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!

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

Comments

[Kristy1973]

I assume you used the Arduino Duemilanove and micro ATmega328?

[starkec]

No just the Atmega 328

[Kristy1973]

? 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]

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

[Kristy1973]

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]

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

[patrickvaz]

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

[Kristy1973]

Do you have a circuit diagram for this project? Thanks

[david797]

Es una idea genial!!

[reyman1218]

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]

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]

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]

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

[acosicris]

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

[acosicris]

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

[dmeyers1]

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

[Vinsu]

Whoah, that pretty. Great job!

[abdbtech]

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]

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

[abdbtech]

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]

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]

This is pretty awesome!

[pirili250]

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

[icarroll32]

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

[CoolCatKeri]

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]

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?

[kashifazizawan]

little bit complex....

[kashifazizawan]

very nice...

[yurfriend]

you have been featured on coolest gadgets.com
http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20100919/diy-led-bottle-chandelier/

[agis68]

amazing idea....well executed....only one thing you could use smirnoff bottles to avoid the paint job but its ok.....brilliant 5/5

[zappenfusen]

Love this. Unfortunately Arduino stupid. Any pre-programmed way around this handicap?

[indeepknit]

This is beautiful! Could this be made weatherproof for an outdoor Christmas or Halloween decoration?

[starkec]

I`m sure with very few modifications such as a waterproof box for the electronics this could easily be used outside.It will probably sound like a chime in the wind :).

[redpillftw]

That is tooo cool. Awesome job.

[drj113]

I really like this idea - it uses resources in an amazing way. Thanks for sharing.

Just a small idea, if glass bottles are used, it may be worthwhile gluing the lid in place, or using some sort of security tie between the bottle top, and the actual bottle itself to make sure that there is no way that a glass bottle could fall to the ground.