LED chandelier

Have LED lights always fascinated you? Well they have for me ever since i wired my first circuit with my dad in grade 1.until now i have always been searching for an idea that is simple ,made out of cheap easy to get materials uses an arduino micro controller and looks great.

The basic layout of this design is an Archimedes spiral descending inwards with an arduino controling individual tri-color LED`s inside each bottle.Through this instructable i will show you how to replicate this idea and hopefully you can build on it yourself making it bigger and better!

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Step 1: Parts list:

1. Tri-color common anode LED`s X 12
2. 2 pair (four core) phone wire 4-5m
3. Arduino Duemilanove or perf board equivalent
4. 12v dc converter
5. Screw top glass bottle (plastic is ok to) X 12
6. Frosting spray
7. Small cable ties
8. Solder
9. Heat shrink tubing
10.Brass hook large
11.Brass hook small X 3
12.Perf board(Helpful for making buses)
13.Metal cable with 5 small chock blocks and some nylon cord.
14.Circular wooden board about 0.5" thick by 11"wide.

Tools:
1. Electric hand drill
2. Drill bit diameter of your wire
3. Pliers
4. Side cutters/Wire strippers
5.soldering iron

ikalnietis says: Mar 29, 2013. 2:34 AM

So if you know and you have improved your chandelier. Could you load it?

ikalnietis in reply to ikalnietisMar 29, 2013. 2:36 AM

It would be intresting to improve mines

WalterBeiter says: Feb 10, 2013. 1:03 AM

I finally made a video of mine, thank you so much for sharing this great tutorial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGHtFJdAG1I

starkec (author) says: Jan 30, 2013. 9:20 AM

Hi guys, after leaving this project for a long time I'm thinking about overhauling the design and of course this instructable. I've been working on some pretty awesome upgrades that are easy to implement but will be a huge leap in the chandeliers abilities some of these improvements include multitouch! which only requires 12 extra resistors! Anyway I would really love it if you guys who have made your own could send me some picks to supplement the instructable a bit :) PM me for my email address :) Thanks all

WalterBeiter says: Nov 17, 2012. 1:25 PM

this is my version doing the cable management. it worked great using some cheese platter ( 10 bucks) made out of bambus wood and some wire connectors. the arduino is now in a small box. i used some power pack which can be changed from 3V to 12V, i choose 5V, it worked great.

patrickvaz says: Dec 20, 2010. 8:05 PM

hi,
a bit confusing, is it possible u have a circuit diagram for this,

Kristy1973 in reply to patrickvazMar 20, 2012. 7:01 AM

Do you have a circuit diagram for this project? Thanks

WalterBeiter in reply to Kristy1973Nov 17, 2012. 10:50 AM

OK this worked out for me: The Arduino Uno doesn't have 17 digital pins. Use the analog pins. Digital 14 = Analog 0, digital 15= Analog 1, digial 16= analog 3, digital 17 = analog 4. This worked for me. great project. I hope you can see how it has to be wired. This worked for me. You have to understand how a prefboard works to understand the wiring diagram.

WalterBeiter in reply to WalterBeiterNov 17, 2012. 10:53 AM

this one is made using fritzing

Bildschirmfoto 2012-11-17 um 19.46.59.jpg

starkec (author) in reply to WalterBeiterNov 17, 2012. 12:22 PM

Wow thank you so much would you mind if i added this to the instructable?

WalterBeiter in reply to starkecNov 17, 2012. 1:12 PM

go ahead. maybe you should make a notice. i think its a bit hard to understand if one does not understand how the prefboard works.

WalterBeiter in reply to starkecNov 17, 2012. 1:10 PM

this is why i made the dirgramm. I really enjoy my lamp. Thanks you for your instructable.

v3nil says: Jun 21, 2012. 12:35 AM

Hii.. i tried to make this using a AVR.. i used an atmega8 and some shift registers and current drivers... i also added remote control functionality to control the colors.. :D

Kristy1973 says: Mar 20, 2012. 8:06 AM

I assume you used the Arduino Duemilanove and micro ATmega328?

starkec (author) in reply to Kristy1973Mar 28, 2012. 12:11 PM

No just the Atmega 328

Kristy1973 in reply to starkecMay 2, 2012. 4:19 PM

? We bought a factory Arduino Uno board to program the Atmega168 chips. Then each student built there own Hack Arduino boards so they can pop the chip in and keep the $8 boards instead of a $30 board. I am building the LED chandlier my question is with the uno board do we have to load a boot loader so it works in hack board. The code seemed to load correctly but the chandlier isn't working. I double checked the schematic and everything seems to be wired correctly. I am just trying to verify that we programmed the chip correctly. The 328 that was in the UNO board we wired leds up to it directly and played with the code and it worked perfectly but when we programmed the 168 and put it in a hacked board it doesn't work.

Kristy1973 in reply to starkecMar 29, 2012. 7:34 AM

I think I just relized what the part is, is it a crystal oss?

Kristy1973 in reply to starkecMar 29, 2012. 7:12 AM

Forgot to ask you on your pic of the circuit is that a voltage regulator?? Could you explain what that part is and how to hook it up.

Thanks for taking the time to help.

Kristy

Kristy1973 in reply to starkecMar 29, 2012. 7:02 AM

A couple more questions.

