Polaris

Polaris is a lamp for shared rooms that can vary the light intensity by changing it's height depending on the needs of the users.

The three lower cylinders have three light bulbs and their intensity can be changed by pulling or pushing the three upper cylinders. Them three can work independently depending on the needs.

The idea was born from a pesonal need, because I share my bedroom with my sister and in many ocassions it is very discomfortable the light on in the night, for example when I'm sleeping, or in other ocassions it is discomfortable for her the light on when I'm studying late at night,

Step 1 Materials

External part:
metal rod 4 mm
polystyrene 20

Internal part:
3 lineal potenciometers 100K
3 halogen light bulbs with color filters110V 50W
3 plastic sockets
3 transistors BT138 600E
3 resitances
6 condensers
3 diodes
1 switch
4 meters of double wire

Comments

[Drew-Oz]

great lamp! I like the idea (from radiorental) of having a shaded side for the person who wants to sleep. maybe to overcome the heat/melting issue, could an array of LEDs be a substitute for the light bulbs. I think I remember seeing an Instructable about hi-power LEDs... also, if the heat issue is sorted out, you could maybe make the shades from hand-made paper and wire frames (?) Ah, the possibilities are endless...

[infiniteregress]

wow. you called them "condensers". how... old school...

[endolith]

They are called "condensers" in pretty much every language except English.

[ehedward]

What are they called in English? I've never done anything like this before, but I'd like to give this a try.

[endolith]

English: Capacitor (called a condenser way back in the day, like 1900) German: Kondensator Spanish: Condensador French: Condensateur Italian: Condensatore Dutch: Condensator etc.

[endolith]

i meant to point out that the author is Colombian, which is why he used "condenser".

[Bubblebee]

Nice Lamp, good job! Thanks for sharing .�

[graphak]

definately, you should check into getting a patent for this, its that good. I love how you just push it down and the light dims cuz of the thickened walls. It looks very Eastern and similar to Chinese decorative lights

[graphak]

• nevermind

[JordanZed]

What is the resistance of those resistors. You should be a bit more detailed for those who are not good with electronics. Great light though. Wonderful idea.

[zazato]

very cool thanks

[gaminfiend]

the lamp probably wouldn't melt unless the temperature from the lightbulbs reached somewhere near 270 C. so it really depends on how hot those bulbs run... and well halogen bulbs can be a bit of a fire hazard... i do think it's a really interesting design, though. spiffy

[gaminfiend]

err i mean 240 C

[SatisfyingCrunch]

THIS has Potential (no that's not a play on words) I see this being sold as a fixture from the celing that pulls up into it when not in use

[sam]

cool. I like the variable light idea... i use the mad scientist light that was posted here a while back..

[spinach_dip]

Sweet, I really like it... heat could be a major problem though, you dont want your lamp to melt.

[radiorental]

very clever invention. Maybe you could paint one half a darker colour that could be faced towards the wall if you both want light and then turned towards the person that wants sleep. I have a question though. I'm curious about the polystyrene, I thought that was a very light plastic, are you concerned about the heat melting the lamp if it accidentally got knocked over? maybe you could include a thermal transistor in the circuit.. excellent project - I really like it.