Published June 12, 2020 © CC BY-NC

Rocket Nightlight

Every well functioning adult needs a nightlight, and we're building one that's touch activated and space themed!

IntermediateFull instructions provided10 hours421

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B

Adafruit CAP1188 Capacitive Touch

Adafruit NeoPixel Ring: WS2812 5050 RGB LED

Lamp

Copper Tape

Fluff

Primer

Spray Paint

Sanding Tool

Duct Tape

Hand tools and fabrication machines

3D Printer (optional)

Story

Project Video

Rocket

It all starts with the bodywork. In this case it's a lamp found in the local thrift store. As most things, it needs some assembly before we get a good idea of what it is.

1 / 4

After a closer look, I have to say that the orange cap is a bit of a colour mismatch. However, it's not the end of the world, after sanding, priming and then painting it bright red, it does fit in perfectly.

1 / 3

Our nightlight needs some electronics to work, and those need to be attached somehow. We 3D printed a little platform, and using the side holes and some bolts we created a nice little nook.

It does look awesome, but it turned out to be a tad unpractical, so in all honesty, you can just duct tape everything to the inside..

Electronics

With our spaceship ready, we move and the the electronics. The main bits are shown in the picture. and they have the following function:

Raspberry Pi Central part of the logic, controls all the other bits.
Adafruit CAP1188 Capacitive TouchIn combination with the copper tape it allows us to sense touch
NeoPixel RingThe focal point of the project, lights up everything very nicely.

The above links each provide instructions on how to setup and/or connect the components. After this is done, we can run the code attached to this project. This is how it works:

Check if the rocket is touched.
If so, check the last state (on/off) and do the opposite. This means when it was already on, it will turn off, and vice versa.
If no touch is detected, wait for a moment and check again.

Our last to do is attaching everything to the rocket. As mentioned before the original idea was to use a little internal platform. Just taping it to the inside turned out to be easier and more practical...

Result

1 / 3

After adding some stuffed toy filling and popping in the little windows, our rocket nightlight is ready for lift off!

Apparently capacitive touch is super sensitive, you just need to hover your hand nearby, and it will pick you up. Unexpected, but it does add an extra layer of magic!

There is only one way to end a project like this, to say with great confidence: "To infinity and beyond!"

rocket.py

import time
import board
import busio
from adafruit_cap1188.i2c import CAP1188_I2C
import neopixel

#cap Touch setup
print('Setting up capacitive touch')
i2c = busio.I2C(board.SCL, board.SDA)
cap = CAP1188_I2C(i2c)
cap[1].recalibrate()
time.sleep(1)

# Set up pixels
pixels = neopixel.NeoPixel(board.D18, 30)

# Keep track of state
lastState = False

def checkTouch():

    if cap[1].value:
        print('Touched!')
        return True
    else:
        return False

print('Starting')
while True:

    if checkTouch():

        # set speed of change
        colour = (0,0,255)
        rangeNuber = 110
        steps = 0.01
        sleepTime = 0.01

        # If last state was on, now turn off
        if lastState == True:

            for i in range(1,rangeNuber):

                pixels.brightness = 1 - (i *steps)
                pixels.fill(colour)
                time.sleep(sleepTime)
                pixels.brightness = 0

            lastState = False
            time.sleep(2)

        # If last state was off, now turn on
        elif lastState == False:

            for i in range(1,rangeNuber):
                pixels.brightness = i * steps
                pixels.fill(colour)
                time.sleep(sleepTime)
            
            lastState = True
            time.sleep(2)

    time.sleep(0.5)

Rocket Nightlight

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Project Video

Rocket

Electronics

Result

Code

rocket.py

Credits

Comments

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Rocket Nightlight

Rocket Nightlight

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Project Video

Rocket

Electronics

Result

Code

rocket.py

Credits

Comments

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