The NeonDancer 9000 is a playful lamp that lights up with many colors as it detects nearby sounds. This is not limited to only voice as its main function is to display a beautiful array of colors as it listens to music, similarly to a rave party. The louder the music the brighter the show!
Hardware and AestheticsThe NeonDancer is encased inside a small lamp that can be turned off and on with a button. I used the Circuit Playground Express (CPX) as the main component in which it detects sound, gets the input from the button from the lamp itself and lights up the 10 LEDs that are built in the CPX. The wiring connection is a simple connection to the wires and button of the lamp, I only had to remove the light bulb connector so that only the wires were visible and usable. I also had to rewire the wires connecting to the energy socket so that only the cables that I needed were connected. I cut off the cable for the electrical socket since I was going to power the CPX with a battery making it mobile. I also cut out a clear plastic to put on the outer part of the lamp to give it a more interesting look and to obscure the vision of the CPX and the wiring.
ImagesI used the Arduino software to code this project. I programmed it to firstly detect the button input so that it can be turned ON and OFF. If it's ON it will execute a “for loop” that will run 10 times to light up 10 random LEDs with 10 random colors. The number of LEDs is dependent on how much volume it receives through the microphone. It ranges from only 2 LEDs to all 10 of them. It also increases and decreases brightness based on the same volume level. I made it this way so that volume levels can be visible through the LEDs, also after many tests this set up creates the most visually pleasant light show. This is the third version of this project and I am very happy with the results.
VideosHere is a video of the NeonDancer 9000 in action:
CreditsI studied the following code examples from Arduino in order to create my project:
Arduino Circuit Playground --- Microphone_Demos --- Birthday_Candles
Arduino Circuit Playground --- Microphone_Demos ---pretty_meter
Arduino Circuit Playground --- analog_sensors
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