I forgot the little red gear for the stepper motor! its included now :-)

Light evolving lamp

This is an experimental lamp. The idea is that you can put different objects on top of it to create different shadow/light reflections on the wall :-)

It’s a rotating platform made of semitransparent PET-G. Inside are 2 LEDstrips I got out of 2 cheap “usb led lamps”. See picture.

It’s all about the shadows and reflex ions on the wall behind it. By putting different shaped objects on top of it, you get different reflections en shadows. The platform can also rotate and has three holes in the top. This makes the reflections move and transform. The rotating can be controlled with an Arduino Nano and a 28BYJ-48 stepper. The two bearings are standard 22mm diameter x 7mm with an 8mm hole. Between these bearings I placed a spacer. See picture. The bearings had been in the fridge before mounting them.

It’s hard to catch these effects by camera, so the photos don’t do it any justice. I also made a sort video, so you can see it a bit better (video is speeded up :-) ).

I also included a very simple Arduino script and the StepperMotor.h library. This is the script I tested this with, but it’s not very efficient. It is very easy to use for people who do not have experience with Arduino, though :-). The idea is to experiment with different moves. Very important is to kill power to this motor after every move, otherwise your motor will get so hot that the plastic melts! (it's also in the Arduino Script) PS: 2400 steps is one rotation for this mini stepper.

The Arduino and stepper are powered by a 9 V adapter and the 2 LEDstrips with an old 5 V adapter, but you can let it all run on one 5V adapter if you like. Off course you can put any light source in, if it fits.