“Need a new night light? Friend? Lover? Deity? Why not all four?
Introducing HeadLamp.
The focal point of HeadLamp is a styrofoam head stuffed with LEDs for a bright glow, on top of a body made from a flexible air conditioner exhaust tube that softens the bright LEDs, creating a pleasing gradient of rainbow light. Recycled food containers are used as spacers inside the tube to hold the LED strip securely in place to minimize bright spots and shadows. A button on the end of the tail provides a quick way to cycle through a library of color patterns. HeadLamp’s brains consist of an ElectroMage Pixelblaze LED controller, which comes with a WiFi controller for easy access to the LED settings and a library of color patterns from any device, an innovative live editor/compiler that allows for easy programming, and a hardworking community of makers contributing to an online repository of patterns. (An optional Pixelblaze Sensor Expansion can make HeadLamp sensitive to sound and acceleration.)
HeadLamp is a fun offshoot of Headbot, a self-balancing robot that I helped design as a student on the South Eugene Robotics Team (FRC Team 2521 – see our Instructables page here).
I hope you enjoy!
Supplies:
5.5mmx2.1mm DC Power Jack – $6.99 for a pack of 3
5.5mmx2.1mm Inline Switch Jack Connector – $6.99 for a pack of 2
8mm Push Button Switch – $7.39
Pair (male & female) 22AWG JST SM 2 Pin Plug – $5.49 for a set of 10
ElectroMage Pixelblaze V2+ WiFi LED Controller – $25.00
OPTIONAL: PixelBlaze Sensor Expansion – $29.00
Air Conditioner Exhaust Hose (13cm dia x 300cm long) – $28.15 (must be 13cm diameter in order to fit the neck of the styrofoam head, but you could choose a shorter tube if 300cm of HeadLamp is just too much HeadLamp for your puny human brain to handle)
Waterproof WS2812B 16.4ft 300 LEDs Addressable LED Strip Light – $32.88
5V 15A AC to DC Power Supply – $28.99
FloraCraft SmoothFoM Male Head – $7.99 (must be the male headsold by FloraCraft in order for neck to fit into the A/C exhaust hose body)
FloraCraft CraftFoM 4.7” White Ball – $4.99 (must be 4.7” diameter in order to fit into the A/C exhaust hose body)
Pack of white 4” Zip Ties – $2.99 for a 100 pack
20 Recycled Deli Containers and/or Lids (16-24 oz, with diameter around 4.5”) (Recycle these from your takeout dinners, or ask your neighbors and friends if they have any in their recycling; if you must purchase them, you can get a set of 40 for $15.97. But really, don’t buy these, reuse ones you already have in your recycling.)
M2x20 screws and M2 nuts – $8.97 for a 300 pack of various lengths (only 3 screws and 6 nuts are needed, and you should be able to buy them separately from your local hardware store for a bit less)
Required Tools and Miscellaneous Supplies
Marker
Razor knife
Large serrated knife or saw
Cooking thermometer, chop stick, or other long implement
Wire stripper and wire cutter
Soldering iron and soldering supplies (solder with flux core, multistranded or solid core 22AWG wire of various colors)
Heat gun and heat shrink tubing
White glue
Small screw drivers
Drill and 1” spade bit (at least 8” long)
Fishing line and thumb tacks
Black tape (or other opaque tape)”