This project started out after I bought one of them cheapo (not all that cheapo @ Rs.699 in 2019)bike lamp for my Tilt120 cycle. It was a decent option with a rubber mounting, but after riding into a sharp big bump, which is oh so common in Bangalore, the clamp just gave up. The light flew into the air *queue Enya - Only Time* as I watched the bikelight crash and splinter into tiny fragments. Quickly picked up whatever I could find on the road, and well, with nothing much to do with this, I thought it would make for an interesting 3D printed project. This project also gave me a chance to work on OpenSCAD modeling, which should be obvious considering the brutal geometric design of this model. I tried keeping the base simple as I was working with Sketchup Make (welp!) and I was just taking baby steps of design at that point of time. At first, I had repurposed the main board of the bikelight to power the LED module directly, but found the bright red light to spoil the aesthetics. Hmm, I could do better. I had some NPN transistors and variable resistors lying, what if I could make a dimmer circuit to up the ante. Sadly I couldn't document this project all that well. But still the red filament with red LED really gives it a grungy effect.
How it all started
So this was the actual bike lamp that broke into smithereens. Incidentally, this also led me into this project which turned out pretty A-okay. Made me feel there is lot more that can be done for recycling of e-wastes!
Basic breadboard setup
So this was the early stage of finishing up the OpenSCAD model and hooking up the LED module to a standard 5V source. Its pretty bright but beautifully complements the red PLA that the shade was made out of.
Gradients on the facets
Another interesting thing was the gradients that appeared on the facets of the shade due to the play of light. Really brought out a depth into this design, which was not planned at all.
Sipping on the power bank juice
The fact that this could run off of my USB charger kinda helped me get some good shots in the balcony.
Completed lamp in the light!
And finally the actual lamp out in the light. In hindsight, I would have designed the base a bit better, but that was the whole point of this project. Baby steps to improving my skills. Felt this was a good first step into design and electronics!