After creating bespoke lighting for three artworks, I have lots of experience of using 10 Watt LEDs and Arduinos, so I decided to create something for myself, something that I can use long after I’ve moved on to new types of project. I decided to create a bedroom lamp. I had two things in mind…… Continue reading Uplighter 1: Design
The art works Paul Conneally and Bearing Witness were exhibited from 12th January 2017 to 8th February 2017 at the Adult Education Centre, 50-54 Belvoir St, Leicester. I had wondered if the overall light level would be correct for an exhibition gallery. In my house the Poet appeared rather bright, but in the exhibition it was clear that they needed…… Continue reading “Paul Conneally” 6: Exhibition
The software for this one is quite simple. Five patterns (lighting effects) are predefined. The software displays a pattern for a few seconds (the exact time is randomised) and then selects a different random pattern and fades to that one. This just repeats indefinitely. For example, to create the effect of light coming from above, the…… Continue reading “Paul Conneally” 5: Software
It’s a little bit tricky to get the lamps to shine only at an angle – the LEDs distribute light over a full 180 degrees. There are two lights in each “gap” between diagonals. The bottom LED needed to illuminate only the upper diagonal, whereas the top LED needed to illuminate only the bottom…… Continue reading “Paul Conneally” 4: Shades
The electronics comprise an Arduino nano as the micro-controller and a circuit board containing five surface-mount MOSFETs, used to switch the LEDs in response to the Arduino outputs. The MOSFETs are designed to be surface mounted. In other words, they are very tiny and designed to be soldered by applying liquid solder to all the…… Continue reading “Paul Conneally” 3: Electronics
Power I had a lucky break! I discovered that if you give the 3 Watt LEDs 9 Volts they take 150mA, which is 1.35 Watts. And, given the smaller frame and having one LED per side per face (10 LEDs in total), 1.35 Watts is more than bright enough. This is very convenient, because, unlike with…… Continue reading “Paul Conneally” 2: Power and cooling
This is the third painting that I have worked on from a series by George Sfougaras, in which he explored the creation of two-dimensional imagery on three-dimensional surfaces. The painting is of a local poet, Paul Conneally, and I had the pleasure of being able to interpret the art work as I chose in order to design and build…… Continue reading “Paul Conneally” 1: Design
https://youtu.be/vnT8qnlGeMQ Here it is! I’m very pleased with the result. It’s hard to tell on a video because the candles are brighter than the dark painting so they over-expose the camera, but I think I’ve done a good job on simulating a flame. As time goes on I’ll experiment with assorted ideas for improving the…… Continue reading “Bearing Witness” 10: Done!
Candle flicker I wanted to achieve a candle effect. So it lit some candles and stared at them for a while. I mean I did some research… Three things about candle flames: Flickering = fading rapidly and non-linearly between brightness levels Flickers usually loosely follow a pattern, around an average brightness No two flickers are identical…… Continue reading “Bearing Witness” 9: Software
So, I have 1.2 metres of 2.5 cm right-angled aluminium on which to attach all the electronics. Step one: the candles: I bought a batch of 2.5mm nuts and bolts to attach the LEDs. There’s a washer behind the nut to spread the load where it meets the LED base, and a shake-proof washer by the head…… Continue reading “Bearing Witness” 8: Assembling the electronics
Lighting art 
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