Hi! I’m Jim from Bangladesh a hobbyist who loves doing electrical and electronic projects. This is my first Instructables ever! I hope you guys will see it with a kind eye.

In this Instructable, I will try to explain how I created an easy fun Soft RGB LED Desk Showpiece using a few recycled parts and new parts. I call it “MAGIC LED BALL”. Well, it does no magic but can remotely change color and show a few fun animations. Thanks to WLED. Without their open-source Firmware Software MAGIC LED BALL wouldn’t be fun.

This project can be easily completed using only a few tools and parts (Of course you need basic electronic knowledge and how to solder a few components) mentioned below. No 3D Printer is required for this project (But hey! you can always use one if you have it laying in your workspace).

Supplies

Required Parts:

1x LED Diffuser Ball from broken LED
1x NodeMCU ESP8266
1x Neo pixel Ring LED Module (WS2812 16-bit 5050 Full-Color RGB LED)
1x 18650 3.7V Li-ion 2200mah battery or similar would do. You can even use one from an old laptop battery.
1x Power Bank Kit 5V/1A Mini Single Port Module (for charging the battery)
1x Switch
1x 22ohm 1/4w Resistor
1x 5mm Plastic Wood 1 x 1 feet
1x Superglue
Wires as required

Required Tools:

A Soldering Iron
A Glue gun
A Cutter
A Scale
File (Optional! it is for refining the rough edges of the base)

Step 1: Testing Circuit

To ensure everything is working we need to test it. Like all WS2812-based RGB LED Neo pixel Ring has 4 pins. 5V and GND for power input and Din for data input. And Dout is used for sending data to other LED rings if we want. In this project, we will not use Dout as we are not adding any additional LED Rings. So we will use the testing circuit diagram to ensure that it works perfectly.

Step 2: Installation of WLED

For everything to work we need to install WLED Firmware Software on the NodeMCU board.

There is an official guide you can follow see it in this link. The web installation method worked just fine for me.

Here is what I did,

First, I followed the web installation guide and installed the Firmware Software on the NodeMCU Board.

Then soldered and connect 3 wires to the LEDs then connect them to the NodeMCU board. According to Testing circuit.

After that used a battery to test it. When battery is connected to the Vin and GND of the NodeMCU board the led should lite up orange. And it will create WIFI Hotspot. Using a smart phone to connect to it and followed the instructions given on the screen. After Successful installation and set up controlling interface will be shown.

That is it! Now we have to build a base where the led diffuser will sit.

Step 3: Building the Base

In this step, we will cut the 5mm plastic wood using cutter and build the base using Super glue. It’s easy to cut plastic wood as it is soft. I made 3.5-inch Squire to and 3.5x1.5 inch wide rectangular pieces.

If two piece of the rectangular pieces doesn’t fit then use a pencil and mark the extend part then cut them.

After completing the side rectangular part new we have to place the switch and the Power Bank Module.

Step 4: Placing the Switch and Power Bank Module

First mark the place where switch and the power bank module will seat using pencil then cut them out using Cutter.

Step 5: Preparing the Diffuser

Now mark the place where diffuser will seat then place the LED Ring then cut two pieces of plastic wood and glue it like in the picture.

Step 6: Finalizing

In this step we will place all components inside and solder everything. First place the LED Ring and glue it on the top or you can use small screws to place it. To make connecting components easer you can follow the additional step or solder everything according to the circuit diagram.