Fancy Stargate style lamp

I have a table next to my entrance door, with a lamp on it. It is the usual stuff. A stand, a bulb and a shade. After several years I wanted a fresh replacement, so I finally decided to build one.

I designed the thing in FreeCAD, which was quite easy, but I did not use fancy connectors or other things. I wanted to keep it simple.

The ring diameter is 32,5cm in diameter, so a quarter fits easily on and print 220x220 bed. Same for the socket and the bottom lid.

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This is my initial design and it seems to work. How ever I did several 30 minute section prints of the ring, to get it right. Since I wanted to use an LED strip, but I hate these back side tapes, I worked around it. Instead of gluing the LED strip on the inside of the ring I made a slot. So the LEDs simply slide into and around the ring, though a slot inside the side.

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So no tape required. In fact the tape cover must not be removed as it is used to slide the strip into the ring socket. But there was one additional problem. It would require support to print it properly, but with support enabled the holes at the end, which are designed to use filament pieces as joiners, would get non removable support. I also wanted to print the ring flat and not upwards, which would need even more support.

So I designed the support into the part. You simply load the ring section into the slicer, turn off supports and print.

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As you can see the holes and the slot are printed nicely and on the right image you can see the support already broken loose at the end.

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Here the components used and some finished prints. LED strip, switch and ESP32 developer board.

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Here the wire management on the finished ring.

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And the first test to ensure all LEDs are working before continuing the project.

The socket is already printed, too

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As you can see I used tree support, which reduced the print time by two hours.

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Here the finished prototype! I already modified the firmware of my giant clock to be running inside this little lamp. As you may noticed I spray painted the base grey, as I had to sand the black a little and you cannot sand black filament without loosing color as you may know. It is still okisch for the first version.

And, in the process of adapting clock software, I found an outstanding bug, so I can fix the giant clock as whell. I was searching for that quite a while. So another win! :smiley:

Currently the effects are a little limited. Beside setting the color to use it as a static lamp, I added modes where pixels with additional brightness and directions circle around the ring. There is also a mode, where just pixels are running around having fun. :smiley:

Maybe I add more effects like a hard to read clock face, later on. :smiley: The code for playing sound is still there, but spreaker and sound module are missing at the moment.

Here is the link to the project on Thingiverse: Ring Lamp (Customizable) by geit_de - Thingiverse

I added the source code: [ATTACH]n10751[/ATTACH]

RingLightSource_1.32.zip (670 KB)

An interesting way to get around the support issue – nicely done. The 1st thing that came to mind on seeing it lit up was to wonder what it would look like if the LED channel was enclosed so that the light would get diffused by the covering filament.

It would look like glowing sand (as it is sand filament). I can see the result on my giant clock as the tip of the segments shine sideways though the material.

The result would be some glowing furniture instead of a lamp.

Yes, that was just what was going through my head. What effect will this have. Can’t wait to see.

I think it might be an interesting effect.

Okay Geit we are waiting on you.

I updated the post once again and added final images of the prototype.

Interesting design. 1 question: why do you have an SOS sign on your house?

My home was a doctors office before. The sign you can see is actually a box outside located next to my entrance door.

It is providing a public defibrillator for emergency use.

You have AED in your house? If so, very, very nice of you.

It is just a small amount of electricity to keep the batteries charged. The device itself was installed by the last doctor who used the office before.

There are at least four here in town, but he installed more at several other locations around, too.

Just be aware, AEDs need to be checked at least every 2 years. Of course, batteries get ‘tired’ over time, but the pads get old & lose their stickyness too.

How often do they get used till now?

Hopefully, they never get used. However, the infrequency of their use means periodic inspection & maintenance often gets overlooked.

Not my business, but I saw a guy maintaining the device over the years and since the alarm did not go off, I guess he knew what to do :smiley:

Ah, I get it. It’s not your AED. Can I assume it’s provided by the local authorities? And, it’s still nice of you to allow the city or local medical people keep it stationed at your house.

That is totally interesting.

Ok, after a little coding session I added some nice effects. Beside the usual color fading, rotating dots and stuff, I added fire :smiley:

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When animating it looks really nice with the igniting sparks at the bottom and the yellowish flames turn more reddish while “eating” themself up the ring from both sides. I just hope the neighbors take a closer look before calling the fire department due to the red and yellow flickering in my window.

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And of course the rotating rainbow light. :smiley:

I need to add a random mode, where the light changes every 15 minutes to another effect. And the fire is probably a nice effect skin for my giant clock as well.

Gee, now you could build yourself an LED fireplace :smiley:

That looks neat. Bravo.