Which Arduino programmer do you recommend? Uno or Duemilanove

Also,I am a little confused on the pinout please reference the correct reference designator below. Thanks Kristy

LED1 anode = 0;
LED2 anode = 1;
LED3 anode = 2;
LED4 anode = 4;
LED5 anode = 7;
LED6 anode = 8;
LED7 anode = 12;
LED8 anode = 13;
LED9 anode = 14;
LED10 anode = 15;
LED11 anode = 16;
LED12 anode = 17;
RED bus A = 3;
GREEN bus A = 5;
BLUE bus A = 6;
RED bus B = 9;
GREEN bus B = 10;
BLUE bus B = 11;

pin 1- (PCINT14/RESET) PC6
pin 2 -(PCINT16/RXD) PD0
pin3- (PCINT17/TXD) PD1
pin 4- (PCINT18/INT0) PD2
pin5 -(PCINT19/OC2B/INT1) PD3
pin 6- (PCINT20/XCK/T0) PD4
pin 7- VCC
pin 8- GND
pin 9- (PCINT6/XTAL1/TOSC1) PB6
pin 10- (PCINT7/XTAL2/TOSC2) PB7
pin 11- (PCINT21/OC0B/T1) PD5
pin 12- (PCINT22/OC0A/AIN0) PD6
pin 13- (PCINT23/AIN1) PD7
pin 14- (PCINT0/CLKO/ICP1) PB0

pin 28 PC5 (ADC5/SCL/PCINT13)
pin 27- PC4 (ADC4/SDA/PCINT12)
pin-26PC3 (ADC3/PCINT11)
pin 25- PC2 (ADC2/PCINT10)
pin 24- PC1 (ADC1/PCINT9)
pin 23- PC0 (ADC0/PCINT8)
pin 22- GND
pin 21- AREF
pin 20 - AVCC
pin 19 - PB5 (SCK/PCINT5)
pin 18 PB4 (MISO/PCINT4)
pin 17 - PB3 (MOSI/OC2A/PCINT3)
pin 16 - PB2 (SS/OC1B/PCINT2)
pin-15 -PB1 (OC1A/PCINT1

david797 says: Jul 18, 2011. 5:40 AM

Es una idea genial!!

reyman1218 says: Jun 11, 2011. 8:09 AM

I'm having problems printing the template for the spiral. I used the PDF options but it wasn't the right size so I'm not really sure what i need to do to get this to print out full size. Great instructable!

Grumpy Mike says: Jun 6, 2011. 2:15 PM

Without current limiting resistors you will damage your arduino. PWM does not limit the current to a safe level for the arduino. See http://www.thebox.myzen.co.uk/Tutorial/LEDs.html

starkec (author) in reply to Grumpy MikeJun 6, 2011. 3:29 PM

The amount of time that current is applied for is minimal. I have been running it for years now and many other LED arrays use the same principle and i am yet to see a problem caused by it. So I really dont think its a problem to be honest.

kho2 says: May 31, 2011. 6:03 PM

how to program it??with software or??emergency...pls help..thx

acosicris says: May 27, 2011. 2:31 AM

oops.. there's an available Arduino here but through online. Kinda expensive for me.

acosicris says: May 27, 2011. 2:27 AM

Fantastic instructable. I want to buid mine using ping pong balls, but I think there's no available Arduino here. Too bad.

dmeyers1 says: May 9, 2011. 2:02 PM

Is there a .pde file that can be downloaded and loaded up on the arduino?

Vinsu says: Mar 27, 2011. 1:02 PM

Whoah, that pretty. Great job!

abdbtech says: Jan 15, 2011. 11:17 AM

Great project. I am curious how to hook up the wires. The duemilanove board I have only has 13 digital pins is it possible to use with this project?

starkec (author) in reply to abdbtechJan 15, 2011. 1:17 PM

The duemilanove has 13 pins labeled digital however the analogs can be used as digital as well ie analog 0 is digital 14 :)

abdbtech in reply to starkecJan 19, 2011. 5:55 PM

ah thanks a bunch. I'm making a few modifications but your user name is printed on the base. A beautiful project worth the time. Thank you so much for sharing.

djgrinch says: Jan 14, 2011. 7:39 AM

This is so awesome =)

I just started to create my own, but as a complete beginner in terms of Arduino,
could someone please tell me how to connect the wires to one of my Arduinos?

I have an Arduino Uno and an Arduino Mega 2560.

Thank you for your help

have a nice day

PixelatedPoindextress says: Jan 7, 2011. 2:53 PM

This is pretty awesome!

pirili250 says: Jan 4, 2011. 2:25 AM

I am very interested. possible a wiring diagram a little more detailed?

icarroll32 says: Dec 7, 2010. 10:30 PM

could i possibly order one of these from you?? i absolutely love it but unfortunately i am not very electronically capable....

CoolCatKeri says: Nov 4, 2010. 7:55 AM

I've seen something like this before but not as intricate as yours. It's a small company who's been selling these for a long time and their custom also. Never got one but the idea was cool. It is www.donebydan.com Is this where you got the idea ? I do like yours better but seems really hard to do.

OrangeJuleas says: Oct 26, 2010. 5:47 PM

Anybody know if it can actually use this arduino board or would it need the mega2560 due to the amount of inputs?

Or should you just go the hackboard route?