My spouse likes to joke about how a lot males love RGB LEDs, AKA “gamer lights.” If that correlation holds up, then Kostiantyn should be one of many manliest dudes on the planet, as a result of he constructed this loopy colourful lamp factor referred to as the Picket Reactor Simulator.
I check with this as a “factor,” as a result of it’s actually laborious to suit right into a single distinct class. It’s a lamp with very elaborate RGB LED results, but in addition extra options like wi-fi charging, USB quick charging, and synchronized sound results. In my view, it fills a distinct segment much like a basic lava lamp: one half sensible system and 9 components leisure machine.
As along with his gesture-controlled DNA lamp that we featured a few months in the past, Kostiantyn put a variety of apparent effort into the woodworking for this challenge. It makes use of copious quantities of oak, alder, and walnut veneer, with loads of glass and copper to drive dwelling the steampunk aesthetic. However not like most steampunk builds, this places a a lot higher emphasis on colourful mild.
Kostiantyn doesn’t say what number of LEDs are on this factor, however it’s clearly a big quantity. These are a mix of WS2812b individually addressable RGB LEDs and LED filaments in quite a lot of sizes and colours. There’s additionally optical fiber to direct that mild when wanted. The LEDs function underneath the management of a ESP32 growth board, with a number of PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) LED drivers to lighten the load. The first energy provide is a really beefy 12V 10A unit, which feeds DC-DC converters and step-down models (for quick charging).
In extra to the lighting {hardware}, Kostiantyn additionally included a DFRobot DFPlayer Mini MP3 participant and speaker for sound results and a 15W wi-fi charging module. That module is on high, so it appears such as you’re charging your cellphone with some form of nuclear reactor—therefore the title.
There’s a nightlight mode, desk lamp mode, particles mode, and a customized results mode, every of which has its personal set of animations, sound results, and lighting kinds. Customers can management these on their smartphone utilizing an internet interface hosted by the lamp, or with bodily sliders and switches on the lamp.
Possibly this may solely attraction to the RGB LED-loving fellas, however everybody must admit that it’s distinctive.