Project 01 Desk Lamp

Overview

In our first project will design and build a desk lamp that changes its colors by using one of the the sensors and LED’s in our Circuit Playground.

First lets define some key aspects of our project by asking the following questions:

What is my lamp going to react to (light, sound, movement, touch, buttons)?
What colors do I want to use and what is the meaning of each “state” for my lamp?
What shape am I going to use?
What materials do I need to make my lamp?
What makes my lamp special or different?

Inspiration

Check this cool projects:

Activities

Draw a sketch of your Lamp.
Draw a flow diagram for your lamp’s functionality.
Program the circuit playground to react to the chosen input and test the output.
Make a prototype for your lamp, test different materials, put all the parts together.
Test and observe.
Make changes in your code or/and your prototype.
Repeat the last two steps as needed.

What did I discovered by doing this project?
What did I wish I knew before this project?
What was the most difficult part and how I overcame it?
What do I love from this project?
What do I want to improve in this project?

Take some pictures of your project and share it on a presentation or video, try to use as little text as possible and tell the story of how you got where you are with your project.

Take your project to the next level

Think about an extra added value for your lamp:

Think about making some Art with it.
Project cool shadows or silhouettes.
Make it react to the user’s “Mood”.
If you have a Bluefruit, try to control it with your phone with Bluetooth.
What could I do to my lamp that solves someone’s problem?

Further Learning

Research origami and unfolded shapes.
Research transparent, translucent and diffuse materials.
Research 3D printing materials with translucent properties.
Research Smart Lights and how they work.

Helpful links

Next section:

Sound Machine