Kaleidoscope

Now that I knew I could achieve a small version of my idea it was time to start on the large-scale version.

For this version, I hired an assistant to help prep the wires and make the orbs.  The total time spent between us was around 90 hours.

Some progress shots are below.

After a year of experimenting, I finally was able to produce a sculpture I was happy with!

After two years I decided to scrap the first iteration.  Technically I was going about the problem in the wrong way.  I had intended to use attiny85's to PWM fade colors at different rates.  However, I ran into an obvious issue in that the red channel was always going to be active as I hadn't added current limiting resistors to any other pins.  If you want to see grab a coin-cell battery and an RGB LED and try red with any other leg. 

Aside from this glaring issue, I wasn't too happy with the shape of the LED diffusers so I decided to make my own.   Below are some before and after pics of the new diffusers.

Making the diffusers is simple enough.  You just need an orb silicon mold and some clear hot glue!  

Also during this time, I moved away from bare 22awg wire to 22awg magnet core wire as it has an enamel coating and makes shorting out a lot more difficult. 

This sculpture is complete but I wanted to add some logs on how I got from the idea in my head to the final design.  I've had the idea of making a sculpture using current limiting resistors to mix colors for a few years now.  Below are some pictures of my first attempts.

1st attempt in March of 2020.  I had a few hundred 10mm RGB LEDs that were for a project that was canceled due to the pandemic on hand so I decided to start adding them to a piece of wood I had whose shape I liked.