USB Batman Spotlight

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by KaptinScarlet
 

introUSB Batman Spotlight

You saw Batman Begins, you've now seen The Dark Knight, and now go on admit it, you want one of those mega spotlights with which Commissioner Gordon summons the help of the Caped Crusader. But you don't have a gigawatt three phase power supply, all you have is a measly little 5V USB... don't despair, that's plenty to work with, and if you follow this instructable you'll be casting the most wicked bat shaped shadows all over your bedroom, living room and office walls.

It's dead easy if you have even the most basic making skills and great to try if you've never done any electronics before. Plus there's a little bit of fun hacking apart a Series A USB plug and using the guts!

You'll need

  • A couple of old packaging bottle caps (shower bottle and single serving drinks bottle, or something similar)
  • Some thick tin foil (take out tray, or aluminum roofing / flashing tape) although thin foil will work
  • A cheap USB Laptop light (or the appropriate LED, wire, correct resistor and USB Plug
  • A small piece of clear plastic sheet (OHP sheet or bit of old packaging)
  • Some cardboard and or foamcore (not necessary but nice)
  • Some low value loose change
  • Soldering iron
  • Hot Melt Glue gun
  • Black and silver paint (spray or markers)
  • About 1.5 to 2 hours to spare doing this project
USB Batman Spotlight
spotlight-dark-200.jpgBatManWallShadow-425.jpgspotlight-computer-dark-425.jpgBatman-spotlight-425.jpg
 
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step 1Find a couple of suitable bottle caps

Actually you only really need one, for the spotlight itself, although the other cap is useful for the base, the base could easily be made out of cardboard. here you can see the top that I used for the main part and the bottle it came from.

Given the shampoo only cost about 50p for 750ml, it would be worth buying a bottle just to use the cap and then keeping the shampoo as hand wash or shampoo refill.

Note the fact that the cap is translucent, this is quite important, because in the real spotlight there is quite a bit of light leakage through the cooling vents at the side of the lamp, and the translucent cap lets us mimic this effect rather nicely.

The single serving drinks sports cap is nice because the push pull closure also rotates, which means that the finished spotlight will be able to rotate, although this is not really necessary, of course unlike the real one, your USB spotlight won't need a crane to turn it round.
Find a couple of suitable bottle caps
shampoo-bottle.jpgshampoo-closure.jpgdrink-bottle-cap.jpg
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232 comments
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Aug 24, 2010. 1:24 PMdodo91 says:
black wire isnt ground, as usb doesnt have grounding. pin 4 is negative, and pin 1 is posotive
Feb 9, 2010. 10:48 AMDrcatj18 says:
Where Did You Get The One LED Notebook Light? All I See Is 2-15 LED Lights. I Want That Same Model If Possible. Where Did You Purchase It? Or Brand/Model?
Feb 9, 2010. 10:18 AMDrcatj18 says:
Where Did You Get The One LED Notebook Light? All I See Is 2-15 LED Lights. I Want That Same Model If Possible. Where Did You Purchase It? Or Brand/Model?
Jan 1, 2010. 11:07 AMshooshoo says:
It's cool how the batman symbol isn't clearly defined when you project it onto the wall (fuzzy aroundthe edges). Gives the same effect as if it were reflecting off of the clouds like it does in the movie. I'm going to make this when I'm living on residence again and position it so when people walk past my window all they see is the bat signal (my window is low enough and anyone walking in the parking lot can see inside my room when the blinds are open).
Oct 20, 2009. 7:29 PMmadmanmoe64 says:
One of the best done instructibles I've seen in a while, What program did you use to make the diagram tho?
Oct 21, 2009. 11:22 AMmadmanmoe64 says:
Thanks, I might use that on an instructable in the future.

