Valentine Vase Dazzler: Color LED Light Base for Valentines Vase & Flowers by vorpal

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

Perfect for that special Valentine's Day gift! (Or Mother's Day, birthdays, graduations, etc.)
This base allows you to turn a 3D printed vase into a fabulous light show. Here's a couple of videos with examples of the light patterns:

https://youtu.be/cTFc3N4nx0w Uses: Spiral Vase by Yllonnoce and Anniversary Roses by XYZ Workshop

https://youtu.be/hQKWgm4H6uw Uses: s: Plus Vase by by BenitoSanduchi and Anniversary Roses by XYZ Workshop
Create awesome lighting effects with ease. Pick an open source vase to set on top and optionally fill the vase with 3D printed flowers if desired.
You can source your own electronic parts or buy a convenient kit from the Vorpal Robotics Store. Please consider supporting us so we can continue to publish great new open source projects.
The base incorporates an Arduino Nano and some controls that allow you to select a lighting pattern and a brightness. There are 10 lighting patterns built in, including:
Fades between colors of various hues
Flashes and twirling lights
Flicker effects like a flame
Each time you press the pushbutton on the back, the Vase Dazzler cycles to the next light pattern. The potentiometer dial can be used to select brightness levels.
The Vase Dazzler runs on any kind of 9v battery or can be powered from a mini USB cord, see below for details.
Compatible Vases
Any vase that is1.5" to 2.5" (40 to 67mm) in diameter where it touches the table top will work well with this project. If the bottom is more than about 3 inches (70mm) it will also work as long as it's not so large as to be unstable. Of course you may be able to scale the size of the vase to make it fit better. For very large vases, you could actually put the Vase Dazzler right inside the vase.
For best effect:
Use a translucent plastic. White or clear translucent plastic works best because then the colored LEDs take over the task of imparting a color.
Print with as large a layer as possible to let maximum light through.
Print with no bottom layers if possible so the light goes right into the vase. Print also of course with no top layers if you want to insert flowers or other decorations.
If your slicer has a "Spiralize" option, that will make the vase transmit more light.
Here are some vases that we've tried, but there are many, many others here on Thingiverse and other sites that should work fine:
PlusVase by BenitoSanduchi
Spiral Vase by Yllonnoce
Cyclodic Vase by scottvader
In some cases you may need to scale the vase to fit.
Power Supply
The kit includes a 9v battery clip. We suggest rechargeable batteries. A 280 mAh NIMH 9v battery will last about 5 hours on a low brightness setting and about 1 hour on maximum brightness (but maximum is overkill for most situations!)
The Arduino Nano's USB port is exposed in the back of the unit, so you may also power it by plugging in a cell-phone charger type 5V power supply with a USB A to mini cord. (NOTE: USB A to mini is not the same as a standard cell phone charging cord which is A to micro. However, A to mini cables are commonly available because they're used in some cameras and video equipment).
Electronics Needed
To help us continue to publish new open source products, please consider purchasing some or all of the parts from our store. We have individual components as well as kits that do not require soldering and have the Nano pre-flashed with the code at our Vorpal Robotics Store.
Parts list:
Arduino Nano
12 RGB LED Ring with addressable LEDs such as WS2812B or similar
10k Panel mount Potentiometer, 1/4" shaft diameter
9x13mm rectangular switch (on/off switch)
Pushbutton designed to fit in a 12mm diameter hole
9v battery clip and 9v battery (rechargeable battery recommended)
Wires, Dupont Jumpers, solder, shrink tube to insulate connections
One M3x10 screw
6 foot USB A to mini cord for powering the device and programming the Nano.
Arduino Code
The code is available on GitHub here: Vorpal Robotics Vase Dazzler
The code is pre-loaded on the Nano if you purchase the kit from the Vorpal Robotics Store
Assembly Instructions and More Information
See the Vorpal Vase Dazzler Wiki Page