Introduction: Diwali Paper Art in a Box With LED Lights

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I created a Paper Art project along with a laser-cut box and LED Lights for my Make Art Project in my Physical Computing Class at Boston College. I made the drawings for the Paper art, customized the Box to be able to have slits for the paper to be inserted, and coded using CircuitPython on my Circuit Playground Bluefruit to make my LED Lights sparkle. The Paper Art I created was centered around Diwali, the festival of Lights, which is a religious event that is widely celebrated in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism. I chose Diwali specifically since it directly relates to something I highly value, but you can choose whatever you may want. This project can be made with other Paper Art projects that are not Diwali-centric, as the box allows the paper to be replaced very seamlessly and easily.

Supplies

Materials:

Resources:

Step 1: Design and Laser Cut Paper Art

Internet

  1. Go online and pick a rasterized image (maximum of 6)
  2. Note: These designs should look aesthetically pleasing and make sense when stacked on top of each other with some gap, so choose designs that work that way.

Adobe Illustrator

  1. Put the rasterized images in Adobe Illustrator in Layer 1
  2. Lock Layer 1
  3. Make a new layer called Layer 2
  4. Trace the rasterized image using the Pen Tool in Adobe Illustrator (if it is a more complicated design, use the Pencil Tool, if it is a design with straight lines, use the Line Tool)
  5. Repeat the set for all the other layers for the rasterized design
  6. Group all Layers by pressing Ctrl + G or Cmd + G
  7. Resize the designs to be Height: 8 in, Length = 10.45 in
  8. Make the outlines of the design red (FF0000) for laser cutting and put the stroke as 0.01 mm.
  9. Save the designs as a .ai file and laser cut using Paper

Attachments

Step 2: Design Box

MakerCase

  1. Open MakerCase
  2. Select Basic Box
  3. Choose Units as Inches and put Width: 8 in, Height: 4 in, and Depth: 11 in, with these dimensions being for the outside
  4. Select Material Thickness as 1/8in and have an Open Box with Finger Joints of Size ~1.04725
  5. Download Plans as SVG with Panel Labels as Disabled and Panel Layout as Separate

Adobe Illustrator

  1. Upload box plans to Adobe
  2. On one of the longer sides of the box, create 6 rectangles closely bunched together towards the side without the finger joints. These "slits" will be where the paper will slide through, so make any necessary adjustments to the Lenght and Width depending on the paper
  3. Length: 10.5 in
  4. Width: 0.05 in
  5. After having the 6 rectangles bunched together, create another rectangle of Length: 10.5 in, Width: ~1 in. This will be the slit to insert the 1/8th inch clear Acrylic, with the extra space provided in case you decide to add multiple acrylics or have a 1/4th inch Acrylic
  6. On both of the shorter sides of the box, create a square each towards the vertex where the side with the finger joints meets. This is where the alligator clips will come out and any other devices that need to be externally connected.
  7. Length: 0.75 in
  8. Width: 0.75 in
  9. Make the outlines of the design red (FF0000) for laser cutting and put the stroke as 0.01 mm.
  10. Save the designs as a .ai file and laser cut using 1/8th inch Birch Wood

Assembly

  1. Place masking paper and put all components on top of it while gluing
  2. After they have been laser cut, set the longer board to be the base and connect the largest board with glue on the side with the finger joints
  3. Attach the sideboards with this new structure using glue, with the side with the square holes being placed closer to the back of the board.
  4. Finally, glue the final piece with slits to the top of the structure to create a box with an open side

Attachments

Step 3: Acrylic Laser Cut

Adobe Illustrator

  1. Open Adoble Illustrator
  2. Create a rectangle with Length: 10.45 in, Height: 8 in.
  3. Make the outlines of the design red (FF0000) for laser cutting and put the stroke as 0.01 mm.

Two Options:

Sand Paper

  1. Save the designs as a .ai file and laser cut using 1/8th Clear Acrylic
  2. Note: Make sure to tape Acrylic really well on the laser cutter since it has a tendency of deforming during the cuts
  3. Use Sandpaper Grit ranges from 40 to 100, slowly making your way through Grit ranges, to the level that you require for the project
  4. Sandpaper only one side, since we will use the sandpapered side to be facing the LED lights inside the box

OR

Engrave

  1. To engrave acrylic, the acrylic you are using can have two types: it can be glossy after engraving or it can be frosty after engraving. If it is the type of acrylic that is frosty, then you can use this to engrave the clear acrylic, as this will give a more finished and efficient manner of getting the result
  2. Open Adobe Illustrator
  3. Fill the rectangle with the color black (000000) to make it an engraved image
  4. Make the outlines of the design red (FF0000) for laser cutting and put the stroke as 0.01 mm.
  5. Save the designs as a .ai file and laser cut using 1/8th inch Acrylic

Attachments

Step 4: CircuitPython and CPB

CircuitPython/Mu

  1. Create any form of function for the LED light strand to light up. I used the capacitive touch feature to light up the strand and added other code that fit my theme of Diwali
  2. LED Light Strand connections for CPB:
  3. Power (red): VOUT
  4. Signal (green): A1
  5. Ground (white): GND
  6. Tape the LED Light Strand to the wall inside of the box in any pattern or design. I chose to do a simple spiral to symbolize the diya/rangoli from Diwali.
  7. Note: The lights are arranged in a particular order in the code example provided, so make sure you change the code for the functions like waterfall and fireworks_colors
  8. Capacitive Touch connection for CPB:
  9. Alligator clip: TX
  10. Have the alligator clip leave the box from the square holes that we created on the side of the box. This will allow users to touch the alligator clips to activate animations for the LED Lights
  11. Finally, place the designs in order and put the acrylic in its proper slot, activating the lights by touching the capacitive touch through the alligator clips

Attachments