Star-Lit Musical Night Light

This instructable was created in fulfillment of the project requirement of the Makecourse at the University of South Florida (www.makecourse.com). This project is called the Star-Lit Musical Night Light. The main functionality of this project begins when a room is dark, for then it automatically begins rotating a 3D printed globe while colorful LED lights illuminate "dancing" stars across the room. The project uses an Arduino platform and other components. Below you will see the materials and steps to complete this project.

Step 1: Gather Materials and Components Needed

Contents:

• 1 X Arduino Uno R3 clone
• 1 X USB Cable
• 1 X 9V power adapter
• 1 X Motor driver module
• 1 X Breadboard
• Bundle breadboard jumper wires
• Female to female cables
• 1 X Red 3mm LEDs
• 1 X 10 kΩ Resistors
• 1 X 220Ω Resistors
• 195mm x 110mm x 60mm box with screw-able top/lid
• An 18-note Wind up Music Box Musical Movement with Winding Key
• 128mm length-ed fully threaded screw with washer and wing nut
• 1 X LDR Sensor
• RGB 24 LED Ring compatible with Neopixel Library
• 2 x 3D printed half globes with 100mm radius and wall width of 10.75mm
  • both half globes have 15mm radius holeon the top center
  • only one half globe has a scattered pattern of holes of 6.5-7mm width
• Power tool
  • In order to make the necessary holes on the box base
• Hot Glue/Silicon Gun

Step 2: System Schematic

Here I included a couple of images of the breadboard and arduino relationship, plus a video discussing it.

In the video below, it briefly demonstrates the schematic setup of all the project's components except for the RGB 24 LED Ring

Fortunately the RGB 24 LED Ring setup is quite simple, for there are three main pins to attach to the arduino and breadboard:

• attach the input pin to pin 6 on the arduino
• attach the PWR and GND pins to the power and ground rails on the breadboard

Step 3: Arduino Code

Here I included the arduino code zip file and also a video discussing it.

Step 4: Installment of Components

Now that well have the schematics of the arduino and proper coding for the project, we can install the components to their proper place

Before this, the two half globes were designed in Autodesk Inventor. The proper measurements for the globes are listed in the 1st step of this instructable. I also included two images of the top and bottom half of the globe. And once the parts have been 3D printed:

• Position the arduino and breadboard inside the box
  
  • make sure all wiring is not loose and connected correctly

• Inside the box, the Musical wind up instrument should be placed and screwed on the side of the box

• Use power tools to make holes
  • two holes will be made on the back side of the box for the power sources from the arduino
  • a hole will be made on the top lid of the box
    • wiring from the arduino and breadboard should pass through this hole to the stepper motor and 24 LED ring inside the bottom half of the globe
  • two small holes on the corners of the box's lid will be made so that the Red Led indicator and LDR sensor can peak out
    • the LED should peak out for it indicate that the system is powered on
    • the LDR sensor should peak out to capture the light intensity of the room
  • a hole on a side of the box should be made for the wind up key of the musical instrument
• The hot silicon/glue gun should be used to connect the bottom half of the globe to the top of the box
• Finally
  
  • connect the long screw to the centered hole on the top half of the globe
    • this should be tightened with the washer and bolt
  • once tightened, connect the screw to the stepper motor
    • this should make the top half of the globe rotate when the stepper motor is rotating also

Step 5: Enjoy Your Star-Lit Musical Night Light

System should be ready to go!

• Connect the arduino to a power source after successfully uploading the code to it
• Then turn off the lights to a dark room
• Wind up the musical instrument
• &
• ENJOY!