Week 13. Applications and implications

What will my device do?

I finally have found photos which originally inspired me to start this project. Two years ago me and my wife were at our friends wedding. They made it in a very nice loft style. And there was a very good photographer who had a custom made LED ring. It looked cool and everybody were taking pictures with it. It had only cold white LEDs, but in a loft area with dimmed lights it looked magnificient. And I liked the result photos as well. So, I wanted to make one on my own for a long time.

Before I joined Fab Academy course, I made a prototype on Oulu Science Hack Day with Mariia Borovkova, Daniel Uher and Mikko Hietanen.
It had certan issues:

• we used warm white LEDs and the photos came up too yellow;
• the base was laser cut from 3mm white acrylic and it was fragile;
• the diameter was 800mm and the stability of the whole construction was... it was not so good;
• whole operation was represented by just an on/off switch;

For a two-days project it was fine. But the result was not good enough.

The prototype was made on Oulu Science Hack Day

So, my final project is a similar ring, but:

• stable 3D printed base
• Addressed RGB led-stripe
• control panel
• remote control via mobile app
• tripod-mounting system
• diameter 60 sm

Concept of the final project.

Constant light source with RGB levels adjustment will give a wide range of possibilities for photography and videography. It can find a good application in:

• artistic portrait photography
• video blog videos
• photography as a main or an additional light source
• any interier as a smart lamp

Who has done what beforehand?

The closest project I've found so far is a final project of Mohammad Elsayyed called Chandella. It's a Ring with an RGB stripe on it, equipped with the motion sensor. In my project I want to go much further in the color adjustment possibilities.

There're a lot of projects which use RGB LEDs. I really liked the wrapping Sehrish Khan did in her final project. She used Neo-Pixel LEDs to make a Segmented display.

Another final project with RGB LED stipe is KAT'S'CREEN - A TEMPERATURE GRAPH SCREEN by KATI PITKÄNEN. It's a matrix of LEDs which can display pretty much everything.

I've found some DIY projects on the internet, but they were not good enougth. But, there are plenty very nice projects with addressable LED stripe and bluetooth. I just need to gather together all the ideas and features I want to have and do that.

What will you design?

I will design:

• PCB run by ATmega to control the LEDs
• Segmented ring base for LED stripe
• Tripod mounting system (I'm planning to water jet cut it from an aluminum plate)
• Android App
• Battary with click-on mounting system if I'll have time for it.

What materials and components will be used?
Where will they come from?
How much will it cost?

	Component	Amount	Total price (€)	Source
	5V SK6812 RGBW 5050 4 in 1 LED Strip	2m	42	eBay
	ATmega328	1	2.15	FabLab Inventory
	Resonator 20MHz	1	0.35	FabLab Inventory
	Potentiometer	4	2	FabLab Inventory
	5V 2A AC/DC adapter	1	8.5	Amazon
	BL652-SA Bluetooth module	1	11	FabLab Inventory
	other SMD components	?	?	FabLab Inventory
Total personal cost:			50.5 eur
Total cost:			66+(?) eur

What parts and systems will be made?
What processes will be used?

• 3D-printed base from ABS on Stratasys 380mc.
• PCB to rule them all to run the LED strip. Milled from a blank on Roland SRM-20 and soldered by hand.
• Buttons will be molded from Oomoo30 or similar material. Processes: 2D/3D design, milling from a modeling wax, molding, silicone casting.

How will it be evaluated?

Minimum set of features to call the project a success:

• The base is stable enough to stand on a tripod
• LED strip as output. Several mods (White, Red, Blue, Green, Demo) switched either by pressing buttons on the control panel or via Bluetooth commands.
• Working input from control panel: 4 potentiometers and 2 buttons
• Remote control via Bluetooth terminal
• "Wrapping": I want to make something that looks good, that you might want to take a picture with, something that won't fall apart in your hands when you hold it.
• Power (5V) from a power bank or mobile phone charger
• Extra point: working app for Android for remote control

Questions to answer:

• Still, have some issues with the Bluetooth module. I was trying to use BL652 Bluetooth module. So far I didn't manage to make it work. I made a PCB with a voltage divider (from 5V to 3.3V to power up the module) and FTDI connector to connect it with any of my already existing boards. If you have a good example of the successful use of this module, please send me a link. I ordered HC-06 Bluetooth module just as a backup plan in case I'll fail to make BL652 work.
• Cover for the LED strip (1mm acrylic or clear resin?)
• Battery. Do I have time to make it?

Go to top