Here's a little makeover of an inexpensive aftermarket car seat heating pad that stopped working. Designed to activate and warm up when sat upon, the electronics face a fair amount of abuse: since the seat is a soft frame, the wires inside constantly move and flex with the body. They are also subject to harsh […]
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
Madness, Madness, and Product announceme...
Just yesterday, Calgary reached the 2nd coldest place on earth, just behind an outpost in Antarctica. Yes, we are cold. Even the dog doesn't want to go out and play... In other madness, one of our favourite distributors/suppliers, Sparkfun has announced their 2nd annual "Free Day". Circle January 13, and if they get blown out […]
Friday New Product: Goggles and NeoPixel...
So when we created the Arc Reactor project to show off at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, we also quickly put together our version of NeoPixel Goggles. We now carry the goggles and NeoPixels that fit them, as well as two other sizes of these amazing addressable RGB LED rings.
Our Tech doesn't stink.
We have proof. Jeremie uses up these deodorant sticks, and does stuff with them:
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.