to source for our own projects. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for personal interpretation.
[MacCraiger] wanted to build …read more
Continue reading Huge Seven Segment Display Made From Broken Glass
When you’re going to build something big, it’s often a good idea to start small and work out the bugs first. That’s what [bitluni] did with his massive 1200-pixel LED video wall, which he unveiled at Maker Faire Hanover recently.
We covered his prototype a while back, a mere 300 …read more
Continue reading Giant LED Display is 1200 Balls to the Wall
The keyboard and mouse are great, we’re big fans. But for some tasks, such as seeking around in audio and video files, a rotary encoder is a more intuitive way to get the job done. [VincentMakes] liked the idea of having a knob he could turn to adjust his system …read more
Continue reading A Classy USB Knob For The Discerning Computerist
As a lover of lava lamps, [Julian Butler] knew when he saw a coworker’s modern LED incarnation of the classic piece of illuminated decor that he had to have one for himself. The only problem was that the Kickstarter for it had long since ended, and they were no longer …read more
Continue reading Fueled By Jealousy, This Smart Lamp Really Shines
A strip of LEDs may be a simple and flexible way to add light to a project, but they don’t always look natural. There is an easy way to make them look better, though: add a diffuser. That’s what [Nate Damen] did using a 3D printer. He created a diffuser using PETG giving a standard string of LEDs a softer and more natural look that makes them look more like older light sources such as fluorescent strips or EL wire, but with the flexible colors of LEDs. The PETG material he used has a naturally somewhat cloudy look, so it …read more
Continue reading 3D Printed Diffusers Make More Natural Light