1. Brainstorming how the lamp will look and how it could interact with the user
2. Sketching the design
3. Making the base for the lamp
4. Making the lampshade
5. Assembling the electronic components
6.Coding/programming
7. Assembling the components and lamp parts

meilily Li, Rain Ye, John Henry, Kishor Maharjan

Published June 5, 2018

The Little Universe, a Gesture-Controlled Floor Lamp

The Little Universe is a gesture-controlled floor lamp with three wooden legs and an artistic lamp head.

IntermediateFull instructions provided4 hours1,146

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Seeed Studio Seeeduino Lotus V1.1 - ATMega328 Board with Grove Interface

Seeed Studio Seeed Grove - Gesture（PAJ7620U2）

Seeed Studio Flexible Waterproof LED Strip - RGB

Seeed Studio USB Power Plug Adapter

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Circular ABS shafts

PVC tube

yellow flaxen thread

bench drill

hand saws

table saw

Story

The Little Universe is a gesture-controlled floor lamp with three wooden legs and an artistic lamp head. The lamp head was made of two circular ABS shafts, PVC tube, yellow flaxen thread, some LED strips, a Seeeduino Lotus, a Grove Gesture sensor. We made this project on a one-day workshop that aims to using recycled materials to make great things at x.factory. We made two projects for the workshop (one in the morning and one in the afternoon, what a fulfilled day!). We've spent one morning taking this floor lamp from idea to reality. And we were really happy about it.

The project name the Little Universe came from the starry shadow scene looking like a galaxy in the universe when it was turned on. The way the lamp interacts with the owner is also cool. You can switch it on & off and change the color & brightness of the LED by gesture control. Here is a video of how it works:

What I love about it is that it could be really chic home decor, while it could be more emotionally connected to the one who is using it.

After the brainstorming, our team of 6 had been divided into 4 groups: Anby, the team leader, was in charge of the project management; John Henry was in charge of programming and coding for the controlled system; Kishor, CY and Tao are undertaking the floor lamp structure building; and I'm the one who took pictures and videos and did the documentation. Here are the steps of how we made this lamp.

1. Brainstorming how the lamp will look and how it could interact with the user

Brainstorming

Using the recycled materials to make a lamp was the making topic assigned by the workshop organizer. In order to stand out, our team decided to make a floor lamp that could interact with the user. After a 15 minute brainstorm, we came up with the building plans.

2. Sketching the design

Anby is sketching

Once we made the plans, it was time to sketch the lamp's design. Anby came from a design background, and she was really doing a great job in drawing all the designs.

3. Making the base for the lamp

Sawing the wooden base

CY found 3 wood blocks, with a length and diameter which were perfect for the base that we wanted. He used the table saws and polisher to process and polish them into the extract right shapes.

Mounting the 3 legs to the stick

Using nails and screws, the 3 wooden legs were mounted to a round stick, which would be the part to connect to the lampshade.

4. Making the lampshade

It took us a lot of time to make this artistic lampshade! First, we applied a PVC tube to fix two circular ABS shafts, which outlined the basic shape of the lampshade.

And it was not easy at all. We dismantled the two circular ABS shafts that used to be a whole recycled part, cut the PVC tube into the right length with handsaws, and fixed the shafts firmly with drilled holes and screws.

Weaving group

When the basic shape was set, we also spent a lot of time weaving the yellow flaxen thread from the bottom shaft to the top shaft. Yes, weaving with random patterns.

Luckily, we had the cooperation of an amazing team and we nailed it.

5. Assembling the electronic components

Selecting the components

Connect the LED strips, grove gesture sensors to the Seeeduino Lotus, and extend a power plug adapter to it.

6.Coding/programming

John was happy when coding

Coding with Arduino IDE, we aimed to achieve gesture control (switch on/off, color change and also lightness control). Code is attached.

7. Assembling the components and lamp parts

Assembly almost done!

We put the lampshade onto the base and fix it with some screws. Finally, we encircled the LED strips along the tube inside the lampshade after the program testing went well.

Rain with the Little Universe

Presenting the project to other teams

Making process

gesture control

#include <paj7620.h>
#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>


#define NP_PIN  2
#define NUMPIXS 30
Adafruit_NeoPixel pixels = Adafruit_NeoPixel(NUMPIXS, NP_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);  
uint8_t npState = 0;
float npLevel = 0.8;
uint8_t colorList[5][3]={{250,120,80}, {250,215,18}, {215,0,215}, {0,128,225}, {0,183,0}};
uint8_t color[3] = {250,120,80};
uint8_t myColor[3] = {250,120,80};
uint8_t npIdx = 0;
uint16_t lock_ms = 0;

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  pixels.begin(); // This initializes the NeoPixel library.
  paj7620Init();
  pixels.clear();
  pixels.show();
}

void loop() {
  uint8_t data = 0;
  lock_ms = 0;
  paj7620ReadReg(0x43, 1, &data);
  switch(data){
    case GES_FORWARD_FLAG: npState = 1; lock_ms = 1500; break;
    case GES_BACKWARD_FLAG: npState = 0; lock_ms = 1500; break;
    case GES_LEFT_FLAG: if(npLevel < 1) npLevel += 0.1;lock_ms = 1500;break;
    case GES_RIGHT_FLAG: if(npLevel > 0) npLevel -= 0.1; lock_ms = 1500;break;
    case GES_UP_FLAG: 
                        if(npIdx < 5) npIdx++; 
                        else npIdx = 0;
                        lock_ms = 1500;
                        break;
    
    case GES_DOWN_FLAG: 
                        if(npIdx > 0) npIdx--; 
                        else npIdx = 5;
                        lock_ms = 1500;
                        break;
  }
  

  if(npState > 0){
    // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
      for(int i=0;i<NUMPIXS;i++){
        // pixels.Color takes RGB values, from 0,0,0 up to 255,255,255
        myColor[0] = uint8_t(colorList[npIdx][0]*npLevel);
        myColor[1] = uint8_t(colorList[npIdx][1]*npLevel);
        myColor[2] = uint8_t(colorList[npIdx][2]*npLevel);
        pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(myColor[0],myColor[1],myColor[2])); // Moderately bright green color.
      }
      pixels.show(); // This sends the updated pixel color to the hardware.
      //delay(500); // Delay for a period of time (in milliseconds).
  }
  else{
    pixels.clear();
    pixels.show();
  }
  
  delay(lock_ms);
  
}

The Little Universe, a Gesture-Controlled Floor Lamp