The idea of the so-called “smart bulb” sounds good; who wouldn’t want to be able to verify the porch light is on if you’re out of town for the night, or check to see if you left the bathroom lights on in your rush out the door in the morning? But in practice, it can be […]
Constrained builds are often the most fun. Throw an artificial limit into the mix, like time limiting your effort or restricting yourself to what’s on hand, and there’s no telling what will happen. [bitluni] actually chose both of those constraints for this ping pong ball LED video display, and the results are pretty cool, even […]
If you want to take a picture of something fast, and we mean really fast, you need to have a suitably rapid flash to illuminate it. A standard camera flash might be good enough to help capture kids running around the back yard at night, but it’s not going to do you much good if you’re […]
It’s now possible to source chip-on-board LED modules that have huge light output in a simple, easy to use package. However they can have major power requirements, and cheaper modules are also susceptible to dead spots. [Heliox] put together a great LED lamp design the old-school way, showing there’s more than one way to get […]
Wearable electronics can be both fun and fashionable. However, there are certain challenges involved in neatly integrating electronic components in a way that is both functional and comfortable for the wearer. In this vein, [Jiri Praus] has managed to create some glowing earrings that are remarkably simple to boot. The body of the earring also […]
20,000 LEDs sounds like an amazing amount of blink. When we start to consider the process of putting together 20,000 of anything, and then controlling them all with a small piece of electronics the size of a postage stamp, we get a little bit dizzy. To be fair, we’re not sure that [yves-bazin] has put […]
We all love the look of neon signage, but the between the glassblowing equipment, gas cylinders, high voltage, and the associated skill set, it’s not practical for everyone. Luckily, these days there’s a good alternative: “neon” flexible LED strips. This is the approach [Benni] recently took in making a large logo display, and the results […]
A digital camera has an array of sensors that captures light reflected or transmitted onto it. This build is something closer to a reverse camera – a single sensor that makes images on a matrix of LEDs. And we think it’s pretty neat. We have to admit to being a little confused by [marciot]’s LED […]
[Bithead] wanted to make a prop replica of an Electrostaff from Star Wars, but wasn’t sure how best to create the “crackling arcs of energy” effect at the business ends. After a few false starts, he decided to leverage the persistence of vision effect by spinning LEDs in more than one axis to create helical […]