65 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
65 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
title: Custom lighting for my bookshelf
|
|
description: For when Ikea is slightly too much effort
|
|
date: 2024-01-14
|
|
draft: false
|
|
extra:
|
|
auto_center_images: true
|
|
aliases:
|
|
- /blog/shelf-lights
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
Beside my desk, I have a bookshelf. While this *"book"shelf* barely contains any books, it is a key part of my hobby work as it contains all kinds of electronic components, a server, some networking gear, and my 3D printer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A few years ago, I semi-permanently affixed a strip of PWM-controllable RGB LEDs around the frame of my desk to make it glow at night, and since then I've been looking for more things to LED-ify. Thus, the next logical step was to light up my bookshelf!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>Lights on my desk</em></p>
|
|
|
|
## The plan
|
|
|
|
My bookshelf is laid out as follows:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I only wanted to light up the top row, since the bottom row has very little room for light to bounce around in, so after a few hours of tinkering, I settled on the following wiring layout (top-down view):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
***NOTE:** In both images, the purple lines represent the LED strips, and the red lines represent the wires connecting them.*
|
|
|
|
I opted to use some WS2812 LED strips, and a small Arduino to tie everything together software-wise.
|
|
|
|
Of course, in real life, the wiring looks a.. um.. appropriate amount of sketchy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>A photo of the left-most section</em></p>
|
|
|
|
## A custom LED controller
|
|
|
|
The LED controller that came with my LED strips isn't awesome... mainly because it doesn't even power on :laughing:. So, equipped with an Arduino and a soldering iron, I set out to make my own.
|
|
|
|
The software isn't really important here, since its basically the [NeoPixel](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_NeoPixel) example code, but I did opt to make my program function with one button.
|
|
|
|
I can tap the button to cycle through a few different preset colours, and I can also hold it for a few seconds to turn the whole thing on and off.
|
|
|
|
The controller itself is 100% function and 0% aesthetic, but that sums up most of my personal harware projects, so it fits right in.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## The results
|
|
|
|
So, how does it look?
|
|
|
|
Great actually!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## A note from later me
|
|
|
|
Hi! It is currently February 2, 2024. I've recently re-written and open-sourced the software tha powers this shelf. Feel free to check it out [on GitHub](https://github.com/ewpratten/shelf-led-controller).
|