A DIY Luxo Jr. Lamp That Any Pixar Fan Will Appreciate

At the beginning of Pixar animation movies, you’ll see a jointed desk lamp — known as Luxo Jr. — jumping around and shining light on the situation. It’s a fun idea, but what about making such a character in real life? While it might not jump (yet), Allyson’s heavily modified lamp is able to move in multiple axes, shining just a bit of light wherever its programmed.

The device is controlled by an Arduino Uno, which uses two servos near the light’s lamp shade to let it pan and tilt. A third servo is implemented at the move the assembly’s “elbow” joint, which raises and lowers it vertically. As shown, this joint is a bit underpowered due to budget constraints, though perhaps we’ll see an improved version in the future.

This setup enables it to perform pre-programmed movements, and Allyson even added a Pixy2 vision sensor to allow it to track objects in space. The lamp also features “clapper” functionality, using a sound sensor for actuation when it hears a noise greater than a certain threshold.

As for the lighting itself, it uses an LED stuffed inside of a ping-pong ball. So while you wouldn’t want to use it as your primary illumination for reading War and Peace, it would certainly make a fun distraction when needed!