Lithophane Lamp

thingiverse

A Picture Light Utilizing Lithophanes. Note: This doesn't utilize a genuine hidden picture! It's actually a piece of plastic where thicker areas absorb more light (black) and thinner areas absorb less light (white), producing a photo effect. Lithophane Source: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:74322 Less Work vs More Work: Less Work: A remix, which includes a single-level LED tower, is included here with reduced lamp height. This results in a shorter build time. More Work: After developing and printing the lamp, there's an option to modify it further by cutting off the IR remote control sensor and replacing it with a WiFi sensor. This enables you to control the LED strip using your WiFi-enabled devices, such as smartphones! Here's a demonstration of this: https://youtu.be/QEek-LAnwTg Instructions: 1. To Make the Lamp: * Go to this website to make the lithophanes: http://www.thingiverse.com/apps/customizer/run?thing_id=74322 Note: Some users were unable to load this in IE; Chrome was used for printing. Here's the process I followed exactly: Image: Picture Shape: Square Picture Orientation: Horizontal Pane Size: Large Invert Colors: Checked Adjustments: Include Hole: No Hole Diameter: [Not applicable] Layer Height: 0.2 Number of Layers: 20 Slicer (KISSlicer specifically): Height from 4.4mm to 3.2mm If you encounter customizer errors, see the comment by user "dlee_maker" for an alternative lithophane generator. (2) Print your lithophanes and scale them to 76 x 76 x 3.2 mm. Print with a range of 0.1mm - 0.2mm at 100% infill, which is recommended. (3) I used ABS plastic for printing since the LEDs reach temperatures between 50-60C. If using PLA instead, be sure to limit the LED brightness if it gets hot. (4) Use a glue stick instead of "ABS juice" as residual slurry on the flat side may be unsightly due to being part of the outside of the lithophane. (5) Print the support structure at your standard settings without any support. 100% infill isn't required here either. (6) Glue the LED tower firmly onto the base with something like J-B Weld. (7) The shown LED strip: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040FJ27S/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1434942772&sr=1&keywords=LEDwholesalers A how-to video can be found here if needed: https://youtu.be/yYU1c8UoDfI. The WiFi LED Driver (OPTIONAL!): Materials for an exact copy (with possible substitutes) are as follows: (1) LED strip with its power supply. Find the link above. (2) Particle Photon from http://www.particle.io (3) D24V10F5 Voltage Regulator can be found at http://www.pololu.com (4) 3 ZTX689B NPN transistors which are a better choice than TIP31s, thanks to their very low saturation current. These should be sufficient for this application. (5) 3 resistors around ~330 ohms that drive PWM signals with a 3.3V supply from the Photon. (6) Heatsinks are optional and highly recommended; using heatsinks causes transistors to reach around ~45C while handling 0.4A each, even without using TIP31s. (7) Optional tools like breadboard, heat-shrink tubing, and solder can be useful in assembly. (8) If desired, connect the components to a Web server for your Photon to communicate with (as I used a BeagleBone Black). (9) WiFi devices such as smartphones or tablets will also need an internet connection. You'll find photo schematics of how these pieces go together at their respective websites. The accompanying JavaScript code is fairly easy, especially if you have some basic knowledge. Check out my Photon code and the example: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=8020F0E348C88BBD!93112&authkey=!AMioGTxVfcdw1gA&ithint=file%2ctxt [Update, 10/25/2015: Add pull-down resistors on the base of each transistor.] Use ~10k ohm resistors between each transistor's base and ground for this modification.