Bright Idea

prusaprinters

<p>This lamp has the form of a classic screw-in lightbulb sliced in half; a design that is literally iconic of a bright idea!</p> <p>It is battery-powered and hangs from a nail against a wall. You turn the lamp on and off by tapping it against the wall, which toggles a small switch on its back.</p> <p>It is designed to be printed as 2 parts on a small FDM printer - largest part measures 84mm (x) x 139mm (y) x 42mm (z), and assembled with cheap, generic and readily available components. Some soldering is required.</p> <p>N.B. I have had a prototype printed (see photos) which mostly worked, and I have improved upon it, but this latest iteration of the design is untested as I do not have my own printer. Help me win one by Liking it, assuming that you do actually like it. I hope you do. Apologies for wasting your filament if not.</p> <h3>Print instructions</h3><p><strong>Parts and tools required</strong><br/> • 3D printer + transparent filament for front and whatever you like for the back</p> <p>• Some single-core wire – 30cm is more than enough</p> <p>• 3x AAA batteries</p> <p>• E10 torch bulb (4.5V). Anything between 3 and 5 volts is probably OK. Standard old-school incandescent bulb is tested and gives a good result, emitting omnidirectional light.</p> <p>• E10 torch bulb holder like this one on Amazon:<br/> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Socket-GOODCHANCEUK-Copper-Electronic-Projects/dp/B071RQT8JQ/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&amp;keywords=e10+bulb+holder&amp;qid=1600794590&amp;quartzVehicle=4604-2023&amp;replacementKeywords=bulb+holder&amp;sr=8-11">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Socket-GOODCHANCEUK-Copper-Electronic-Projects/dp/B071RQT8JQ/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&amp;keywords=e10+bulb+holder&amp;qid=1600794590&amp;quartzVehicle=4604-2023&amp;replacementKeywords=bulb+holder&amp;sr=8-11</a></p> <p>• 8x8x8mm <strong>latching</strong> switch – this type of switch is sometimes found in computers – you may be able to reclaim one from a scrap computer with wires already soldered on – I did – it was labelled “turbo”. Here is a suitable switch on Amazon:<br/> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lekind-Tactile-Switch-Through-Latching/dp/B087BML855/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&amp;keywords=8x8x8+latching+switch&amp;qid=1600795170&amp;sr=8-6">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lekind-Tactile-Switch-Through-Latching/dp/B087BML855/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&amp;keywords=8x8x8+latching+switch&amp;qid=1600795170&amp;sr=8-6</a></p> <p>• Fine-tipped soldering iron</p> <p>• Side-cutters</p> <p>• Optional – silver or gold and black paint or pens to colour the screw thread</p> <p><strong>How to print</strong><br/> A friend printed the prototype using an Ender 3 without any difficulty. I have improved the design since then, and I am not expecting trouble from the changes I have made, HOWEVER it is untested...</p> <p>What I can tell you is that the colour of the Back does not matter – it does not tint the colour of the light and you can't see the Back when the Front is in place. The Back is fairly quick and straightforward to print. PLA worked fine in the prototype print, however be aware that the clips that retain the switch are fragile and would be tougher in ABS. If you do break one you can either use a soldering iron to weld it back in place or just superglue the switch in place, taking care not to get any glue inside the switch preventing it from working.</p> <p>The Front must be printed in a transparent material – transparent PLA is proved to work well. The slicer will need to add support scaffolding, but it comes off easily and does not leave visible traces. My friend used arbitrary settings which worked OK, but he thought maybe Vase Mode would do a cleaner job next time, so that's what I'd suggest trying first. Experiment!</p> <p><strong>How to assemble</strong><br/> Step 1. Fit the wires that join all the batteries and also form their connectors.</p> <p>Use single-core wire that stays bent. Keep the lengths quite short – long wires will stick up and cast shadows inside the bulb Front, which will not look good. Allow about 3 cm of stripped wire at each end to give you an easy length to work with as you thread them in and out of the holes in the battery compartment ends. This can be done quite loosely and then pulled tighter with needle-nosed pliers. Once they are installed you can trim them down.</p> <p>Remember to route the top &amp; bottom wires through the two cable-management buttresses as shown in the pictures after securing one end and before securing the other end.</p> <p>The wire I used was about 0.6mm thick, and there was just the right amount of friction to hold the batteries in their compartments and make reliable electrical contact. The tightness of your bending of the wires will determine the fit of the battery, so adjust it until it works.</p> <p>Step 2. Fit the wire from the top right battery to the right terminal of the bulb holder, and solder it to the bulb holder. N.B. if you are using an LED bulb rather than an incandescent one then it may be polarity-sensitive – check this before soldering wires to the bulb holder and flip the holder round if necessary.</p> <p>Step 3. Solder a wire to the other terminal of the bulb holder.</p> <p>Step 4. Screw the bulb into the holder and fit the holder into its socket on the Back. There are two pips in the socket that should retain it there. If they are too tight then file then down. If they are too loose then use Blu-tack or glue to retain the holder in its socket.</p> <p>Step 5. Fit the switch into its socket, ensuring you place it with its pins running left to right, not top to bottom.</p> <p>NB the switch exists in latching and non-latching versions that are the same size. Make sure you use a <strong>latching</strong> switch. Do not use the <strong>momentary</strong> version or the lamp will turn off soon as you stop pushing on it. (However, if you are doing something advanced with an Arduino then you may want a momentary switch).</p> <p>If you have a multimeter you can use the continuity test feature to determine which two of the six pins on your switch you need to solder to.</p> <p>Step 6. Solder the wire from the left lamp holder terminal and the top of the bottom battery to the correct two pins on the switch, taking care not to stab and melt the print with your fine-tipped soldering iron.</p> <p>Step 7. Fit the batteries the correct way round as indicated by the +/- symbols in their holders.</p> <p>Test the electrics before clipping the Front on, ensuring that reliable contact is being made with the batteries.</p> <p>Step 8. Clip the Front on. It should push down onto the back and click into place. The clips that retain the Front are likely to wear out or break if you take the Front off several times. Now… I have to admit that on the prototype my method for attaching the Front was unsatisfactory, so I have completely redesigned it. Obviously I expect it to work now, but have not had time to test it with another print before uploading to this competition, so fingers crossed!</p> <p>If the clips don’t work well then double-check that the electrics are working, and then glue the front on. The batteries are accessible from the outside, and the lifespan of the bulb probably exceeds how much you will use it, so there should be no need to take the Front off again anyway until you are stripping it for parts at the end of its life.</p> <p>But if you do need to get the Front off, assuming that the clips work, the intended method is to pull it off from the cut-out under the tip of the Front's screw thread.</p> <p><strong>Finishing touches</strong><br/> Step 9. I used a Pilot SuperColor silver pen and a black pen to colour in the screw thread &amp; insulator on the front. Less hassle and faster drying than paint.</p> <p>Step 10. Once dry, hang it on a wall and enjoy using it!</p> <p><strong>Future developments…</strong><br/> Obviously whether I win the printer will have some bearing on the speed and frequency of future development! If I do I will be able to refine the design further, especially if the Front attachment still needs improvement.</p> <p>If you are an electronics &amp; programming wizard you might consider changing the switch to a momentary one and have it cycle an Arduino-controlled RGB LED array through various options with a long-press for on and off. You might even network many bulbs in a wifi-controlled array! The necessary components could be made to fit inside the volume of this design. Remember my friend with the Ender 3? He has plans along these lines and I owe him a Back design to hold them…</p>