3D Printed Treetop Star

Solar botics
December 9, 2014

Initially inspired by the Moravian Star on Instructables and the fact that we now carry all kinds of 3D printing filament, we decided to make one of our own glowy holiday star. We have used this thing as source files to create a similar treetop decoration of our own.

After some trial and error (due to the Slicer not cooperating)...

...we printed a whole forest of perfect wintery spiky star-ends.

And, well, we just had to have someone live there for a bit. In this case, a snowman:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our  addressable 5mm LEDs were well suited to light this contraption. We drilled a hole in the bottom of each spike..

..to fit the LED's domed part:

   

And then wired everything up. It wasn't pretty but the WS2812 LED that we used made it much easier than a conventional RGB LED: rather than 3 separate channels, the WS2812 LED only has a data in and data out. Chain them all together and they work like a charm!

 

 

And here's the final product, ready to light up our office with wonderful glowing lights!

 

 

 

MORE POSTS

December 15, 2004
Mark Tilden on CBC Radio

Word is Mark W. Tilden gave CBC Radio a nice interview that'll be aired right after the 10am news on your local CBC station. Not Canadian? Use the internet to your advantage. Use this link to find the station closest to your time zone (or earlier or later if you wish), and tune in!

April 30, 2013
Solarbotics at Calgary Comic Expo 2013

Whelp, many moons have passed since we posted last time (er, maybe that's a slight exaggeration), and many a thing have happened. We went to Las Vegas to the Magento conference, lasered some ukuleles, but mostly were in a mad rush preparing for the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo 2013. We teamed up with a […]

June 30, 2006
Oh Canada!

We are closed on Monday, July 3rd in lieu of Canada Day this Saturday (July 1st)! We will be back in business July 4th. Happy Canada Day!

January 18, 2012
SOPA / PIPA - Slingshots from Abroad

We're a Canadian Company, but the impact of the over-zealously worded American Legislation H.R.3261 "Stop Online Piracy Act" and S.968 "PROTECT IP" will affect foreign Internet sites. Being a central backbone to the Internet, the USA has an uncomfortably large influence on the rest of the English-speaking web, and so it's of our Canadian interest […]

Solarbotics Ltd Logo
Solarbotics has been operating for more than 25 years, bringing electronics know-how and supplies to both the electronics professional and hobbyist. We'll be happy to help you too!

Solarbotics, Ltd. is not responsible for misprints or errors on product prices or information. For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.

Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.