I'm just in the middle of dismantling my usb light :)
Sep 17, 2009. 6:56 PMDaringDaydreamer says:
Feeling very stupid...but I don't understand why the next few steps need to be done. Why take apart the USB end just to put it back together again?
Oct 20, 2009. 7:27 PMmadmanmoe64 says:
So you can thread the wires through the bottle cap.
Sep 20, 2009. 6:35 AMganesh the rock says:
how much did it cost u to make one???
Sep 19, 2009. 8:49 PMskimmo says:
thats really well done
Jun 17, 2009. 8:59 AMTFElite says:
This is so cool! I'm going to try it, and I may even create one with different logos, or even a battery-powered one!
Jun 15, 2009. 3:16 PMspoleweski says:
V2

This time I found a watch at my local reject shop for $3 where you push a button and the original batman logo is projected. So I took it apart and tested it, liking the definition of the image much better and brighter than V1. So I did a totally new design and even added a rotary display so that the light sweeps back and forth across my room. I like this version a lot more. Here are some pictures: (seeing as instructables has problems with adding images atm i uploaded them here - http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/3902/batlight.jpg )
Jun 12, 2009. 9:55 PMspoleweski says:
I began to follow your instructable, I even bought all the materials but when I went about it, I was just not satisfied with the definition of the bat logo on the wall, it looked like just a blur. So I decided to amp it up. I made it bigger, and with the use of a little batman toy I found at the reject shop for $2 I was able to create what you see in the following pictures. It even has an adjustable lens so u can sharpen or blur the image projected. There was a lot of modifying done to the toy used, and in all I used 3 leds to get the desired effect.
Photo 151.jpgIMGP0795.JPGIMGP0787.JPGIMGP0791.JPGIMGP0793.JPG
Jun 12, 2009. 10:49 PMspoleweski says:
Sure! What does the membership give me access to? I wouldn't have even thought of attempting this if it wasn't for this instructable. I did use a lot of the materials that were in the original instructable, just upscaled them and used a clear sauce bottle for the main housing.
Jun 13, 2009. 1:12 AMspoleweski says:
Yeah I've just been browsing the site, there are some very ingenious things you have come up with to make. I'm itching to have a go at the harry potter wand with leds complete with the box and all :) my email is spoleweski@hotmail.com
Jun 7, 2009. 7:29 PMDjFluorescent says:
I will be attempting this one!
May 7, 2009. 9:17 AMcrampedyogapositions says:
dude obsesed about batman!!!
future goal in life to build the batmobile (demilitirised) so that i can drive it on the roads
<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3
instructable!!!!!!!!
May 8, 2009. 4:30 PMcrampedyogapositions says:
yeah i desighned the thing from screenshots of batman begins and managed to 3d render the whole thing, virtually windtullel test it, etc and found out multiple ways to actually make this while still being legal

one problem cost about $50,000 to build...
May 30, 2009. 9:28 PMSpl1nt3rC3ll says:
That's better than the ~$77,000+ I need to buy land here, pretty much kills my chance of starting my desired business. By the way, cool Instructable.
Jan 19, 2009. 9:09 AMFasteners says:
yeah this is a necessity
Jan 17, 2009. 2:07 AMsalli_malli says:
wow i love this!!! but are there any alternatives to soldering iron and hot melt glue coz i always make a mess...
Dec 23, 2008. 8:28 PMJerminator says:
I don't mean to sound stupid, but I can't find one of those shower bottle tops anywhere! I don't think they use them much anymore on bottles. Any suggestions?
Dec 29, 2008. 4:38 PMMrStuff says:
Consider, as I did, using the protective cap from a bottle of mousse. Excellent Instructable. I finished mine and it came out absolutely awesome.
Mousse cap.bmp
Dec 29, 2008. 4:54 PMMrStuff says:
Here is my Bat-Signal. I made it with a Blue LED.
IMG_1151.JPGIMG_1152.JPGIMG_1155.JPGIMG_1156.JPGIMG_1157.JPGIMG_1158.JPGIMG_1159.JPGIMG_1160.JPGIMG_1161.JPG
Dec 23, 2008. 3:40 PMAnarchistAsian says:
Finally, all i need to do is paint it, and i'm done... it can pivot up/down, side to side, and i used pieces of nails for the axles. it's made of PVC pipe fittings, and has that giant LED...
Dec 8, 2008. 4:30 PMclemsonguy1125 says:
can you put a picture of the wall with it shining on it thanks
Dec 9, 2008. 12:56 PMclemsonguy1125 says:
thanks didnt see that
Dec 8, 2008. 12:53 PMMrStuff says:
To the Bat-Cave!!! This is a very well written and illustrated Instructable. I commend you.
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