LED Glass Desk v2.0

After being invited to exhibit the desk at Maker Faire, I decided to ramp it up a bit. So I took all the  ideas that had been floating around in my head since version one and put it together. This version has an embedded server in it and can receive event notifications from the network. It no longer requires a computer attached and is completely stand alone. By the way, here's a link to the first version: http://www.instructables.com/id/LED-Glass-Desk/

Here's a video:
 

Step 1: Parts List

To start, you'll have to choose your desk, picture frame, box, or whatever you want to use. Take some measurements and decide how many lights you'd like to include.

I used an Ikea Galant desk, which just happened to have the perfect frosted surface to diffuse the lights. That is really the most important part of the project.

Assemble the desk according to the normal instructions. We can easily work with the completed desk from underneath.

Additional Parts:
Arduino Uno Ethernet, plus power adapter
Addressable LED strip (ws2801 or lpd8806), plus power supply
peg board or foam core
100 zip ties
padded double sided tape
hinges
velcro

By the way, all my electronics for this version came from Adafruit.com. They were extremely helpful on their forums and I was able to get everything I needed in one order from one place. You can get one or more of the light strips and just connect them in serial.

Comments

[lagrasta]

Just wanted to drop a note here to announce a big software update. You can find it at https://github.com/mnlagrasta/DeskLights2

[vincent81]

I followed the ladyada.net tutorial ( http://www.ladyada.net/wiki/tutorials/products/digitalrgbledstrip/index.html ) for my LPD8806 strip and it works, with a minor adjustment.

[dwightdoane]

So how do i get grown notifications to work? I got email.
Also if it matters im running Mountain Lion.
Thanks!

[dwightdoane]

I got email to work***. i.e. to run the provided applescript

[himanshumehani]

wat should be the difficulty level of this project...??
I have never tried my hands on these things, but after watching this, I so wanna build it.

[lagrasta]

Physically, it's not a hard build. Making use of the peg board really made the attachment easier. Wire connections can be made by solder or crimp connectors, so that shouldn't be too bad.

If you aren't a programmer, the Arduino part could be a little confusing. It really just comes down to installing the Arduino software, modifying a file, and using the software to upload it to the Arduino. However, you will have to understand your network settings.

If you want something a little easier, version 1 is much more straight-forward and still very useful. I'm actually using a hybrid of the two versions daily.

[himanshumehani]

I found this much easier than your version 1 ;)..atleast I understood this one, may be because am a windows user. Anyways thanks for fast reply. I'll take some help from local people and will try to arrange the arduino Uno ethernet board from outside the country(its nt available in India).

[canucksgirl]

Version 1 is great, and so is this one. Good luck in the contest. ;-)